Drop Box Assignments

By creating an assignment drop box in the gradebook you can allow learners to upload assessments, and allow faculty to view and mark those assessments within the system. If a form is attached to an assessment faculty can use the form and view the assessment simultaneously.

How to add a drop box to an assessment

• Navigate to a course gradebook and ensure you are in the correct curriculum period.

• Search for or create a new assessment.

• Click 'Add Drop Box' under the Assignment column for the assessment.

• Complete the required information, noting the following: Assignment Drop Box

• Set submission options.

• Allowing students to upload more than one file can be useful if students are submitting pictures or documentation of an experience. The maximum number of files a student can upload also limits how many files can be handed back.

• Adding a dashboard notice will automatically generate a dashboard notice including assessment due date and a link to the drop box and display it to the learners responsible for the assessment. If you select a dashboard notice, the default release is immediately. To modify the release date, click “Release notice on a custom defined date” and set the release date (this section applies to the dashboard notice only, not the availability of the drop box).

• Allow learners to upload new revisions will allow students to replace an existing file with a newer one.

• Allow graders to see the name of the learner they are grading can be unchecked if you wish graders to work without knowing learners' identities.

• Submission due date: If you have set an assessment due date, the submission due date for the drop box will match it. If you change the assessment due date, the assignment submission due date will automatically be adjusted. Please note that they system does allow learners to upload files after the submission due date so that late work can be submitted without additional hassle to administrative staff. If you wish to track late submissions, it is recommended that you make that selection on the edit assessment screen.

• Time Release Options: Set the time release for a viewable start and finish which will control when the drop box will be visible to users. The default setting causes the drop box to be immediately visible to learners and does not set a finish date.

• Click “Save” at bottom right.

Once you add a drop box to an assessment, a column will be included on the edit assessment page showing the date and time learners submitted their assignments.

How to bulk upload and download assignments to and from the drop box

• Navigate to a course gradebook.

• Ensure you are in the correct curriculum period.

• Search for the assessment if required.

• Click View Drop Box under the Assignment column for the required assessment.

• Click Upload Zip of Submissions and note the instruction that each uploaded file must contain the user's email address to match the file with the user.

• Attach a file by dragging and dropping it in place or browsing your computer, and click Submit.

• You can also bulk download all submitted assignments from this same page. This can be useful if you have faculty who wish to grade hard copies of an assignment.

How learners can submit an assignment to a drop box

From their dashboard, learners will see My Elentra in the left sidebar.

• Click 'My Assignments'. On the My Assignments screen, learners can see all required assignments and their due dates as well as any grades already assigned.

• Click on an assignment title and then click 'Add File'.

• In the popup window that opens, drag and drop or browse for a file to upload.

• Provide a file title and comment (optional).

• Click 'Upload'. The uploaded file will display on the Assignment Submissions list.

• Depending on how the drop box was set up learners may be able to upload additional files or revised files.

• Learners can also add comments to the assignment submission page by clicking 'Add Assignment Comment'.

How faculty can grade drop box assessments

Make sure that faculty have been added to an assessment as a grader for them to use this process.

• Navigate to Admin>Manage Gradebook.

• Search for the appropriate course as needed and click on the course title.

• Search for and click on the assessment title.

• Scroll down to view the list of learners; click in the Grade column beside a student name.

• If a form has been attached to the drop box assessment the user will see a split screen with the assessment form on one half and the assignment on one half. Use the assessment form and click Save and Close to just grade this one assignment, or Save and Go to Next to continue grading additional assignments. (Note that the system progresses to each learner whether or not an assessment has been submitted to the drop box.)

• A custom grade can be provided (e.g., increase or decrease a half point) by clicking on the Custom Grade check box in the bottom left. After clicking the check box the user will be able to type in the grade they want to record.

• If no form has been attached to the drop box assessment, the user can enter grades directly into the Grade column.

How to hand back graded responses to students

If graders have annotated files that should be returned to leaners, users may complete this task using the Hand Back Response tool.

• Navigate to Admin>Manage Gradebook.

• Search for the appropriate course as needed and click on the course title.

• Ensure you are working in the correct curriculum period.

• Search for and click on the assessment title.

• Click View Drop Box.

• Click on a learner name.

• Click Hand Back Response and drag and drop or browse your computer for a file to attach and then click Upload.

• If a revised response file needs to be added follow the same steps.