One Dropbox, Different Due Dates

In a multiple-enrollment course offering, you may have an assignment that has a different due date for each of the classes. For example, the paper for your MW class may have a due date of April 18 and the same paper for your TTh class may have a due date of April 19. There is a one-to-one relationship between a dropbox folder and a grade item, so using the same dropbox folder for both classes requires use of "Special Access" to give students in one class a different due date. Students will see the correct due date when they visit the dropbox folder inside the course offering but (as noted in the video), the automatic calendar entry for the folder will only show the "main" due date. [VIDEO DEMO]

Another option for this is to create different dropbox folders for each section, which could have different due dates and could each be conditionally released so that they are visible only to students enrolled in that section. However, this would complicate the Grades tool. Individual grade items can be conditionally released, but then the final grade item would include both of the items. So then the Grades calculation setting to drop ungraded items should be selected.

Here are some images of a sample involving Frodo Baggins and Bilbo Baggins, who are enrolled in different sections in the same course offering:

1. The Manage Grades page. Note that two of the grade items are set to be conditionally released and that their maximum points differ:

2. Frodo's Grades page (he is enrolled in the TTh section). Note his maximum points for his Final Calculated Grade do not include the item Quiz 2, which is not yet scored.

3. Bilbo's Grades page (he is enrolled in the MWF section):

Working with Multiple Files

It is possible to upload several files directly to the Manage Files area of a course offering to make it easier than uploading files one at a time.

1. On your local computer, create an archive containing all the files you want to upload. This file will end in a .zip extension.
2. In your course offering, go to the Manage Files area by selecting that choice on the Content page (or on the Edit Course page).
3. Click the Upload link and select the archive file you created in step 1.
4. Unzip the file by clicking Unzip from the dropdown menu. 
   
   
   

Now you can create content topics for these files in a couple of different ways.

---

Method 1 (Create content topics while on the Manage Files page):

1. Click in the check box for each of the files you want to make a topic and then click the Add Content Topics icon.
   
   
   
2. On the Add Multiple Topics page, you must select a Parent Module for all of these files then give them a title. Click Add when finished.
   
   
   

Method 2 (Create content topics while on the Manage Content page):

1. Click the button to Add New Topic and select Course File.
2. Select Parent Module and create a Title.
3. Click the Browse button to find the file you uploaded and press the Select File button.
   
   
   
4. Click Save.

Who Has Not Completed a Certain Assignment?

You can use D2L's reporting features to find out quickly who has not participated in a particular discussion forum or topic, submitted a file to a dropbox folder, or taken a quiz.

Discussion - for discussion, click on the statistics icon ()for a particular forum or topic. The next page shows how many messages each student has read and authored inside that forum or topic. You can sort any of the columns by clicking on its header, so you can group all of the students who have not participated in that forum or topic. This page does not have an email link on it (already submitted as a feature request).

Quizzes - for quizzes, click on the grade icon () of a quiz and then search for all users who have not taken an attempt. (That's one of the options on the "Restrict to:" pull-down menu.) You can also go to the Grades navigation area, click on the statistics icon () for the quiz you want to view. Click on User Statistics and it will show you a graph bar of who hasn’t taken the quiz. From there you can select each student who hasn’t taken that particular test and email them using the email icon ().

Dropbox - for the dropbox, click on folder name to see the submitted files. The folder submissions page includes an email button () that you can use to contact the students who have not submitted a file to this folder.

Names for Content Topics

For the content in my online class, I typically have a module per week or lecture subject. The first content topic within that module is an overview of the subject, with a list of associated assignments and other resources I have available within that module. I like to give that topic the title "Overview," but this can cause a problem when I want to link to that topic from some other place or use it as part of a release condition. In a full-term class I might have a dozen or more topics named "Overview" and therefore might pick the wrong one. To help me with this I include the name of the module in the name of the overview content topic (e.g., "Reconstruction Overview"), but still call it "Overview" in the Short Title field.

