Canvas embeds feedback as an integral component of course design. Let's quickly run through all the locations from which you can provide feedback:

Reply to student discussion posts.
Send messages using Conversations.
Send out an Announcement.
Reply to student comments on your Announcements.
Message students who meet specific criteria.
Write out feedback for specific answers on quizzes.
Leave comments on an assignment through the SpeedGrader.

Many of these have been covered in previous modules, so we're only going to focus on a few of them here.

Message Students Who...

For any assignment in the Gradebook you can specify a group of students and contact them all at once. The students will not be able to see any other recipients (its a blind carbon copy). Navigate to your own Gradebook or refer to the screenshot below for reference.

Screenshot of Gradebook after selecting the option "Message students who."

You have 4 ways to filter who receives this message for the assignment.

Haven't submitted yet: Only contact the students who haven't turned in the assignment yet.
Haven't been graded: Only contact students whose work you are yet to grade.
Scored less than: Only contact students that have a score lower than a number you specify.
Scored more than: Only contact students that have a score higher than the number you specify.

Feedback for Correct/Incorrect Answers

You can embed feedback directly into quiz questions. Feedback can be set to appear to students who answer the question correctly, incorrectly, or feedback can be set to appear regardless of how the student answers. You can even write specific feedback for each answer you provide on the quiz. You provide feedback text while you are creating quiz questions.

Leave Comments in the SpeedGrader

Earlier in this lesson you learned about the components of the SpeedGrader. Now we are going to focus on the Sidebar. The Sidebar allows you to leave feedback in the form of audio, video, or just text. In this example, the student provided a comment along with their initial submission. Replying by text allows you to increase interaction with the student.

screenshot of Comments area in SpeedGrader Sidebar. A student comment reads "I wasn't sure how much you wanted me to write, so I stuck with a few sentences." In the typing field an unfinished comment reads "that's okay. What you wrote was enough." Compared to other learning management systems, Canvas gives you greater freedom to make feedback more like what students would experience in a classroom. Beneath the comment entry box are two buttons. The paperclip button allows you to attach files to your feedback. For example, you have some helpful reading about a topic the student was passionate about in their research project. The film strip button allows you to record feedback as either just audio or audio and video. Students also have the option to leave feedback as text, audio, or video.

Your students are used to seeing you in a physical classroom, and now it doesn't have to be different just because you're online.

Once you select the film strip button, a new window appears over the SpeedGrader. On the left side of the window are tiny icons of a webcam and a microphone, allowing you to switch between video and audio feedback. If you have already recorded feedback you can also use the Upload Media link. Note: Recording feedback directly through Canvas requires Adobe Flash.

screenshot of Speedgrader in Canvas. A circle is drawn around the "record comment" button, and an arrow points from the circle to a popup window. the options for using camera or microphone are circled in the popup window.