Office of Distance Education Academic & Student Affairs, Colorado Mesa University D2L QuickGuide: Dropbox Overview The Dropbox tool allows you to set up assignments that students can turn in online. You can set up separate Dropbox folders for each assignment and set up start dates and deadlines. Once assignments are submitted, you can view them online, download them, check submission times, enter a score, add qualitative feedback, and return submissions with comments, all from within the Dropbox tool. You can also check for plagiarism through the Dropbox using TurnItIn (covered in a separate QuickGuide). How to Access Dropbox 1. From any page in your course, click Edit Course on the Navbar. 2. Click Dropbox under Assessment. In This Guide Creating Dropbox Folders Setting Submission Dates and Deadlines Viewing and Assessing Dropbox Submissions Creating Dropbox Folders Dropbox folders are where students submit assignments. You should set up a separate folder for each assignment students will submit in D2L. 1. Go to Edit Course in the Navbar, then click Dropbox. 2. From the Dropbox Folders page, click New Folder (Figure 1). 3. Enter the title of the assignment in the Name field. 4. Choose a folder type. (Figure 2) Individual submission folder: Leave this option selected if you want each student to submit her own assignment. Group submission folder: Select this if you want one assignment submitted per group. (To use this option, you must have previously set up Groups. See the Groups QuickGuide.) Figure 1 D2L QuickGuide: Dropbox 7/16/2013 Page 1
Note: Group Dropbox areas are marked on the Dropbox Folders page with the Group Submissions icon. Any group member can submit and view files for a group Dropbox. 5. Assign the folder to a category (optional). If you have not created a category for this folder, click New Category, enter a name, and click Save. If you have already created a category for this folder, select it from the Category drop-down menu. You can also add other categories here, so that you can choose them from the dropdown list in other assignments. 6. Associate the folder with a Grade Item if you want submitted assignments to be tied to a column in your class Grades area. (See the Grades QuickGuide for more information.) If you have already setup a grade item for this assignment, select it from the Grade Item drop-down menu. If you have not created a grade item for this assignment, click New Grade Item (Figure 3). 7. If you will be grading the submissions, enter the maximum number of points in the Out of field (Figure 4). 8. Add any instructions about submitting the assignment in the Instructions text box. 9. If you have a file you want to make available to students, such as a video, rubric, image, or sample paper, click Add a File. 10. In the pop-up window (Figure 5), select your file s source on the left, then click Upload. In another window, you ll select your file and click Open. You can also drag your file from your computer to the Drop files here box. Click Upload. 11. Click Add. 12. Click Save and Close, or Save and New to create a new folder. Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Note: To edit any of these settings later, click the dropdown arrow next to the Dropbox folder name D2L QuickGuide: Dropbox 7/16/2013 Page 2
on the Dropbox Folders page and select Edit. Setting Submission Dates and Deadlines Use these instructions to set the timeframe during which students can submit. You can set a start date, a deadline, or both. 1. Click the dropdown arrow next to the Dropbox folder name on the main Dropbox page and select Edit. This is the Edit Folder page. 2. Click the Restrictions tab (Figure 6). 3. Select the appropriate date options: Has Start Date: Use this option if you do not want users to access a folder before a project is assigned. Has End Date: Use this option if you want to stop users from submitting assignments after a certain date, past the due date. 4. Use the calendar and time selectors to set the appropriate dates and times (Figure 7). 5. Click Save. Using Special Access to Set an Extended Deadline Special access permissions allow you to set different availability dates and times for specific students. For example, you could extend the deadline for a student who was unable to meet a deadline due to a personal emergency. 1. From the Edit Folder page, click the Restrictions tab. 2. On the Restrictions tab, select Allow users with special access to submit assignments outside the normal availability dates for this folder. 3. Click Add Users to Special Access (Figure 8). 4. Select Has End Date. 5. Use the calendar and time selectors to set the deadline for the extended-access student(s). 6. Select the boxes beside the names of the student(s) you want to give extended access (Figure 9). 7. Click Save. Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 D2L QuickGuide: Dropbox 7/16/2013 Page 3
