Including Student email and name in "messages to observers" from Gradebook or New Analytics.

[patfm]

In 2022 it became possible to message observers matched to students from the Gradebook.  We use this feature to message academic observers (advisors) or students.  However, there is no way to automatically include the names and/or emails of the relevant students--even though the relevant students are shown in a list.   We would like either A.) the automatic inclusion of all the student names and emails in the body of the message or B.) an easy way to copy and paste the relevant students to the body of the message.  We want to use this feature to provide an easy way for teachers to notify the observers of the students who perform below a certain grade for a test or assignment.  If an academic observer has lots of student performing poorly, that currently requires a lot of typing of names into the text of the message.   If any school has already figured out a workaround for this, we would be very interested.  Firefox allows a 'copy and paste' option (right click) but it can only 'copy and paste' what is showing.  If the list is long, you have to do multiple 'copy and paste' operations and then the only option is to then attach the images to the email.   Chrome does not have a copy and paste option.  

[dbrace]

Hi @patfm,

Have you tried using the "Message Students who" feature (as described within How do I send a message to students from the Gradebook?) to message observers?

If observers are connected/paired with a student, when using "Message Students who", there should be an option to place a checkmark next to the name of an observer if the criteria used with the "Message Students who" feature applies to a specific student.

Please refer to How do I send a message to students from the Gradebook? for help with that feature.

Does that help?

-Doug

[patfm]

We are using the "message students who" feature, but if there are many students in the list of students who, let's say, score below a certain threshold, there is no way to include the entire list of students to send to the academic observer from this "message students who" functionality.  It works fine, if you have a one to one ratio of student to observer or even two to one, but if an observer has 20 students, there is no way to to include that full list in the message.   In this scenario, we are not sending any message to the students, we are just wanting to notify the academic observers of the students who need special attention.

[dbrace]

Thank you for the additional context, @patfm, and I apologize for not fully understanding what you originally posted.

Based on everything that you have said, unless someone else in the Community has a suggestion (whether supported or not and whether custom-developed or not), you will need to submit this as an idea and I would encourage you to head over to Canvas Ideas. You can refer to https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructure-Community-Guide/tkb-p/community#Ideas for more information about the process.

You may also want to review It’s Time for Your Feedback on the Future of Ideas & Themes (2024-10-18) and Thank You for Your Feedback on Ideas and Themes (2024-11-21) for information about how the Ideas / Themes process will be changing in the future.

-Doug