[Inbox] Email (message) multiple classes at one time

[emalates]

Instructors often want, or are asked, to share news and information of importance to all our classes.  Currently, that means copying and pasting that information into anywhere from 2-5 different classes.  Given that there is a drop down box for choosing a class to message currently, adding the ability to select multiple classes seems like it would be an easy "fix".  Please add this capability ASAP.

[sdillon1]

I would also like to know what the supposed advantage is for this new

"improvement"?

Stephanie

[richardgc]

 @scottdennis ‌ - As the subj suggests, Emailing Multiple Classes at One Time if you are a teacher and you need to inform all of your sections (i.e., classes) the exact same thing you must copy and paste the same message in every section. For example, today I want to email all of my sections and provide them with a COVID-19 update, which means I will have to email each section separately instead of being able to click "send to all active sections". Yes, the favorites help when selecting a section, but not for emailing EVERYONE we teach. I am sure this is not lost on you, but this idea was first floated in FEB 2016 and now four years later we are still talking about a feature that should be simple to design and implement. 

#canvasforthefuture‌ #canvasemailupdate‌ #canvas2020‌ #canvaschangeneeded‌

[scottdennis]

Hi Richard Curtis,  Yes, I understand the underlying nature of the request and I know this is very frustrating for a lot of people.  What I'm asking Stephanie about specifically is the behavior she is running into where she tries to access her favorites in the inbox and it takes a long time (ten minutes!) to load.

[richardgc]

Sorry, my bad!

Cheers ~ Rich

[sdillon1]

Please note that as a lab coordinator I have ~80 sections each term so copying and pasting to email everyone is not a simple process. I have cohorted the sections as much as possible based on Meeting times but this still leaves me with 25+ sections to email separately.  Because the system is now downloading not just the current courses but past course lists for this new "favorites" listing, the system, depending on traffic, takes a long time to load. I made a video about it and sent it in shortly after the new "improved" email app went into effect.

[b_yelin]

Please add this simple feature that your major competitor Blackboard has. In general, I am not missing BB, but there are just a couple of things that Canvas can learn. 

[sott]

PLEASE add this feature. It would be SO helpful to be able to send update messages out to ALL of my students at once. 

[lisa_clayton]

Even at this time when so many colleges have taken all seated classes online, and professors across the U.S. are communicating daily with students to pass on critical updates and information and stay engaged, I remain dumbfounded that this very basic feature (message multiple classes) is still being considered rather than implemented. Community college instructors here typically teach 5 or 6 classes, and the redundancy in messaging is minutes we could be spending more productively for our students. By the time voting closes on this, Spring Semester will be over. 

[richardgc]

lisa.clayton‌  @scottdennis ‌  @canvas_admin ‌ canvas3‌ csmith‌

M L - not sure if you meant to or not, but your post

"Even at this time when so many colleges have taken all seated classes online, and professors across the U.S. are communicating daily with students to pass on critical updates and information and stay engaged, I remain dumbfounded that this very basic feature (message multiple classes) is still being considered rather than implemented. Community college instructors here typically teach 5 or 6 classes, and the redundancy in messaging is minutes we could be spending more productively for our students. By the time voting closes on this, Spring Semester will be over. (@ Scott Dennis on Mar 30, 2020 10:46 AM)" is under a post from 2016.

======

While reading your post, I noticed this post right above yours:

According to the document, How Does the Feature Idea. . . cited in the post above, community ideas remain open for 6 months and if they remain in the top 10th percentile the idea will remain open for comments-voting.

My question(s) to the Canvas Admin is/are:

+ How long does the comments-voting stage stay open (i.e., 4 years)?

+ Will Canvas formally tell the community their thoughts on this idea?

+ How long is the moderating stage?

I apologize if the tone seems a little callous or forceful (according to Grammarly), but right now there are 1000's of educators trying to email students as quickly as possible and Canvas could help by expediting this idea.

Finally, if the Email All feature is too difficult could Canvas at least consider create a feature to allow users to post announcements to more than one course at the same time?

Warm & Healthy Wishes ~ Dr. Curtis

[scottdennis]

Hi Dr Curtis,

I can assure you on one point; we have heard the community loud and clear that this is something that would widely helpful.  All of our engineers are currently working to build things designed to help alleviate the burden as usage patterns change in response to the current situation, such as building various integrations for web conferencing platforms.  We have moved to releasing new features on a weekly cadence.  You can read more about that here: Release Notes: Canvas LMS.

As far as the feature voting process goes the best description of the process is How does the feature idea process work in the Canvas Community?  

To answer your specific questions:

+ How long does the comments-voting stage stay open (i.e., 4 years)?

If an idea is a top priority of the community as identified by vote count, it will remain open for vote indefinitely or until the request is met by development.

+ Will Canvas formally tell the community their thoughts on this idea?

We often post requests for clarifications in comment threads as product managers are researching and invite people posting to join focus groups and refer to ideas in the release notes when releasing related new features as well as posting updates to ideas as they are built.  There is no guarantee that we will respond to every idea but we do make updates as we have news to share.

+ How long is the moderating stage?

Generally an idea goes into moderation when it has initially been posted and we have questions for the original poster before opening the idea for voting.  We try to remove ideas from moderation as quickly as possible, generally within a business day or two barring outstanding questions.

I hope you find this information helpful.  Let us know if you have other questions.

Regards,

Scott Dennis, Sr. Dir. Community Engagement