| Tool Name with Article Link | Ask & Share Forum (Included in Course Template) | Bulk Moodle messaging (Participants page) | Bulk Email through Self Service (MyClackamas Portal) | Quickmail block (third party plugin) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Guide | Ideal for course announcements that are not time sensitive. These can be seen by ALL students in a visible Moodle course. | Ideal for sending the same message to contact many students at once and allow for one-on-one follow up messages inside Moodle. | Ideal for sending the same message to contact ALL students at once. Also allows for one-on-one follow up emails outside Moodle. | Ideal for sending the same message to selected or all students at once. Also allows for one-on-one follow up messages outside Moodle. |
| Will students receive an email? | If course is available to students, those who are currently enrolled in the course will receive an email. | Students may or may not receive an email depending on their message preferences. | Regardless of Course visibility, students who are currently enrolled will receive an email. | Regardless of Course visibility, students who are currently enrolled in Moodle will receive an email. |
| How long does it take for this message to send? | Depending on student's forum preferences they should receive an email for each post or in Digest form for all posts in all classes before the next evening. | Instant message in Moodle if the student is online. May or may not receive an email depending on the student's message preferences. | Almost instant email. | Almost instant email. |
| Can you schedule your message for a later date? | Yes, you can set the display period of a Discussion Post so it will not show till after that date. | No. | Partially, you can use Delay Delivery in Outlook to schedule the email to be sent on a specific date, but beware that it will not update the list of recipients. | Yes, you can schedule your email to be sent on a specific date. |
| Can a student reply to you directly? | Partially, The Ask & Share forum does allow students to post and reply to the forum for you and all students to see. | Yes, students can respond within Moodle Messaging interface. | Yes, students can reply back to just you via email reply. | Yes, students can reply back to just you via email reply. |
| Can late enrollments view this message? | Partially, while they won’t get the email the message is still posted in the course on Moodle. | No. | No. | No, but the message is kept on record so you can easily resend it to new arrivals. |
| Is this message stored in the course archives? | Within a Moodle course and saved as part of course archives. | Within the Moodle site – not connected to specific course. | Exists in your sent folder in Outlook. | Within a Moodle course in the Quickmail block, but if the block is deleted you may not have access to your past messages. |