Faculty Content Area

Add Assignment

The Add Assignment tool lets you create an assignment for your students to complete. It automatically creates an item in your Gradebook so you do not have to. When your students finish and upload their assignment, the Gradebook will update the students’ completion status and will have a link to their uploaded file. You can then download, view, and grade the assignment directly from the Gradebook and give your students detailed feedback about their assignment.

Adding an Assignment

From the Control Panel:

1. Click on the Content Area link where you want the assignment added (Syllabus, Course Materials, Assignments, External Links).
2. Choose Assignment from the Add Other drop-down menu on the right of the screen.
3. Click on the Go button.
   
4. Type the assignment’s information in the appropriate Content Information fields.
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the Submit button.

Availability Options:

• Do you want to make the assignment visible? – Enable this option to give students access to your assignment.
• Do you want to track the number of views? – Enable this option to track how many times individual users access your assignment.
• Availability Dates – Enable both the Display After and Display Until options if you want to control when your assignment is visible. This option automates the “make the assignment visible” option.

Assignment Attachments:

• File To Attach – Use this option to attach a supplementary file with your assignment.
• Name of Link to File – Use this option to name the link to your file. If you leave this blank, the name of the file will be the link your students click on to view your assignment.

More Information

Q: I would like to have my student use the assignment tool and send me a word file. What is the best way to create this assignment and how can I use Word while grading it?
A: You can use the assignment tool just as the instructions list above, but you will want to provide clear rules on how to name the files and what you expect from them. For more info go to Electronic Paper Grading (PC) or (Mac).

Q: How do I get the files that the students submitted?
A: The files are placed into the Gradebook. For more information on this go to Gradebook: Assignments.

Q: Why would I want to keep my assignment from being visible?
A: You may delay the accessibility of your assignment if you are not finished with it or if you plan to assign it at a later date.

Q: What happens if I do not choose a Display After/Until date and time?
A: If you do not click on the Display After and Display Until check boxes, your assignment will be visible as long as your course is available.

Q: Does the Add Assignment tool upload files into the Digital Drop Box?
A: The Add Assignment tool does not work directly with the Digital Drop Box. In most cases, you will want to use this tool instead of the Digital Drop Box to manage assignment submission. Unlike the Digital Drop Box, files your students upload as assignments are automatically sorted in the Gradebook. In addition, assignments give you access to better utilities for bulk downloading files, providing feedback to students, and cleaning up files.