Assignments

The assignments tool (also called "student publications") lets you collect work from learners — essays, projects, reports, or any file-based submission — and grade it.

Creating an Assignment

1. Open the Assignments tool from the course homepage

2. Click Create an assignment

3. Fill in the details:

   • Assignment name — The name of the assignment (e.g., "Final Project Report")

   • Description — Instructions for learners, including what to submit and how it will be evaluated (supports rich text)

   • Maximum score — On what total will the assignment be graded

   • Add to gradebook — Add as an evaluated item in the assessment (gradebook) tool, so it can be part of reaching the course's goals

   • Deadline — The official (published) date and time after which submissions are flagged as late (uploads are still accepted)

   • Ends at (completely closed) — The hard cutoff date and time after which no upload is possible

   • Add to calendar — Create an event to reference this assignment submission date

   • Submission type — Choose between Allow only text, Allow only files, or Allow files or online text

4. Save

Once you have created an assignment, you can also:

• Upload template documents from inside the assignment detail page

• Assign the assignment to specific users (rather than all users of the course)

And once learners have submitted their assignments, you can:

• Export a PDF list of submissions

• Show a list of only the learners who have not submitted their assignment

• Download all assignments in a big ZIP

• Upload all corrections in a big ZIP

• Delete all corrections you submitted (this doesn't delete the learners' submissions)

How Learners Submit

Learners open the assignment and:

1. Click Upload file or the submission button

2. Select a file from their computer (or write text directly, depending on configuration)

3. Add an optional comment

4. Submit

Learners can see whether they have already submitted and, if allowed, update their submission.

Reviewing Submissions

The assignment submissions list showing student names, dates, files, and grading status

As a teacher, open an assignment to see the list of all submissions:

• Student name — Who submitted

• Submission date — When the work was submitted

• File — Download the submitted file

• Status — Whether the submission has been graded

• Comments — Any comments left by the learner or by you

Grading a Submission

The assignment grading view with score input, feedback field, and corrected file upload

1. Click on a submission to open it

2. Review the submitted file

3. Enter a score

4. Write feedback comments for the learner

5. Optionally upload a corrected file as an attachment

6. Save

AI-Assisted Grading

If AI tools are configured on your platform, you may see an AI grading option when reviewing submissions. This uses an AI model to suggest a score and feedback for open-ended work. See AI Grading for details.

Managing Submissions

Group actions:

• Download assignments package — Download all submissions as a single ZIP file for offline review

• Upload corrections package — If you downloaded all submissions in a single ZIP file, edited the files in place on your computer and zipped them again, you can send the zip as a package of corrections. Do not change filenames or it will not work.

• Late submissions — Submissions after the deadline are flagged but may still be accepted depending on your settings

Individual submission actions:

• Upload correction — Upload a correction for one learner

• Download — Download the submission of one learner

• Correct and grade — Add a correction and a grade to the learner's submission

• Edit — Edit the document title or the previous feedback on the submission

• Move — Transfer a submission between assignment folders (e.g. if the student submitted in the wrong assignment)

• Visibility — Control whether learners can see each other's submissions

Linking to the Gradebook

Assignment scores can be included in the course gradebook ("Assessments" tool). This allows assignment grades to contribute to the learner's overall course grade and certificate eligibility. See Gradebook for details.

Tips

• Be specific in instructions — Clearly describe what learners should submit, the expected format, and evaluation criteria

• Set realistic deadlines — Use the Agenda tool to make deadlines visible in the course calendar

• Use the corrected file feature — Upload annotated versions of student work so they can see your specific corrections

• Enable peer visibility carefully — Allowing learners to see each other's work can encourage learning but may not be appropriate for all assignments