Canvas includes a helpful “Students in Need of Attention” feature within Course Analytics that allows instructors to quickly identify and reach out to students who may be struggling or disengaged. Accessible from the Course Navigation menu, this tool provides a snapshot of which students meet certain engagement or performance criteria, making it easier to intervene early and offer support before issues escalate.

Instructors can customize what “needs attention” means for their specific course by selecting Edit Criteria within Course Analytics. From there, they can set thresholds based on factors such as last page view, last participation activity, discussion post engagement, minimum course score, late submissions, or missing assignments. These settings are flexible and course-specific, allowing instructors to define meaningful indicators, such as no participation for two weeks or a course score below a chosen percentage, and Canvas will remember and apply those preferences automatically.

Once the criteria are saved, Canvas updates the list of students who meet those conditions and enables instructors to message them directly. Messages are sent as blind copies, ensuring student privacy, and recipients can be edited before sending if follow-up has already occurred. This streamlined messaging tool makes it easy to reach multiple students at once without leaving Canvas, helping instructors maintain timely communication and proactively support student success.

To learn more about using the “Students in Need of Attention” feature, watch the video above.