Creating Assignments

To create an assignment, you need to be a Designer in a course. Once you are a Designer, from the Build tab select Assignments under Course Tools.

There are various areas that you need to complete when creating an assignment: Settings, Send Assignments To, Dates, Grading, and More Options.

Settings

When creating an assignment, you must include a Title and Instructions for your students.

The Title should be descriptive yet short. It is important to make sure the students know what the component is from the title. You can include words like "Assignment," "Activity," "Project," or "Homework" within the title to alert students what they are about to enter.

You can also add a description of the assignment so students have a sentence or two of what the assignment is about. You can also make it visible or invisible, which depends on if you want it available to students right away or not.

The Instructions box includes an HTML creator (WYSIWYG). You can leave this turned off if you like to do your own coding or if you do not have special formatting. Use the Instructions area to notify students know what they are supposed to do along with any files that would be helpful. The different file types, under Add Attachments, might include more information on the assignment, specific instructions, or examples of what you expect. You can also include a document that describes how to submit an assignment; therefore, students can have all the information they need to submit an assignment.

You also need to decide whether the assignment will be submitted as a Text with attachments or a Web site. A Text with attachments assignment allows students to enter information into a textbox or attach a document.

Students can use the HTML Creator to submit assignment information to the Instructor. Students may use the Submission area if the assignment is short. If students need to submit a paper or additional files, you should have them use the attachments option.

The other assignment submission type is Web site. Use this option only if you want students to create and submit a Web site. They will need to create all of it and upload it as a zip file. They will then be asked which page is the starting page (homepage). The first page on most web sites is named "index.htm"; therefore, you should have students follow this naming convention as their start page.

Be aware that the .zip extension on the uploaded file must be all lowercase letters. You will not be able to retrieve any of the files outside of the zip file, so students will need to correctly create the all-inclusive Web site for you to view it properly.

A Web site assignment will not allow a student to submit anything but a zip file.

Send Assignment To

The next step is to assign the assignment to the students.

You have three options:

1. Students can work individually.

2. Students can work individually but are divided into groups for additional instructions.

3. Students can work in groups.

For both the additional instructions and students working in groups options, you have the option to select groups within the course by clicking Select Groups. For group assignments, a pop-up box will appear to allow you the option of selecting the groups that you have already created in the group manager with an additional option to provide supplemental instructions. Groups must be created before you can assign assignments to groups, yet not having the groups will not stop you from creating the assignments.

When you decide which groups will receive the assignment, click Save.

Dates

There are two dates you must set. The first is a Due Date and the second is a Cutoff Date.

The Due Date is what the students see as the date the assignment is due. You have the option to create a corresponding event in the Calendar. This is a good option so students have more than one place to see when assignments are due in your class. In addition, if you change the due date, it also changes automatically in the Calendar for you.

The Cutoff Date is the last date that students can submit the assignment. Although students are able to submit up to the cutoff date, the assignment is labeled “Late” next to student submissions after the due date so you know which students have turned in the assignment late.

Grading

You have to decide if you want to grade assignments. If so, click the Allow the assignment to be graded checkbox. If an assignment is gradable, determine if it will be a numeric or an alphanumeric grade. If it is numeric, include the maximum value of the grade.

More Options

Under More Options, you must decide if you want the grade released, which will turn on the column in the Grade Book for you to view.

The second area under More Options lets you choose if you want to allow the students to take back their submissions. If you want them to have this option, you will not be able to grade the submission until after the due date. You can also deny students this option and send it back to them for editing or resubmission during the grading process.

The third area under More Options allows for publishing, which means that students in the course can view each others work. You need to decide whether you are the only one who can publish their work or if you want them to be able to do so personally. If publishing is part of the assignment, you should generally allow students to publish. An example might be an assignment for students to create introductory pages about themselves to share with other students.

The final More Options area allows you to select if you want to be notified of each submission or not. If you choose this option, you will need to enter a forwarding email address to receive notifications.

Now that the assignment has been created and assigned, it can now be added to a Learning Module, the Homepage, and/or the Toolbar so that students can access it.