Question of the Week
Each week we'll use this space to share a question (or more!) that we've received about Quercus and other Academic Toolbox tools.
This week's question is: "Can I send a Quercus announcement to my students after the course has ended?"
This Week's Faculty Question
Q: Am I able to send announcements out this term to students in my course from last term? I tried doing this, to get their input on a particular question I had for them, but I did not get a single response! I am wondering if that announcement actually did get sent out.
A: As the course instructor, you can still send a course announcement to your students after the course ends. However, if the course ended over one month ago, it will be in a 'read-only' state for students. That means that students won't receive a notification about a new announcement being posted in the course. They can still access the course in Quercus and view the announcement there. However, the course will now appear under Past Enrolments and will no longer be displayed on their Dashboard. That means that students would have to navigate to Courses > All Courses > Past Enrollments to access the course and announcements, which they may be unlikely to do on their own.
Below are some work-arounds you could try to increase the likelihood of your students seeing your message.
Send students a message via the Quercus Inbox
You could still use the Inbox tool to message the students with the content of your announcement or to let them know that there's an announcement in your course that they have to navigate to for viewing. For instructions on using the Inbox tool, please refer to the following Canvas instructor guide:
NOTE: Instructors can continue to message students via the Inbox tool for up to one year following the session end date. This is when instructor access moves into read-only mode and this window cannot be extended. For additional information on Quercus course states for students and instructors, please see the following page from the Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation (CTSI):
Extend the course end dates temporarily and send an announcement
As an alternative, you can also temporarily extend the end date for your course. This will take the course out of 'read-only' state for students and work to push out a notification about your announcement. Keep in mind, however, that this still requires students to have their notifications turned on for announcements. For instructions on extending your course end date, please have a look at our guide:
Send students an email
You can send your message directly via email. To do that, you need to first download a class roster that includes student emails, and then email students directly via your U of T email client. For instructions on downloading a class roster with student emails, please have a look at our guide:
For additional assistance with announcements and other course communication tools, please contact the EdTech Office or book a consultation.
Have a Quercus (or EdTech) question? Please contact FASE's EdTech Office.
