EMAIL: "In [School-101] students are clicking [a link] to content in a different course"... I know! Tell me which student so I can point them to the "self-enroll" link 🤬

Question

I've gotten this email approximately 9000 times in the last two days and it is completely useless. We have a "Program Commons" Canvas shell where we store the worksheets and other documents shared between many classes in the same program. Every course homepage has a "Get Started Here" section with an ordered list, where "* " is the first item. Obviously nobody sees that, or I wouldn't still be getting this email after multiple days, orientations, and "all students" messages later. How do I fix this before I pull out what's left of my hair? Thanks in advance!

JeffCampbell · Accepted Answer

A couple of thoughts: * Are your courses in-person or online? If In-Person, have teachers make this the first thing they address after introducing the class. If online, but there are live virtual sessions, make it something addressed early. * For either option, make enrolling into the other class a required assignment on day 1. Maybe make it a low number of points. They need a screenshot showing they are enrolled to earn the credit. * How visually big is the item in the Get Started Here section? Consider making it the very first item ABOVE Get Started, with clear markers. Maybe even setting it apart with color. Go into the HTML editor and add the code below at the very top of the code. Then back out of the HTML editor and put your message with link where "INSERT CONTENT" sits. Change the background color if desired, maybe even put a giant stop sign image at the beginning. Essentially, make it so that it becomes painfully obvious who is not paying attention.

INSERT CONTENT

You won't get them all, but maybe some of this might help reduce the number of emails you get. You could combine all three to really drive it home: massive visual alert as soon as they enter the course, a graded assignment on the first day of class, and teachers verbally instructing them on top of it. Anyone who misses all of this then becomes a 1-on-1 discussion point of why it was not done.

Hildi_Pardo · Accepted Answer

To add to @JeffCampbell 's suggestions, I like to edit the Page where the "culprit" link is and clarify the information directly on that page — something like:   "If you are unable to access the resources on this page, make sure you have first enrolled in XYZ course" — then either add the self-enroll code right there on that page, or a link to steps for enrolling.       That won't eliminate the warning message, but might reduce the number of emails.