Faculty Communication in Bruin Learn

Overview

Here are a number of ways to communicate in Bruin Learn.

Notifications

Inbox

Announcements

What are Announcements?
How do I add an announcement in a course?
Announcements Overview (Instructors) (video)

Zoom

Best Practices

Email

Your first communication should be an email sent from the MyUCLA roster.

Refer to the How can I send an email to my class and view the roster before publishing my course site? KB Article for more information.

Use of Announcements

Avoid using Announcements when other communication methods are more appropriate. Bruin Learn already sends notifications for things like grades being posted, etc, so there is no need to also send an Announcement.

If you are sending frequently or time-sensitive announcements, it is important to be aware that students may have their notifications set to send a daily or weekly digests or turned off.

This can result in students not receiving specific announcements in a timely manner or even at all.

It is recommended at the start of the term to clearly outline your communication expectations within the syllabus, homepage or other strategic locations (e.g., if messaging the students is the plan, send the same initial email via UCLA email addresses, within the Bruin Learn Inbox and via the Announcement feature within the course).

Instructors should provide the How do I manage my Canvas notification settings as a student link to students as a resource.

Message Students Who

The Message Students Who option allows you to message students based on specific criteria.

See How do I send a message to students from the Gradebook?

Message subjects are filtered based on specific assignment categories:

Haven't submitted yet—students who haven't submitted the assignment, even if manually awarded a grade.
Haven't been graded—students with assignments that haven't been graded (submitted or unsubmitted).
Scored less than [point value]—students who earned a grade on their assignment less than X number of points.
Scored more than [point value]—students who earned a grade on their assignment more than X number of points.

Although one message sends to multiple students simultaneously, each student will receive an individual message.

You can also message students individually in the Gradebook using the student context card.

See How do I view a context card for a student in a course?