Using Announcements in ISU Canvas

This article provides instructions on how to use the Announcement tool in ISU Canvas at Idaho State University (ISU).

Announcements are designed to provide instructors with a method of broadcasting information to all members of a course.

• Sending an Announcement
• Attaching a File to an Announcement
• Editing or Deleting an Announcement That Has Been Published
• Student Access
• Subscribing to an Announcement
• Sending an Announcement Before the Course Starts
• Copying Announcements to Another Course
• Additional Information

1. In Course Navigation, click the Announcements link.
2. Click the Add Announcement button.
3. Type a title for the announcement in the topic title field and add content in the Rich Content Editor. You can also attach a file.
4. To add an announcement to your course, click the Attach link, then select a file. To download the attached file, click the file name link. To delete the attachment, hover the cursor over the link and click the Delete icon.
5. In the Options section, you can select various options for your announcement. 
   1. Click the Allow Participants to Comment checkbox to allow other uses to reply to the Announcement.
   2. To prevent users from replying to replies, click the Disallow threaded replies checkbox.
   3. To require students to reply to the discussion before they can see any other replies, click the participants must respond to the topic before viewing other replies checkbox.
6. By default, the announcement displays immediately after you publish it, and it displays for the duration of the course unless you delete it. However, you can set display dates for the announcement.
   1. To delay the posting of your announcement until a specific date or during a specific date range, enter the dates in the Available from field and Until field, or click the calendar icons to select dates.
   2. To add a time, click the Time drop-down menu. You can enter a time or select a time from the drop-down menu.
   3. To reset the date and time fields, click the Reset button.
   4. Note: You are not required to enter dates in both availability fields. If you want to delay your posting but want it to appear indefinitely, you can leave the Until field blank. If there is no Until date, the announcement will remain visible.
7. Click the Publish button.
8. Note: Unless the announcement has been set up to become available at a later date and time, once you click the Publish button, the announcement is immediately posted in the course.

1. In Course Navigation, click the Announcements link.
2. Click the Add Announcement button.
3. Click the Attach link in the lower, left corner.
4. Choose the file you want to attach, and click the Open button.
5. Click the Publish button.

Editing an Announcement

1. In Course Navigation, click the Announcements link.
2. Click the name of the announcement.
3. Click the Options icon, and click the Edit link.
4. Edit the necessary announcement fields.
5. Click the Save button.
6. If you want to save your edits without notifying students, click the Save and Don't Send button.
7. If you want to notify your students about the change, click the Send button.

Deleting an Announcement

1. In Course Navigation, click the Announcements link.
2. To delete an announcement from the index page, locate the announcement. Click the Options icon and click the Delete link.
3. To delete multiple announcements at a time, click the checkboxes next to each of the announcements you wish to delete, then click the Delete icon.

As soon as an instructor creates an announcement, Canvas takes care of notifying students according to their preferred notification settings. There are also unread and read indicators next to the announcements. By default, Canvas will send your announcement via email to all participants within the course. To select specific participants for the announcement, click the Post to drop-down menu and select students from the list provided.

Student Access

• Notifications of posted announcements will be sent to students' isu.edu email account.
• Students may receive push notifications to their mobile device if they have enabled it in their notification settings.
• Note: Individuals can manage how they receive notifications and the notification frequency. To learn more about each notification, default settings, and notification triggers, view the Canvas Notifications resource document (external link).
• Students can also view announcements and threaded replies (if allowed) within the course by clicking the Announcements index page in Course Navigation.

Student Replies to Announcements

• By default, replies are not allowed in announcements, unless the Allow Participants to Comment checkbox is selected. Student replies are not considered to be a conversation and do not appear in the Canvas Inbox.
• Note: The Allow Participants to Comment option is persistent, meaning the option you select when creating or editing an announcement will carry over when new announcements are created in the course.

↑ Back to Top

Instructors can receive notifications for announcement activity by subscribing to the announcement. 

1. Click the Subscribe icon . You are automatically subscribed to any announcements you create or reply to.
2. To unsubscribe, click the Subscribe icon again.
3. By default, replies are not allowed in announcements, unless the Allow Participants to Comment checkbox is selected. Student replies are not considered to be a conversation and do not appear in the Canvas Inbox.
4. Note: The Allow Participants to Comment option is persistent, meaning the option you select when creating or editing an announcement will carry over when new announcements are created in the course.

↑ Back to Top

• Your course must be published for students to receive announcement notifications. Notifications are not sent for announcements created before the course has been published.
• If an announcement is created before the course start date and the Students can only participate in a course between these dates setting is enabled, students will not receive announcement notifications.
• Note: You can create and que your announcements before the course starts by setting a future date and time.

↑ Back to Top

• As an instructor, you can copy individual announcements in one course directly into any active course in which you are enrolled. You can also send announcements to other instructors (external link) at your institution.
• When you copy an announcement, any assets within that announcement (images, files, etc.) will be included in the announcement copy. Announcement settings, including delay posting dates are also included in the announcement copy. See How do I copy an announcement to another course? (external link) for more information.

• What are Announcements? (external link) and How do I add an announcement in a course? (external link)
• How do I view and sort announcement replies as an instructor? (external link)
• To learn how to view all your course announcements, see How do I use the Announcements Index page? (external link)
• How do I manage my Canvas notification settings? (external link)

• Chat with Canvas Support for Faculty (external link)
• Canvas Instructor Guides (external link)
• Visit the ITRC Portal for answers to common questions (external link)
• For additional assistance email AnswersITRC@isu.edu (external link)