Assignments v. the Digital Drop Box

The Assignment and Digital Drop Box tools allow instructors to exchange files with students.

The Digital Drop Box tool allows instructors to store and exchange files with their students. Students can send files to the instructor; the instructor can then retrieve and review the files and then return them to students.

The Assignments tool also allows instructors to exchange files with students, but it combines this ability with the organization and management functionality of the Gradebook. The instructor can post an article, case or other document with the assignment, retrieve the completed assignment from a student, and grade that assignment via the Gradebook. With Assignments, there are also enhanced management options, such as bulk downloading and clean up of the files.

Make sure to let your students know which method you will be using and where to find assignment and assignment files in your course. If you know that you will not be using Assignments, the Digital Drop Box, or both, delete links to either tool from your Course Menu.

Which should you use?

You should use the Digital Drop Box when you only need to exchange a file with one student or a group of students or when a project will not be graded. An Assignment is effective when a grade will be assigned to student work, and the graded product requires submission of one document. Some other considerations include:

Sorting Files. Assignment Files can be sorted by Assignment and organized by student name. The list of Drop Box files cannot be sorted; they are posted by the order in which they were received.
Downloading Files. Multiple Assignments may be downloaded at once. Drop Box submissions must be downloaded individually.
Multiple Student Revisions. Use the Drop Box for submissions that require multiple revisions by students. Once an Assignment has been submitted, it cannot be re-submitted.
Restrictions on Date and Time for Submission. Assignments give you more control over the date and time of submission submission. Deadlines can be given for Assignments, while students can submit files at any time as long as the Drop Box is available.
Gradebook. Assignments are integrated with the Gradebook, while the Drop Box is not. To use the Gradebook for a Drop Box submission, you must create a separate Gradebook item.
Ease of Creation. The Drop Box is easier to set up and use, but offers less powerful features; submissions to the Drop Box can be more difficult to manage.
Student Comments. Students must includes comments with an Assignments submission; comments are optional for students with Drop Box submissions.
Course Builder Access. Only a TA or Instructor may download Assignment submissions. You should use the Drop Box if you plan to have your Course Builder handle submissions or have assign a new role such as Grader or TA to your Course Builder for the purpose of downloading Assignments.

Create an Assignment

An Assignment is a location where students can turn in specific coursework in digital form. It allows instructors to create coursework and manage grades and feedback for each student separately. Documents or other files can also be attached to provide further information. Assignments can be added to any content area, and completed Assignments are accessed through the Gradebook where you can also input grades, return files, and provide comments.

Select the content area from the course menu where you want to place the Assignment.
At the top, right-hand corner of the content page, select EDIT VIEW.
Use the drop-down menu to select Assignment.
Click the Go button located on the right side of the drop-down menu.
Type in a name for the Assignment in the text box provided (required).
Enter the total possible points in the Points Possible input box, if the Assignment is a graded one. The default grade display is a Score. You can change this to Complete/Incomplete, Letter, Percentage, or Text by using the Gradebook link from the Control Panel.
Enter instructions for the Assignment in the Instructions text input box.
To attach Assignment files, select Browse and navigate to the location of the file. You may choose to attach multiple files.
Enter the text you want your students to click on in the Name of Link to File input box.
Choose your Assignment Options.
- Make the assignment available: Yes or No
  (The default is Yes. You may change this at any time).
- Track number of views: Yes or No
  (this option lets you track how often individual users view this assignment).
Choose date and time restrictions: Display After or Display Until
(this setting automates the availability of the content).
Click the Submit button. The assignment is automatically created in the gradebook.
You will receive a Success message.
To go back to EDIT VIEW click the OK button.
You may also click any of the navigational links at the top of the content display page.

Download Assignment Files

View and Download an Individual Assignment

Downloading Multiple Assignments

Enter Grades for an Assignment

Select the Control Panel button from the Tools section below your course menu.
On the right side of the Control Panel page under Assessment, select Gradebook to open the Gradebook View Spreadsheet page.

Blackboard page showing the course menu on the left and the assessments section of the contol panel on the right and the Gradebook link

Click on the red exclamation point ! on the student row under the Assignment title.
Click the View button at the right side of the Modify Grade page to open the Grade Assignment page.

The Assignment Information section contains the assignment Name, Instructions, and a Clear Attempt button.
WARNING: Selecting the Clear Attempt button will delete the assignment submitted by the student, reset the grade and delete your notes and feedback. You should only select the Clear Attempt button if you want the student to be able to re-submit the assignment. Before using this option, you may want to save the student's initial submission.
See Download Assignments for instructions.

The Student's Work section contains student comments and attached files. Right-click on the link to the attached file and select Save Target As... or left-click on the link to open the file in a new Browser window.

The Feedback to Student section allows you to provide a Grade, Comments, and attached files. Enter the Grade in the input text box. You must change the ! to a numerical value even if you are using Complete/Incomplete or Pass/Fail for the grade.
Enter any comments in the Comments input text box.
To return a corrected file to the student, click on Browse and navigate to the file. Select the file and click Open to attach the file. This allows the student to access the file through the assignment tool in the content area.
The Instructor Notes section allows you to enter notes and attach files about the student's assignment.
Click in the Notes input text box to type a note about the student. These notes are your private notes and not available to the student.
You may attach a file to the Notes section by using the Browse button. To attach additional files use the Add Another File button.
Click the Submit button to complete your changes.
You will receive a message that the assignment has been updated. Click the OK.
The number of points assigned are displayed.
Click the Submit button to update the grade.

Blackboard Modify Grade page showing entered grade

You will receive a Grade Updated success message.

Blackboard page showing the grade was successfully updated

Item File Clean Up (Deleting Assignment Files)

Instructors may delete files attached to an Assignment without deleting the grades, comment or feedback. It is recommended that you download and save a copy of all submissions before deleting them from Blackboard. The Academic Technology Department does not maintain copies of student submissions.

Select the Control Panel button from the Tools section below your course menu.
On the right side of the Control Panel page in the Assessment section, select the Gradebook link.

The Gradebook View Spreadsheet opens displaying students in rows and assignments in columns.
Select the Assignment title from the Gradebook View Spreadsheet.
Select the Item File Cleanup link to open the Remove Assignment Files page.
You will see all files submitted from the students as well as files that you attached to the assignment. There will be a row of quick links above the list of files and a checkbox next to each student's name.
Quick Links:
- Check All: Delete all (instructor and student) files associated with this Assignment
- Check All Student Files: Delete all files submitted by a student for this Assignment
- Check All Instructor's Files for Students: Delete all files the Instructor and sent to students for this Assignment.
- Check All Instructor's Personal Files: Delete all files an Instructor has attached to the Instructor Notes section
- Check Graded: Delete all files linked to this Assignment that have been graded (student and instructor)
- Uncheck All: Clear all checkboxes
When graded assignments are no longer needed, select the Check Graded quick link.
Click the Delete button to delete all files linked to the graded assignment.
Click the OK button to confirm the deletion.
You will receive a Success message.
To go back to ITEM OPTIONS click the OK button.
You may also click any of the navigational links at the top of the display page.