• Assignments, by default, allow learners up upload Files, Record Video, or Record Audio responses. The Submission Type can also be set to a simple Text Submission, avoiding the file management piece.

• Instructors can easily enable an email setting, when creating or editing an Assignment, whereby they are notified upon each student's assignment submission; this setting is particularly useful in self-paced and CBE courses.

• On paper submissions, and observed in person Assignments are also available and do not require file submissions to be made in Brightspace Learning Environment. Such Assignments offer instructors an opportunity to digitize and organize their student evaluation process, via Rubric and Feedback, across both online, hybrid, and even face to face courses.

• Instructors have the ability to restrict student file submissions strictly to their preferred file format(s). DIID recommends the Annotatable Files option under Allowable File Extensions to guide students toward Brightspace-friendly file types.

• If you choose to require specific file format submission (for example, .DOCX), be ready to assist your learners with how to create and upload that file type to Brightspace. Google Drive or Office 365 are the supported file creation and editing tools available to all NICC students.

Annotation Tools

There are several ways you can assess Assignments:

• Use built-in annotation tools to mark up submissions using highlighting, free-hand drawing, shapes, and associated commenting.

• Evaluate anonymized user submissions to remove bias in the grading process.

• Evaluate submissions and leave text or VideoNote feedback directly on the Submission page.

• Evaluate submissions directly within attached rubrics and leave feedback directly on the Submission page. 

• Evaluate external submissions and leave text or Videonote feedback in an assignment.

Assignment Rubrics

Analytic rubrics allow you to assess participants' achievements based on multiple criteria using a single rubric, and may use a points, custom points, or text only scoring method.  Holistic rubrics are single criterion rubrics (one-dimensional) often used to assess participants' overall achievement on an activity or item based on predefined text or percentage achievement levels. Assignments are an ideal tool instructors can use to create authentic assessments no matter what style of rubric the instructor creates.

Turnitin is a cloud-based solution with capabilities in originality checking and online grading using their Similarity Report and Online Grading tools. Turnitin saves instructors time and facilitates personalized feedback for learners.

Similarity Report lets you monitor Assignment submissions and identify potential cases of plagiarism by automatically comparing submissions to an online database of original content. You can then view Originality Reports which highlight key areas, show a breakdown of matching sources, and provide direct links to the matching content.

Note: Turnitin Draft Coach is a Google Doc extension available to instructors and students. It can be used to check originality, check citation correctness, and as a grammar guide. 

You can also take advantage of the integrated Online Grading which lets you add comments, inline text, and highlight sections in file submissions, directly from the Assignments tool.