Send a Final Announcement

Send a Canvas announcement to communicate with students about important dates and final deadlines.

Basic Template

Title: 🎉 Wrapping Up Our Semester – Important Final Steps & Dates

Dear Students,

As we approach the end of our course, I want to thank you for your hard work and dedication throughout the semester. Here are the final steps you'll need to take to wrap up successfully.

Final To-Do List & Important Dates

• Final Assignment: [Assignment Name, linked to assignment] is due by [due date].
• Course Evaluation: Complete the [Course Eval Name, linked to assignment] by [due date].
• Course in Read-Only Mode: After [course end date & time], the course will be in a read-only state. You will not be able to submit assignments, post discussions, or upload files.

Accessing Your Final Grades and Feedback

• Final Grades: Grades and feedback will be available by [insert date].
• Finding Past Courses in Canvas: After the course ends, it will move from your Dashboard to the "Courses" section of the main Canvas navigation menu. (How do I view all my Canvas courses as a student? ) Links to an external site.

Communicating After the Course Ends

• Please note that you won’t be able to contact me through the Canvas Inbox after the course end date. If you need to contact me after the course end date you may do so via email. My email address is included below.

Thank you again for a wonderful semester. Wishing you all the best in your future endeavors!

Warm regards,
[Name]
[email]

How announcements will look to students

• In Canvas students will see the announcement--including any embedded videos and images--exactly as you see it.
• In email notifications Canvas removes embedded videos and images, but retains text (including emoji's 😊 and most formatting) and links. 
  
  

Ensuring students receive announcements

• Whether or not students receive your announcements depends on their own notification settings.
• Additionally students will not receive notifications for announcements after the course end date. (So if you want to send a follow up about final grades they won't be notified.)
• One way to increase the chances of students seeing the final announcement is to show recent announcements at the top of the homepage, ensuring students see them when logging into the course. (How do I show recent announcements in the Course Home Page?)
  1. 1. Go to the main Settings menu item at the bottom left course menu.
     2. From there, scroll down and select the “more options” link at the bottom.
     3. You’ll then see further course options - select the box next to “Show recent announcements…” and then choose how many to display. Choose to display 1 announcement if you only want to display the final announcement. (In general, 3 is probably the max you'll want to display.)
     4. Save your choices by clicking “Update Course Details”.