Figure 9 Once you have added special access permissions for students, they are listed in the Special Access section. You can edit or delete students' special access by clicking the Edit or Delete icons that appear beside their names. Viewing and Assessing Dropbox Submissions Desire2Learn allows you to view submissions online alongside the grading interface or to download them. If you view submissions online, you can only provide holistic feedback. If you want to insert textlevel comments on individual sentences and paragraphs, you must download the file, use your word-processing software to insert comments, and upload the modified file when entering student feedback. Download Individual Submissions 1. Go to Edit Course in the Navbar, then click Dropbox. 2. Click the name of the assignment for which you want to view submissions. 3. The files that the students have submitted will be listed under their names. Click the name of the submission you'd like to view (Figure 10). Download All Submissions as a Zip File Use these instructions to download a zip file of all student submissions. Each submitted file will be renamed with the submitting student s name and the date and time it was submitted. 1. Click the checkbox at the top of the list to select all students. 2. Click the green download submissions button at the top of the list (Figure 11). A pop-up window will appear. 3. Click the name of the zip file that is created. 4. Use your browser's save dialog box to save the file to the appropriate location on your computer. You can unzip this file, add your comments in the Figure 10 Figure 11 D2L QuickGuide: Dropbox 7/16/2013 Page 4
student submissions, and upload them when you are giving students feedback. View Submissions Online, Leave Feedback, and Enter a Score The Evaluate Submission page allows you to leave students feedback on their performance while viewing the assignment online. You can also enter a score, which will transfer to the Grades area if you linked the assignment to a Grade Item. 1. Go to Edit Course in the Navbar, then click Dropbox. 2. Click the name of the dropbox folder you wish to assess. 3. Click the Evaluate Submission link beside the name of the student you want to assess (Figure 12). 4. Click the filename of the student submission to view it in the browser (Figure 13). Note: The online viewer will show common document file formats. For other file types clicking the filename will prompt you to download the file. Figure 12 Figure 13 5. In the Evaluation section, enter the student's score in the Score out of field, if applicable. 6. Enter your feedback for the student in the Feedback field (Figure 14). 7. If you have a separate file with feedback, such as a copy of a student paper you have made comments on, click Add a File and Choose File to upload it from your computer. 8. Click Publish to release the score to the student immediately. Click Save Draft to save your evaluation and release the score later. 9. Click Next Student at the top of the screen to assess the next submission or Back to Folder Submissions at the top to leave the grading screen. D2L QuickGuide: Dropbox 7/16/2013 Page 5
Figure 14 Leave Audio Feedback You can use Desire2Learn to directly record audio feedback on student submissions. Note that you must have Adobe Flash Player installed and a working microphone connected to your computer to use this feature. 1. From the Folder Submissions page, click the Leave Feedback link beside the name of the student you want to leave feedback for. 2. Under Evaluation, click Record Audio (Figure 15). 3. The first time you use this feature, you will have to enable audio input through Adobe Flash. Click Allow and select Remember then Close (Figure 16). 4. Click the red record when you are ready to speak into your microphone (Figure 17). You can enter up to a minute of audio feedback. Note: If you make a mistake and want to start over, click the red record button again to pause. Then click Clear and click the record button again to start over. Figure 15 Figure 16 5. Click the red record button again to stop recording when you have finished. 6. Click the green play button to preview your recording. 7. Click Add. You will see a.wav file listed under the attachments section. Click Save. Release Submission Grades from Drafts If you saved your evaluations as drafts, you can either click Publish on each submission or you can release all of the grades at once when you are finished grading. 1. To publish all, from the Folder Submissions page, click the checkbox at the top of the list to select all students. 2. Click the Publish Feedback button at the top of the list (Figure 18). A pop-up window will appear. Figure 17 Figure 18 D2L QuickGuide: Dropbox 7/16/2013 Page 6
3. Click Yes to confirm that you want to publish your feedback. Email Students Who Have Not Submitted an Assignment 1. From the Folder Submissions page, click Email Users Without Submissions or Email Groups Without Submissions (Figure 19). 2. Enter your message in the Compose New Message pop-up. The email addresses of the selected students will populate automatically in the BCC field of the message. 3. Click Send. Figure 19 Note: If any member of a group submits an assignment to a group Dropbox filder, no one in that group is emailed when Email Unsubmitted Groups is selected. D2L QuickGuide: Dropbox 7/16/2013 Page 7