Message Students Directly From People Tab

[skoogi]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

        

  Idea open for vote Wed. September 7, 2016 - Wed. December 7, 2016  Learn more about voting...

I would like to be able to message students from their "people" page.  This would allow me to more quickly and efficiently interact with the student in a variety of ways.

  Comments from Instructure

For more information, please read through the Canvas Production Release Notes (2017-01-28) 

[kschneider25]

It appears to be an "easy" fix either via script or a permanent fix.  I would prefer the permanent fix (the added bonus is the documentation) instead of the workarounds.

Thank you for the suggested code though.  I'm glad that some people have the coding-passion and mind-set. 

[James]

The problem with "easy" is that it's a relative term,  @kschneider25 ​.

The other problem I thought I mentioned, but see I didn't now that I go back and read what I wrote, is that it takes you to the Inbox page, which leaves the course context. That means that people would have to navigate back to where they were to resume. So while it allows you to send a message to a student, the navigation to get back to other students can be just as tedious as the problem it's trying to fix.

I think people want to be able to message without having to leave. I don't know if that's because I'm reading my own desires into the situation or I actually saw that somewhere. That would mean either opening up a new window to send the message or including a dialog box, but the potential issue with opening a dialog is that the composition box itself is a dialog on the Inbox page. If this were being added by a user script like some of the other stuff I've written, then it's the user's conscious choice to run the script and I can see where opening in a new tab might be a workable solution in the short term. But it's probably not the best solution from a usability or accessibility perspective.

I was pointing out was that you can generate a URL that will allow you to send a message to a student. The information needed to generate that URL is available from the People page and a link could be added. Whether or not that link should be added in the current situation is another question completely.

I ran into another feature request yesterday that was asking for the ability to message from anywhere and apply logic like the "message students who" features in the gradebook. The Community is full or "send message from ____" type requests. That's why I'm glad Canvas is working on something, rather than us spending time trying to put together a bunch of piecemeal solutions.

[Renee_Carney]

  Idea is currently in development

Please take a look at Canvas Studio: Student Insight Drawer

This project addresses this idea not specifically in the People Tab, but throughout Canvas as a whole!!!!!

[swolf]

Hi Renee, It's been a while since this idea was listed as In Development, but nothing seems to have actually been implemented yet. Do you have a timeline for this?

Thanks,

Scott

[Renee_Carney]

  This idea has been developed and is On Canvas Beta How do I access the Canvas beta environment?

For more information, please read through the Canvas Beta Release Notes (2017-01-16)

Want to discuss the latest beta release in a synchronous group chat?  RSVP to Kristin Lundstrum's Beta Release (2017-01-16) Collaborative Chat, Wednesday, July 18.

[swolf]

Hello, it looks like I cannot access the beta environment.

Dr. Wolf

[scottdennis]

Hello Dr. Wolf,

Wether or not you can access your institution's beta instance will depend on your role at the institution and their policy on who can access beta locally.  I would suggest contacting your local Canvas admin unless of course you are that admin.  If that is the case, I'd suggest contacting your CSM or Canvas Support.

Hope that helps!

[swolf]

Thanks, I’ll ask.

Scott

Scott Wolf, DMA

Oxnard College - Professor of Music

[Renee_Carney]

This idea has been developed and deployed to Canvas

For more information, please read through the Canvas Production Release Notes (2017-01-28) 

[swolf]

Hello, I’ve clicked student names but see no change, no Context Card option is available anywhere I can see. Is it not actually deployed yet?

Dr. Wolf