Emails to students through the Canvas Grade Book

[dannycain]

One of the aggravating issues I have experienced with Canvas is that an instructor is not able to send an email to any student or group of students directly from the Canvas grade book.  I understand there have been some changes made in the grade book that should be taking place this January.  Will we as instructors have a means to send an email message directly to a specific student or group of students through the grade book?

Dan Cain

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hello dannycain...

In the New Gradebook, you can follow the directions in this Guide: How do I send a message to students from the New Gradebook?.

However, I want to clarify something related to your question.  You mention the word "email" a few times in your question.  Canvas does not have e-mail.  It has messaging via the Canvas Inbox.  Even though all user accounts in Canvas require having an e-mail address tied to an account, the way students choose to receive messages via Canvas can vary greatly from one person to the next.  This is all controlled by individual students in their "Notifications" screen.  https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10624-4212710344  Students can choose how they want to be notified (e-mail, text message to cell phone, Twitter, etc.) and then set the frequency of those notifications.  So, it is entirely possible that a student may choose to only get notified of Canvas events via text message and have all e-mail notifications turned off...while at the same time another student may want to have e-mail notifications turned on for some things and not other things.  It's all a matter of personal preference.  So, even though you may want to send a message through the New Gradebook, your students will most likely receive that message in a variety of ways (not just e-mail) depending on their own personal settings.  I hope this helps, Danny.

[dannycain]

Thank you for this response. I do use the option you have mentioned in my online courses. However, I do wish I could just put a check in a student’s name in from my grade book and have access means to send that individual student an inbox message. This ability is something Canvas should try and work on. It is not one of the contact options you mentioned, all that I was also aware of. I do appreciate your very thorough response. Canvas is a great LMS, but what I am asking about would be such a needed system improvement. Right now I have to go to either PEOPLE or my Inbox tool to send a direct message from what I am saying.

Dan Cain

Sent from my iPhone

[Stef_retired]

dannycain, you can indeed send a direct message to any student right from the New Gradebook. Just click on the student's name (from the left column) and a grade detail tray for the student will pop up at the right. Click on the envelope that displays to the right of the student's name to bring up a message modal box, then compose and send the message. 

[dannycain]

Stephanie Sanders,

I am currently teaching online classes using Canvas. I have gone to my gradebooks, clicked on the student’s name on the left column. Yes, a grade detail tray is now shown including all area of the student’s grades. I believe I have always been able to see this. However, there is no letter icon or anything else that I have been able to find in order for me to bring up a message modal box for sending a message directly to that student. I really do not know why I am not seeing this and need some direction. Please call my office and maybe you can better guide me as to where this message center is accessible from our gradebook, My office phone is [phone number redacted to preserve privacy].

Dan Cain

[Stef_retired]

dannycain‌, you'll find the documentation for this functionality in How do I view a context card for a student in a course? . The lesson starts with, "If your institution has enabled student context cards..." and that's the key: your local Canvas admin will need to enable student context cards at the account level before you and your fellow instructors can use that feature, so please reach out to them for additional guidance.

[dannycain]

Thank you and yes, I will visit with our Canvas Master I T person.

Dan Cain

[Stef_retired]

Also, Danny, since the posts in this forum are visible to anyone on the web, I removed your phone number to preserve your privacy.