Canvas messaging

[elainew]

Is it possible for an Observer/Parent to message their student through Canvas?  Looking for alternative messaging options since we will not be allowing cell phones next year.

[NoahBoswell]

Hi there @elainew ,

Thanks for asking on the Instructure Community!

While the canvas admin of your school's canvas environment can change who you're able to message using the Canvas inbox, after doing some testing it appears that parents are always able to message the students they're paired to as an observer with. So the short answer would be yep, you should be able to with no problems!

Hope this helps,
Noah

[elainew]

I'm not overly familiar with the Parent app, but when I pair with a student, go to Inbox, and click the + to compose a message, it says Choose a course to message

[NoahBoswell]

Hi @elainew ,

I apologize, I didn't know you were using the parent app. On the browser version of Canvas, it appears to be a much simpler process than on the mobile app.

On the mobile app, you will need to select the class first, and then follow the steps that you stated before. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a much easier way to just message your student, unless you create one conversation with them and just use that one throughout the entire year, however I don't really find that to be too ideal.

- Noah