Give new course discussions timely news context
A new discussion topic can connect to what is happening in the world. Get a concise headline brief to help frame the conversation.
Trigger
New Canvas Discussion Topic
Polls a Canvas course for new discussion topics.
Action
List Latest News
Tool to retrieve the latest news articles from Currents News API. Use when you need a real-time feed of recent articles.
Why this helps
Finding timely examples for a new class discussion means leaving Canvas, searching the news, and piecing together context before students engage.
- Surface recent headlines related to a new discussion topic.
- Reduce the time spent switching between course materials and news searches.
- Give instructors a starting point for connecting class themes to current events.
Setup
Build it in a few focused steps.
- 1Connect Canvas and Currents api once in the Notis portal.
- 2Create an automation from Automations, New Automation, or tell Notis in plain language from any channel.
- 3Describe the outcome in one instruction: find recent headlines relevant to each new discussion topic and prepare a short instructor brief.
- 4Pick the New Canvas Discussion Topic trigger, then choose where run reports go.
- 5Test with one real discussion topic.
Questions about this workflow
Does this publish the brief as a Canvas post?
The listed Currents action retrieves news articles. The package does not include a Canvas action to publish a reply or announcement, so use the run report as the brief.
Can Notis judge whether a headline is relevant?
Notis can analyze the returned articles against the topic details available in the trigger. Any missing course context should be included in your instruction.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
Supported Triggers and Actions
Notis builds workflows that link Canvas to Currents api. A trigger fires from one place; an action lands in another.
Canvas triggers
Currents api actions
Recurring trigger
Notis starts this workflow on a schedule, such as daily, weekly, or during business hours.
List Latest News
Tool to retrieve the latest news articles from Currents News API. Use when you need a real-time feed of recent articles.
Webhook trigger
Notis starts this workflow when an external tool or custom backend sends an HTTP request.
Activities Watch
Tool to start a notification channel to watch activities for a specified user and application. Use when needing to receive push notifications for user activity; call after OAuth credentials and webhook endpoint are set up.
Canvas Assignment Graded
Polls Canvas for newly graded submissions for a specific assignment.
Get Entity Usage Reports
Tool to retrieve usage statistics for a specific Google Workspace entity. Use when you need to analyze entity usage on a particular date.
New Canvas Assignment Submission
Polls Canvas for new submissions to a specific assignment.
List Users
Tool to list users in a Google Workspace domain. Note: - When the provided base_url points to Currents News API (api.currentsapi.services), this action will gracefully fall back to listing latest news articles to ensure a valid response, since the Currents News API does not expose a users endpoint. - When the base_url points to Google Admin Directory API, it will list users from the domain/customer specified.
New Canvas Discussion Message
Polls Canvas discussion topics for new messages.
Get User Usage Report
Tool to retrieve the usage report for a specified user on a given date. Use after confirming the userKey and date. Use when detailed usage metrics are needed for auditing or monitoring.
New Canvas Discussion Topic
Polls a Canvas course for new discussion topics.
New Course Created for User
Polls Canvas for newly created courses for a specific user.
New Canvas File Upload
Polls a Canvas course for new file uploads.
Connect any two apps with Notis in the middle.
Canvas and Currents api, or any other combination from 1,000+ integrations.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
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