Adam Bilsky
Updated :
Overview
This article details the purpose of messages in Foundry, how they function, who can use them, and how they compare to other Foundry communication tools and features, like Notifications and Embedded Chat. If you are looking for instructions on Embedded Chat, please read this article for more information.
Contents
Demonstration Video (in production)
Message Notifications and Function
Accessing the Messages Feature in Foundry
Purpose
Messages in Foundry can be a useful communication tool between advisors, students, parents, and coaches, whether connected to a learning experience or not. In fact, they are probably best used when communicating about issues unrelated to a specific learning experience. Examples might be setting up a student portfolio conversation, planning a special activity, organizing a club, etc.
There are several places you can create a new message in Foundry, depending on its purpose and your Foundry role. These are detailed below.
Who can send Messages in Foundry?
Advisors
As mentioned above, Advisors can send messages to any user with whom they are connected. They can send to individual students, groups, or role groups (e.g. all Parents), or to members of a particular learning experience.
Advisors can send a message through Quick Actions, or from the Students, Experiences, or Portfolio pages.
Students
Students can also send messages to any user with whom they are connected, but their options are more limited than for Advisors. They can send to all members of a common experience or to individual users.
Students can send a message through Quick Actions, or through the Work to Do, Experiences, or Portfolio pages (this last option functions less efficiently than the others, so we recommend the first three at this time).
Coaches
Coaches can send messages to any user with whom they are connected, and their options more closely resemble those for Advisors. They can send to all members of a common experience or to individual users.
Coaches can send a message through Quick Actions, or through the My Team, Experiences, or Portfolio pages.
Parents
Parents can send messages to any user with whom they are connected. From Quick Actions, they can send to other members of a certain role type (like other Advisors or Parents), or to individual users by typing a name in the text box.
They can send a message through the individual portals of their own students.
Read more about viewing student portals in the Parent role here (link pending).
Admin
At present, Admin users cannot initiate a message while on the Admin side of Foundry, but they can reply to messages sent to them.
Message Notifications and Function
As described in the following section, there are multiple access points to the messaging feature. Those access points impact how the message is configured. But once you have decided to send a message, the basic function and notifications are the same.
To send a new message, select 'Send Message' through any of the access points.
In the following scenario, MC Rose, an Advisor, needs help supervising a popular school club, and decides to reach out to her colleagues. She chooses Quick Actions > Send Message:
The message dialog box opens. She uses the drop-down menu to select all Advisors by their role to receive the message...
...includes a specific and relevant subject line, writes her message...
[Note: Foundry will not send messages with no body text]
...and attaches a flyer from her computer before she clicks 'Send Message':
One of her colleagues sees the notification flag on the envelope icon...
...opens the message in the message center, downloads the attachment...
...and sends an enthusiastic response:
In the message center, you have the following options:
- Reply and Forward messages
- Mark messages read and unread
- Print messages
- Filter messages by subject text
Note: When you first log in, Messages are one of the last items to update, so it may take a few seconds to see the notification flag at the top of your Foundry screen.
Once you have read a message, the notification flag will disappear, even if you mark it 'unread.' However, it will stay in your 'unread' messages.
Back to Message Notifications and Function
Accessing the Messages Feature in Foundry
You can send a new message from many places in Foundry. Message features vary by your role. Below we have indexed message access by location and by role, and have illustrated some of the differences between message functions by role. Click a link to skip to the relevant section. Keep in mind that however you decide to start a new message, the basic function pictured above is the same.
By Location in Foundry
- Quick Actions > Send Message (All non-Admin users)
- Tables Pages (Advisors, Students, Coaches from Students/My Team, Experiences, and Portfolio Pages)
Where each Foundry Role can access Messages
- Advisors: Quick Actions, Experiences Page, Students Page, Portfolio Page
- Students: Quick Actions, Work to Do Page, Experiences Page, Portfolio Page
- Parents: Quick Actions, My Family Page (individual student portal)
- Coaches: Quick Actions, My Team Page, Experiences Page, Portfolio Page
- Admins: Reply-to messages only
Sending a Message from the Quick Actions Menu (All non-Admin Users)
When you click 'Send Message' from the Quick Actions menu, a message popup opens. The user's role determines how they choose recipients:
- Advisors can send a message to everyone to whom they are connected in a group, to a specific learning experience's members, and can select recipients by their Foundry role:
- Students can send a message from Quick Actions to members of any of their experiences when they select the experience from the bottom of the window. The default setting will add all experience members to the message, but the student can remove any unwanted recipients before sending. Students do not have the option to message whole groups or roles:
- Parents can send messages from Quick Actions to their individual students or to groups with whom they have an association. Since Parents are not currently attached to individual experiences, they do not have the option to connect to an experience from Quick Actions. Read below for more on using Messages in the Parent role.
- Coaches can send messages from Quick Actions to their individual students by adding their names individually. Read below for more on using Messages in the Coach role.
Back to Message Notifications and Function
Sending a Message from Tables (Students/My Team, Experiences, Portfolio)
Students/My Team (Advisors, Coaches)
Advisors see their students listed on the Students page, while Coaches see their students on the equivalent My Team page.
On these pages, the user can see all students with whom they have a relationship. The message feature appears in the rightmost column (the encircled arrow).
A message sent this way automatically selects the student in question. In the clip below, the advisor will send a message to Jon Connington:
Experiences (Advisors, Students, Coaches)
Similarly, on the Experiences page, Advisors, Students, and Coaches will see the same options in the same place on the table. On the Experiences page, however, the menu options depend on the status of the Experience:
In the graphic above, the experience "Independent Reading - S2 2022" has already been submitted for evaluation, so the available menu options are different from one whose status is 'Active,' for example.
When the user selects 'Send Message' from this menu, the message will already be attached to the corresponding experience in the table.
The student in the clip below will send a message to every member of the experience:
As noted, by default the message will include all experience members, but the sender can remove any of the recipients by clicking the "X" beside their name.
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Note on Messages in Experiences: Messaging to common experience members is a good way to narrow your audience. However, the Embedded Chat feature is designed to keep track of detailed conversations about experiences, and chat replies are visible to all experience members. If you plan to communicate about specific aspects of a learning experience (e.g., driving questions, learning targets, due dates, etc.) we recommend exploring Chat. Read about Embedded Chat in more detail here. |
Portfolio
From the Portfolio page, users will first select an individual student from the slide-out menu. The row of all completed work (Journals, Logs, Evidence, Tasks) will show, as well as the dropdown menu at far right. Users can opt to connect the message to an Experience or type individual recipients' names in the text box.
Back to Message Notifications and Function
If you have feedback or suggestions for these improvements, please contact us at support@projectfoundry.com.
Suggested Reading
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Note: Articles linked here under "Suggested Reading" are chosen by Foundry Support team members for their relevance and are updated as needed. The articles listed here may differ from those on the right side of the page, where the Knowledge Base AI lists "Related Articles." |
Labels: messages, chat, communication,
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