Canvas's announcements are useful because, by default, they automatically send a notification to the student's Lasell email when posted. This makes them ideal for class cancellation emergencies, overall course adjustments, or whole class communication. You can do this through Canvas's inbox as well, but you might have to sort through Canvas messages to find the communication. Announcements offer an easy-to-sort record of all your course announcements throughout the semester.

Note: Students can control their own notifications, so you might want to remind them at the beginning of the semester to ensure 1) their notifications for announcements are turned on and 2) they aren't filtering Canvas notifications into their "other" inbox.

Here's a video tutorial which shows how you can communicate with students using the announcements feature:

Announcements Recommendations

By default, you do not get a copy of announcements you send through Canvas. If you want to receive a record of the announcement in your email, you can change your Canvas notifications so that Canvas notifies you. Also, at Lasell, instructors aren't currently able to open up announcements for comments. You can allow users to "like" replies, but if you want to create a forum for back and forth conversation, we recommend setting up an ungraded discussion forum in your modules, or using the chat tool. Here are some guides with some step-by-step screenshots about how you can manage announcements in Canvas: