There are many options for class communication. When deciding which tool to use, consider:
- Are you giving the class information (one-way communication)?
- Do you want students to respond to you and each other?
- Do you want students to be able to reference the information at a later time?
Canvas is UT Austin's web-based learning management system (LMS). We offer a very brief overview of some of the more popular options here, but please visit the Canvas guides for more in depth explanations and options available.
- Inbox is a messaging tool, similar in function to email, that can be used by anyone in a course to communicate. Instructors are able to send messages to the entire class, individual sections, groups, TAs, or individual students.
- Pros: Inbox keeps the conversation thread within Canvas so you can reference it at a later time without having to keep track in your regular UT email. Because it links to students and TAs in the course, you don’t have to keep track of individual email addresses. And, any messages sent by a student can be set to show up in your UT email so you don’t have to be in Canvas to communicate with students.
- Cons: You do have to be in Canvas to see the email thread; each new message that appears in your UT email does not contain the previous emails, too. Although you can send a message to the entire class, students report difficulty keeping track of that email message, especially if they need the information at a later time.
- Announcements allow the instructor to broadcast information related to course content (e.g., reminders, changes to syllabus, expectations for an assignment). Unless you delete announcements, they remain within the Canvas course and are listed by title and date.
- Pros: Students reportedly have an easier time locating and referencing information in Announcements, as compared to Inbox. Instructors can post announcements as videos or as texts with file attachments. If a student adds the course after the first day of class, you can direct the student to review the announcements to catch up and not have to dig through your inbox to forward previous whole-class messages.
- Cons: This is not an effective way to communicate with individual students. Although students can reply to announcements, their communication to you does not show up in your inbox/UT email.
- Discussions allow for interactive, bi-directional communication among participants of a course. Discussions can be used for general communication or as a graded assignment.
- Pros: Discussions in Canvas encourage students to interact with each other. The Discussions can be open to the entire class, restricted to sections, or set up for small groups at the discretion of the instructor. Additionally, discussions can be set up for short-term posts (Focused) or longer, cumulative discussions over time (Threaded).
- Cons: Instructors need to be proactive in setting expectations for the type of communication that is accepted within discussions to keep it a safe and respectful environment for all students. It can be more time intensive for instructors and TAs to monitor and/or grade student responses.
Slack is a group chat service that has computer, web and mobile options. It is used in many newsrooms and technical-oriented businesses. It is easy to invite students to a “Team” and use “Channels” to organize classes or group discussions. It is especially useful in technical situations where students and faculty share code and files.
- Pros: Slack is easy to use and common in industry so many students are already familiar (or should become familiar) with it. It allows both private and public conversations. You can control who can create both public and private channels.
- Cons: Slack is not run by the university. If you want to control access after a class ends, you have to manage user accounts.
Teams is a Microsoft product that offers workspace chat, videoconferencing, file storage, and application integration. UT supports and manages the platform.
- Pros: All faculty, staff, and students are automatically provisioned with an Outlook account giving them access to Teams. Faculty and staff accounts use “@austin.utexas.edu.” Student accounts use “@my.utexas.edu.”
- Cons: Many students prefer to use their Google-based “@utexas.edu” email accounts which cannot be used to access Teams.
