The instructions for the hands-on assignment on Discussions did not include some of the other options for this tool. These additional options allow for assessment of Discussions and greater control over how and when students use them.
Like content tools, a Discussion can be set as published or unpublished (draft) to control visibility by students. Discussions can be set to be available at a particular time, which encourages time on task by limiting the period students can contribute to a particular topic. Note that a Discussion added to a Module inherits the Module's date restrictions and contributions can be set as a Module requirement. Once its availability ends it can be read but not replied to. A Discussion can be locked manually at any time.
Canvas distinguishes between "threaded" and "focused" discussions. The difference is that focused discussions only allow two layers of nesting (a response to the prompt and one reply) whereas threaded discussions allow for as many layers as the participants use. You can also decide whether students have to post to the discussion before seeing their classmates' replies.
A Discussion can be pinned, which will keep it at the top of the Discussions page. Liking can be allowed, giving participants a chance to indicate which posts they think are the best. The discussion can be sorted by likes. Group Discussions can be created, which provides a valuable online space for group projects.
Finally, discussions can be graded. A rubric can be added for grading. For some students, making discussion a part of the class grade will encourage them to make participation a higher priority.
While discussions provide an excellent tool for discourse within the class, there is also a need for personal communications. Students and instructors may have confidential questions or a need to exchange information that the rest of the class does not need to see. Also a user might want to send a message to a group of classmates. The Inbox tool meets those needs, and it is accessed via the Inbox link In Global Navigation.
Users can decide how they receive notice that they have a new Inbox message. Notifications settings include Inbox and the default setting is to email immediately when there is a new message in the Inbox. This can be changed to use a text message. In email, a user can reply to the Inbox message from the external email. Also the Inbox icon changes to indicate that a user has new Inbox messages
A final benefit of using the Inbox tool is for a fully online class. If the instructor has decided that Inbox is part of the way that regular and effective contact is being conducted in the class, the fact that the Inbox tool retains copies of sent messages makes it easy to document its use for this purpose. How regular and effective contact is conducted is an academic and professional matter.
NOTE: The Canvas "Conversations" Inbox is being shortened to just "Inbox."
Tools like Discussion, Announcements, and the Calendar are all ways of communicating asynchronously with students, meaning not at the same time. Asynchronous communication helps online courses fulfill their potential in the area of expanding access, as the tyranny of time is often why students take online classes.
Canvas also offers options for synchronous communication. This places the instructor and students (or just students in some cases) in the same online location where they can immediately respond to each other, as they can in a face-to-face classroom. The Chat tool is a primitive always-on, text-only page within Canvas that anyone enrolled in a class can use. The option to add or remove Chat to Course Navigation is available on the Settings page. Note that all comments posted to the Chat tool are recorded and they cannot be deleted. Should something be posted to the Chat tool, there is no provision for editing or removing the post.
Zoom is integrated into Canvas. It is an easy-to-use web conferencing tool that works with Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Linux, allowing users to connect via video, audio, and/or screen sharing remotely from any location. Faculty can use Zoom to teach an entire class synchronously online, or to facilitate breakout meetings with one or more students. Additionally, students and staff can utilize Zoom to facilitate meetings with peers, colleagues, and other campuses locally, nationally, or internationally. For more see https://its.sdsu.edu/web-conferencing/. Links to an external site.
The student users enrolled in your Canvas courses are populated into courses by SDSU's enrollment services system.
Within a class there are several tools related to user management. On the People page you can see a list of enrolled students and perform actions including viewing your interactions with an individual student and a student's activity within a course.
On the People page is also a link to the Groups tool, which you can use to divide a class into groups for projects. Options there include setting up groups automatically or manually, letting students self-enroll in groups, and assign a student leader to a Group.
The Collaborations tool can be combined with Groups to make a work space in Google Docs that can be used for those students to work together on a project for class. Note that it requires that each collaborator have a Google account which they would connect to their Canvas login. Instructors can also create a Collaboration and invite specific students to participate.
Tracking whether students come to class is part of user management, and Canvas has a tool for that called Attendance. Students cannot see the Attendance link if added to Course Navigation, though the tool does create a grade entry that is updated immediately as the instructor takes attendance.
