Top 3 Ways to Use Announcements 

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As the semester continues, we want to keep exploring ways to effectively communicate with students. We’ve talked about three tips for writing clear content. And today, we’re looking at one of the areas to apply those principles – the Canvas Announcements tool. These tips below are suggestions to boost communication and support your students throughout the course.  

Manage your students’ expectations regularly 

If you want to do more than provide textual guidance, you can embed video from Kaltura. Providing a video or audio announcement adds a personal dimension that many students enjoy. Finally, you can pre-program your announcements and then delay them from posting. Keep students engaged by using announcements to frame student expectations. 

Provide a course interaction schedule 

Adopt a course interaction schedule and post it as an announcement. A course interaction schedule is like “office hours.” Providing a weekly schedule of when you will be available or working on the class helps students understand your teaching rhythm and when they can expect you to be grading or answering their questions. Otherwise, students will expect that you are working all the time. 

Set the week’s spiritual tone 

Use the announcement tool to add a devotion or testimony that flows with the content for the week. Connecting the course with the eternal purposes of Christ connects students to the eternal purposes for their time in the course and their time and Cedarville. 

How do you use announcements? 

Editor’s Note: Originally published May 22, 2019, updated to add information about Kaltura.

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