Parent App

[sarah_franchino]

We've had many parents tell us they are not getting any announcements we put out to our classes in the parent app. It seems they can only see if their child has turned in assignments. Is there someway to make sure parents see our announcements on the parent app? 

[KristinL]

Hi Sarah -

Are you able to work with any of the Observers who use Canvas Parent. I wonder if their user notifications are sent to receive announcement alerts (How do I set my Canvas notification preferences as an observer?‌)

[sarah_franchino]

Hi Kristin,

Yes, I was able to look at a parent app from another teacher who is also a parent in our district. Her notifications were set to receive all announcements but she has not been getting any. Is this something my Canvas admin needs to look at? 

[KristinL]

I would encourage your Canvas Parent user to take a look under Manage Children and look at the notification settings there. Course Announcements and Institution Announcements are listed towards the bottom of the customizable options.

[sarah_franchino]

Kristin,

Thanks, we went into the app and turned notifications on. Does this mean the parents need to have the app in order to get notifications? What if they've just been checking using a computer? The same teacher who turned the announcement permissions on in the app had them turned on when signing in on a computer, and she still was not getting any announcements. 

[KristinL]

If Observers are using the computer (browser), they need to activate their notification preferences. 

How do I set my Canvas notification preferences as an observer?

They can select whether or not they receive an email notification or SMS. These are separate from those set in the Canvas Parent app.

[sarah_franchino]

Right, I understand that. The parent had notification settings active and was still not receiving announcements. How can I be sure that parents are seeing my announcements? Please advise.

[KristinL]

Okay.  

Do you know if they can see the announcements and are not getting a notification? Or are you sending the announcements and they never reach the user?

[sarah_franchino]

From what parents showed me at our back to school night, announcements never reached parents even though we've been sending them weekly.  They also did not receive any notifications.

[KristinL]

Oh, wow. That definitely sounds more than some settings. Are you able to submit a ticket or work with your CSM?

[MattHanes · Accepted solution]

I remember that we had a number of people tell us this last year. I just tried it out myself again by making myself an observer for my own Kindergartner. It appears that all notification for the Parent app are OFF by default. To turn on alerts, the parent has to go into the app, click “Manage Children”, click the student’s name, and then turn on Course announcements. I lamented this issue in my blog post here: https://community.canvaslms.com/groups/cmug/blog/2019/01/16/what-i-would-like-to-see-in-canvas-paren... 

[KristinL]

Ah! That's right! (I'm sorry that I rushed to the notifications...the answer very-well may be right there in Canvas Parent!) Thank you for reminding everyone about that nuance. It's so important!