Canvas as a meeting place — ways of communication

Latest revision 22-01-26

 

We know that learning happens via communication with others, it’s therefore important to create good communication-possibilities in the courses. Because of this it’s important that we facilitate the sharing of thoughts and ideas between teachers and students, as well as between students and students, when we build our course.   

Think about what type of communication you seek and what purpose it has when choosing what activates and tools to use. In canvas there are multiple of possibilities for communication. We also need to think what the information is about, and if it’s one-way or two-way and synchronous or asynchronous (read more about this at the bottom of this page).

 

Ways of communication in Canvas

In Canvas there are multiple ways to send messages: Announcements, Discussions, and Inbox/Conversations. The default setting is that every user gets a message when something is happening in the course, so called Notifications.

Announcements 

One-way communication. One to many. Asynchronous communication.

An announcement goes to the students and teachers of a specific course. When you punlish an announcemnt a notification is sent to the inbox and the email yoou’ve connected with your profile. Announcmnents are put on the top of the home page.

You need to select if Announcements will be visible or not, which you do in the Navigation tab in Settings.

 

Discussions

Two-way communication. Asynchronous communication.

In discussions you can create subjects with different themes. You can choose if a discussion will be accessible so that all students can see all comments and shared files or if the material only is accessible on group level.

When you want the students to read each other’s works you can ask them to put their work in a discussion thread and give their comments that way. An other option is to check the box Peer review when creating an assignment and select how many assignments each student will comment on.

 

Inbox

One to many or one to one. Asynchronous communication

Is used to send messages in a course. When you send a message via the Inbox you start a Conversation.

The layout of the Inbox is similar to that of an email, but it doesn’t work in the same way. Via the Inbox you’re only able to send messages to the students and teachers that are part of your courses. 

When you’re the receiver of a conversation a notification is sent to the email connected to your profile.

 

Notifications

When a messages is sent or something is happening in your Canvas course; assignments, collaborations etc, you get, in the default setting, a notification sent to the connected email address. You can easily choose which notification you want to receive. Notifications can also be adjusted by course or completely turned off. 

 

Chat

With the chat function you and your students can have a conversation in real time.

 

Ways of communication

  • One-way/two-way communication
    • One-way communication - the message is one way, only the sender can get out a messages
    • Two-way communication - more people interact, creating an interplay in the group.
  • One to many/one to one
  • Synchronous/asynchronous communication,
    • Synchronous - real time communication, e.g. chat, video meetings, and lectures
    • Asynchronous communication - interactions not dependant on time, e.g. discussions and email.