Each topic contains an Announcements forum. Only staff members are able to post into this forum and students will be sent an email copy of each message posted into this forum, assuming that they have not disabled email notifications in their personal preferences. Posting an announcement is an easy and reasonably effective way to communicate important information to students.
You could post an announcement:
when students get access to the topic (usually 1 week prior to topic commencement), as a welcome/orientation
when assessment item due dates are approaching, to support students being on task
when a guest lecturer is presenting, to encourage students to attend
Post an announcement – steps
In your topic, locate the Announcements forum (usually in module 0)
Click on Add a new topic
Enter a Subject and Message
Select Pinned (under Advanced, see image above) if you'd like the message pinned to the top of the list
Select Post instantly (under Advanced, see image above) if you'd like the message to be emailed and made visible to students instantly. If post instantly is not selected, the post
will be emailed 15 minutes later, giving you time to correct any mistakes you make after posting (depending on the students forum email digest settings in their profile)
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