Grades for Students with Different Assignments

You may have a class where not all students do all assignments, and you want each student to have a points possible in the grades area that matches the assignments required for that student. For example, students who are returning to take the same class might have advanced assignments not required of their beginning classmates. To do this requires the use of groups, calculated grade items, and release conditions:

Optional Assignments and the Final Grade

You may want to make some assignments optional, but do not want the points possible for those assignments to count against students on the final grade. You can set the maximum points possible for an individual item, but this is not allowed for categories.

For example, you might require students contribute to five of the ten discussion topics in your class but let your students decide which five topics. Each topic is worth 5 points, but you want the points possible for discussion to be 25, not 50. The other items in the course (quizzes, exams, and papers) add up to 375 points, so you want the points possible for the course to be 400.

The solution to this problem involves two grade formulas - one for the optional assignments and one for the final grade. Start with a new grade item (on the Manage Grades page, choose New Item and then click Formula). Set the Max. Points equal to the points that these optional assignments can count toward the course grade. Then click the link Edit Using the Formula Editor and make your formula a simple sum of all the points possible for the group of optional assignments. Make sure you do not choose the Can Exceed option.

Continuing the example above, the new formula item sums the points possible for all ten discussion topics but has a maximum points possible of 25. If a student were to earn full points for participating in more than five topics, the points for that student for discussion would be no more than 25.

Then make your final grade a formula (not points or weight). Chose the Calculation Options tab on the Grades Settings page and select Formula for the Grading System. Then go to the Manage Grades page and click on the name of the final grade item (the default is "Final Calculated Grade") to edit it. Click the link to Edit Using the Formula Editor and create a simple sum of all the items in your grades area, including the formula item you created above but not including any of the items included in your formula item. The Max. Points for the final grade should be the total points possible for your class.

The final grade formula for the discussion example sums all of the other items in the class (quizzes, exams, papers) and the discussion formula item but not any of the discussion topics. The Max. Points for the final grade would be 400.

The formula final grade is still hidden from students until it is released, just like the points and weight final grades. Note that the option to drop ungraded items from the final grade calculation will not work with a formula final grade, though you could change the Max. Points for the formula final grade periodically as you update students' grades.

View Solution to Homework Submitted via Dropbox

If you have students turn in homework assignments via the dropbox and want them to see the solution after they submit, there are a couple of ways to do this:

Give the students the homework solution file as part of the feedback for the assignment. On the Leave Feedback page there is a button Add a File that you can click to add a file from your local computer that will only be visible to that student. You could wait to provide feedback to students until after the assignment is due if you are concerned about the early submitters sharing the solution file with their classmates.

Another option is to include the file as part of the grade item for that dropbox folder instead of as part of the dropbox folder feedback. This allows you to control exactly when the file appears; you may want to let students know in the Custom Instructions field for the dropbox folder where and when the solutions file will appear.. First, upload the file to your Manage Files area:

• Click Edit Course on the navbar.
• Click Manage Files and then click Upload
• In the window that opens, click Browse to find your homework solutions file and then click Upload

Now your file is ready to be quicklinked from the grades area:

• On the Grades page, click the Manage Grades button
• Click on the Enter Grades icon for the item associated with the dropbox folder
• Click Show details and overall comments
• In the Overall Comments box, insert a quicklink to the course file you uploaded above - don't forget to click Save

If you do not want students to see the solutions file until after the assignment is due, you can make the grade item appear at that time:

• While on the Manage Grades page, click on the name of the grade item associated with the dropbox folder to edit it
• Select the Restrictions tab and choose a Start Date for the item's visibility - don't forget to click Save

A third option is to create a content topic that includes the homework solution and set the availability date for that item to take place after the assignment due date. As with the option to attach it to a grade item, you may want to let students know in the Custom Instructions field for the dropbox folder where and when the solutions file will appear.

Finally, you can use release conditions to display the homework solution automatically as soon as students receive feedback from you. One of the condition types is "Receive Feedback on Dropbox Folder." You can create a release condition using this type (D2L will prompt you to select a dropbox folder) and limit the content topic to students who meet this criterion.