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IN > OIEI > ID&S > Step-by-Step Tutorials

Course Messages

Many instructors new to Blackboard wonder why we recommend the internal Course Messages tool for communicating with students rather than just using their NAU e-mail address. The main objection we hear is that you need to go into your online course to see if there are messages. While that is true, you should be checking in on your class regularly in any case, and you can always tell students to contact you by your NAU e-mail in case of emergency.

Accurate Roster: Blackboard maintains an up-to-date roster of everyone enrolled in your class, so if someone adds or drops, it's automatically changed and you don't have to keep a list up to date manually. If you need to send a message to all of your students at once, this is the easiest way.

Missed Messages: You get a lot of e-mail. If you give students your NAU email address, a message might get lost among all of your non-course-related messages. Students also have the ability to send to you from a non-NAU address. If you get a message from fuzzybunny@hotmail.com, a name you don't recognize, you might not open it. Worse, it could end up in your junkmail filter and you might never even see it.

Identity Verification: If you use the internal course messages tool, the student is identified by their actual name, and only students in your course can send you messages here.

Junkmail: You cannot receive messages from outside the system, so there will be no junkmail to filter.

Viruses: Messages from your students that contain attached files are screened for viruses and other forms of malware.

Record Keeping: If there's ever an issue where a student says they sent you a message and you don't recall getting it, or if there is a grade dispute and you need to provide documentation, all messages related to the course are retained within the system when you use the Messages tool.

Organization: Each course contains only messages pertaining to that course, so it's easier to keep track of communications.

There are a few situations where you should use a tool other than the internal Course Messages tool.

Before the Course Opens: Students can not yet access your class until the first day of the class.

After the Course Closes: Students can no longer access the class shortly after the last day of class.

During a Blackboard Outage: Obviously if Blackboard is down, so is the Messages tool. Fortunately that doesn't happen very often.

In any of these situations, use the classlist.nau.edu tool, or send a message from LOUIE. From certain places in Blackboard, such as the Grade Center, you also have the ability to send an email out to a student's external NAU g-mail address, but they won't be able to reply back into the course.