A Slack Course Workspace is a specialized communication platform created through the integration of Slack and Canvas, designed specifically for academic courses. This workspace is automatically linked to a course's roster in Canvas, allowing instructors to manage membership based on the students enrolled in the course.

Key features of a Slack Course Workspace include:

• Integration with Canvas: The workspace is generated through Canvas, ensuring that membership is directly tied to the course's People page, which simplifies user management.
• Time-Controlled Access: These workspaces are temporary and will automatically archive 6 months after the course ends, aligning with university retention policies.
• Availability: Slack Course Workspaces are available to all academic courses.

Instructors and teaching assistants have administrative privileges within the workspace, allowing them to create channels for various purposes, such as course announcements, logistics, and student collaboration. This setup fosters an organized environment for communication and collaboration among students and faculty

Messaging platforms like Slack are increasingly familiar to students and serve as effective tools for enhancing course communications. Slack can be utilized for various educational purposes, including:

• Sending reminders: Instructors can use Slack to notify students about important announcements, deadlines, or assignments, ensuring that everyone stays informed.
• Virtual office hours: Educators can establish dedicated channels for office hours, allowing students to ask questions and engage in discussions, similar to in-person interactions.
• Real-time and asynchronous interaction: Slack supports both live conversations and asynchronous communication, enabling students to connect and collaborate at their convenience.
• Information archiving: Slack automatically archives conversations, allowing students to easily search through channel histories to find relevant discussions and resources when needed.

These features make Slack a versatile platform for fostering communication and collaboration within academic settings.

Slack Course Workspaces are established through the integration of Slack and Canvas, utilizing a tool called CourseBot. To initiate a Slack Course Workspace, an instructor or teaching assistant must first activate the Slack functionality within their Canvas course site. This process involves the following steps:

1. Enable the Slack button in the Canvas course navigation menu
2. Click on the newly added Slack button
3. Review and acknowledge the FERPA information
4. Create the Workspace by clicking the designated button
5. Once created, the Slack Course Workspace becomes a powerful tool for course communication

Once created, the Slack Course Workspace becomes a powerful tool for course communication and collaboration. It's important to note that only users with Teacher or TA roles in the Canvas academic course site have the ability to create an associated Slack Course Workspace. After the workspace is generated, instructors and students can access it through various methods, including the Slack Desktop App, Web App, or directly through the Canvas course site. This integration streamlines the process of setting up a course-specific communication platform, enhancing the overall learning experience

To learn how to create default channels and Slack best practices for instruction, please visit this KB article: Slack in a Canvas course

For support please contact xcite-help@ucr.edu