It is important to stay up-to-date with your child's academic information. Canvas will send email notifications to your email address (the one you used to set up your Observer account) about various updates in your child's classes. Getting the right balance of notifications is key to making sure that you are up-to-date, but not overwhelmed with a flood of notifications! Watch the video below about where to find and change your notification settings, then check out our list of recommended notification settings for GHO Parents/Observers.
Adjust the Notification Settings
- Click on the "Account" icon on the global menu (the blue ribbon menu on the left-hand side)
- Click on "Notifications"
- Scroll through the list of options that you can be notified about, and toggle the icon on the right-hand side to select your preference (i.e., Notify immediately, Daily summary, Weekly summary, or Notifications off)
GHO-recommended notification settings for Observer accounts
Your individual preferences for how often you would like to receive email notifications and how quickly you would like to be notified about various Canvas course updates should dictate what you would like your notification settings to be! We have a couple recommendations to help you stay on track of some of the important happenings in Canvas. This list is not comprehensive, but includes a few of the key things to be aware of.
Category |
Recommended Setting |
Why? |
Announcement | Immediate | Teachers and administrators use course announcements to help families stay up-to-date with important information. An immediate notification might help you be aware of any important happenings. |
Grading | Daily Summary or Weekly Summary | Parents should regularly check in on their child's grades, but getting immediate notifications every time a teacher adjusts a grade will likely lead to too many emails! Keep that balance by just getting a daily summary, or a weekly summary if you prefer. |
Submission Comment | Immediate or Daily Summary | Feedback is key! Keeping up with Submission Comments (which are the comments that teachers leave on assignments) is very important-- sometimes teachers will use assignment comments to communicate information about the assignment that needs to be know quickly. For example, if your child has accidentally uploaded the wrong assignment and needs to re-submit, you want to know and correct this quickly, and not be trying to search for that assignment a week later! An immediate notification might help you stay on track with those important comments, although a daily summary might help you keep balance in your inbox, depending on your preferences. |
More Information
For introduction information on Canvas, please see Getting Started with Canvas or Scholars.
For more information on how to use Canvas, please see the Scholar Information & Resources > Canvas section of the Help Center.