In online courses, a Dropbox is a space where students can upload assignment submissions as files. The instructor can find them there. In most LMSes, including Desire2Learn, the dropbox tool allows some additional possibilities. An instructor can post instructions for the assignment at or in the dropbox, and publish a due date there that is automatically published in the course calendar as well. D2L and other LMSes include with dropboxes a special screen for viewing and grading submissions, that can pass these grades directly to the online gradebook. Instructors can write comments that students receive along with their grade, as well. Additional advanced features are available for instructors, to help them efficiently work with student submissions.

Probably the most common use of dropboxes is for straightforward writing or project assignments. This can be a research paper, an essay of some sort, mathematical computation, a lab report, or anything else where the student submission is an electronic file. This is more convenient than using email or even some sort of cloud storage system outside of a learning management system.

The dropbox tool allows as diverse a range of written or printed assignments as traditional, on-paper coursework.

Dropboxes to collect small, short-answer writing assignments are ideal. Students might be given prompt questions in response to course material, that ask for relatively short written answers. If kept small, instructors can use these to become comfortable with grading digitally, rather than on paper. If made frequent, such assignments can each be small contributions to overall course grades. This gives students incentives to regularly engage with course content, while not seriously penalizing or pressuring them as they work to grasp new concepts or procedures. Short response or reflection assignments can help students build critical thinking skills, but they are limited in that students are simply reacting to material, problems, or situations presented to them.

Among digital tools, dropboxes enable assignments that require students to be at their most resourceful creative, and operate at the highest levels of critical thinking. These are “do-type” assignments, instead of merely “absorb-type” activities. Major research or creative projects can ask students to propose a question, problem, or objective, and investigate answers, interpretations, or procedures in response. Depending on learning goals, such assignments can be more or less open, allowing students greater latitude to explore a subject, instead of simply absorbing and replying to material presented to them. Investigating the historic use of harmful substances in manufacturing, such as lead or mercury, for example, can be a topic for undergraduate student research in many disciplines.

Assignments can be scaffolded, where one builds off another. The traditional research paper, a longtime staple of liberal arts coursework, is best done by having students submit work at several stages in the process: for example, a proposal, followed by a preliminary bibliography, perhaps then some evidence of serious notetaking, or an outline, and then draft portions or drafts, and finally a completed product. Dropboxes set up to collect these different items, each with its own due date, help students pace themselves. Projects like this help students develop work management skills, a sense of initiative, self-discipline in the face of complex, long-form creative work, and appreciation for the efforts of others who do this kind of work professionally.

A variation of the “do-type” activity can be the “connect” activity, where students apply newly-developed or developing skills in projects applicable to work in the world. For example, a history student might design a historical exhibit or marker for a public history site such as a museum or heritage center. A political science student might develop a plan for drafting and promoting legislation in state government. An aerospace engineering student might design a craft for getting science experiments into low-Earth orbit at low cost. This projects provide a sense of empowerment, where students recognize how their learning matters directly to others in world.