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Restricting Student Access to Email in D2L

To prevent students from using internal D2L email to send mass messages to an entire class, follow these steps: 

  1. Remove both the Classlist and the Email option from the Communication tab in the course navigation bar (Navbar).
  2. Go to Course Admin > Course Offering Information, scroll down to the option “Show course address book,” and uncheck the box. Save this change before you exit this page. 

How to edit the Communication drop-down menu in the course Navigation Bar as noted above: 

  1. Go to Course Admin > Navigation & Themes, note the Navbar currently applied to the course (within the Active Navbar drop-down menu at the top), find that Navbar in the list, click the down arrow next to it, and choose "Copy."
    NOTE: If the course is already using a custom Navbar, this is an optional step; skip to the next step. The copy is required because the template Navbars are not editable, and it is faster than creating an entirely new navbar.  
  2. Click on the title of the custom Navbar to open the Edit Navbar page. 
  3. Rename the title of the custom Navbar. The currently available links will appear at the bottom of this page, click the Communication option to edit its properties. 
  4. A pop-up menu window should appear, scroll down the Edit Properties page until reaching find Links, a list of the current options within the Communication link. Click the X to remove Email and Classlist. Then click Save
  5. Save and Close.
  6. Back on the Navbars page, choose the edited Navbar from the Active Navbar drop-down menu at the top and click the Apply button. This should immediately replace/update the Navbar in the course with the newly modified one that does not include either Classlist or Email in the Communication menu. 

Students will still see the Email option in the navigation bar on their D2L Home page and can send messages from there or other courses/communities where the option is not disabled. However, by hiding the course address book, the likelihood of students emailing the entire class is greatly reduced. Students would have to manually add each student's email address to send a message.