How can a student send a message to another student in a different section?

[englishskills50]

I have been forced to have one class with two section numbers, so the system created two entirely separate shells. I would like students to be able to send a message to students from the other shell, but it appears they can't. How can I enable this?

[nwilson7 · Accepted solution]

It sounds like you really don't want the course to have two separate sections so I would suggest Cross-listing them which puts them into one shell and as long as it is not setup where students can only interact with their section, they are all part of the same group then.

https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10791-421473681 

[kmeeusen]

Hi  @englishskills50  

 @nwilson7  's answer is spot on, but keep in mind that many schools to not permit faculty to cross-list due to FERPA requirements, and restrict what courses or sections can be cross-listed.  learn more at https://community.canvaslms.com/message/42010-new-ferpa-requirements-for-cross-listed-courses?sr=sea... 

If you do not have the functionality described in the guide that Nick referenced, then you will need to talk to your Canvas admin and see if your sections can be cross-listed within school policy.

Kelley