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Manage Assignments and Grading in WebTycho

These instructions focus on managing assignments in a "paperless" way, as file attachments that can be read and marked up on-screen in digital format in your computer and then reattached in the Gradebook, to be accessed by students in their portfolios. The aim is to work as efficiently as possible in the online environment, as well as to take advantage of the "archive" value of the online classroom.  These instructions are based on using Netscape as your browser; many, but not all, suggestions also work well in other browsers.  If you have questions about the information on this page, please contact your DE Coordinator or WebTycho Support.

Ten Steps for Handling Student Assignments in WebTycho Inform students of your procedures, requirements. Update your virus definition files. Create a folder on your hard drive for the assignment. Download all unread assignments in one session. Ensure files are named properly as you save them. Mark each file as Read as you save it. Virus-scan the entire local assignment folder. "Get comfortable" in your computer setup (adjust Display/Word settings). Open, read, mark, resave all assignment files. Rescan then reupload marked assignments as attachments via View/Assign Grade.

1.  Inform students of your procedures, requirements for assignment submission Before assignments are due (preferably at the beginning of the semester), make clear to students how you will handle their assignments and what you require of them to make your routine easier, e.g., Be clear what kinds of file attachments you can read or are willing to accept, e.g., Word 97; HTML; Excel 2000. Tell students in advance what software and software version you have or what file types you can read. If a student has a later version of a program than what you have and does not save the assignment file "down" to your earlier version number, you may not be able to open it. Ask the students to use File/Save As/ look for "Save as type" and use the down arrow to pick from the list of available file types one that is compatible with the software version you have.  Specify how you want files to be named. To minimize access problems, file names uploaded to the Internet (WebTycho) should contain NO SPACES and NO SYMBOLS (aside from hyphen or underscore).  To make file recognition and handling easier for you, specify that attachment filenames should include the student's name and the assignment name (e.g., johnsonp_paper1.doc) . It's also a good idea to tell students that you will indicate receipt of the file within X days of the due date by marking the files as READ, and then will return comments and grades within Y days. Issues of viruses and version types are among the reasons we recommend students save files as HTML before uploading them. They should first save in their original (word processing) program then again SAVE AS HTML or SAVE AS WEBPAGE -- or just compose directly in an HTML editor like Netscape Composer. Most recent word processing (and spreadsheet) versions do have this capability. HTML files display directly in your browser window regardless of the browser type, are small in size, and do not carry viruses. For students using Office 2000, we recommend using the Microsoft HTML filter rather than saving directly as a webpage: this creates a more compact file. (If the original file has images, inserted Excel spreadsheets, etc., students will have to upload these separately from the html file.) Top

2.  Update your virus definition files Before grading student submissions for a new assignment, go to the home website of whatever your virus protection software is and update your virus definition (.dat) files to protect your computer against the latest viruses. In general, you should do this at least monthly, but many experts recommend weekly. If you don't have virus protection software, purchase these from Norton (Symantec), McAfee, or another reputable source. For more information about computer viruses, visit one of these links: Computer Associates Virus Information Center: http://www.ca.com/virusinfo/ WebTycho Virus Protection Guidelines: http://tychousa.umuc.edu/help.nsf/htmlmedia/virus.html Top

3.  Create a folder for the assignment on your hard drive Good file management practices are essential when downloading student assignments to your hard drive. We recommend that you create a folder called "student assignments" on your hard drive for each course you are teaching. Create subfolders for each separate assignment. (You may also use a separate floppy disk for each assignment, but this tends to slow down handling of the files.) Top

4.  Download all unread assignments from WebTycho in one session In your WebTycho classroom, click on Gradebook, then on the Tab for the assignment to be graded, then on the "View" link for the first Unread/Ungraded assignment. As the assignment page loads, you may be prompted to turn your Text Formatting Editor (TFE) on or off. Note: This process will go faster if you set your WebTycho preferences for text formatting editor (TFE) and spell-check to disabled. However, if the student has formatted his/her text using the TFE, you may be prompted to enable it again; if you choose not to enable your TFE, the student's formatting will be lost and HTML tags will appear in place of the formatting. (More about the TFE...) Then choose Method A or B below to manage your downloads: Type A: Assignment is already in the form of an attachment Type B: Assignment appears directly typed/pasted in text box   While many instructors prefer to read assignments in order of submission, downloading them in that order adds to the download time.  If you wish to read/ return assignments in the order of submission, print a copy of the assignment tab index, which indicates the submit times for all students. On the printout, you can hand-number the order in which you will read/return assignments. A. If the assignment has been uploaded as an attachment (regardless of file type), RIGHT-click on the file attachment name. Select to Save Link As (Netscape) or Save Target As (Internet Explorer) and save the file in the previously named folder on your hard drive. You may have to adjust the file name as you save it. B. If the assignment is displayed in the text box and you wish to make substantive in-line comments, save the entire assignment as an HTML file, which will retain all formatting in the original submission and allow you to use the editing functions of your HTML editor (Netscape Composer).  To save a typed/pasted assignment as an HTML file, view the assignment page in Netscape, then Click in the assignment area and select File/Save Frame As. Save the frame page in your assignment folder with an appropriate filename for the student and assignment, e.g., doej-midterm.htm. Top

5.  Ensure files are named properly as you save them. While saving the files, delete any symbols other than hyphen or underscore in the file names, and close up or substitute an underscore or hyphen for any spaces in the file names. We suggest you add your initials at the end of the filenames to distinguish your version (markup) from the original. (You can do this either as you save the original file or, when you mark up the original file, resave it with your initials added at the end of the new filename.) Work out a consistent naming system for student files, and ask students to assist you by naming the files as you specify so you don't have to spend time renaming the files you download. (Some faculty dock points for failure to honor their file-naming requests.) students upload file named "lastnamefirstinitial-assignment.doc" (with no spaces) instructors download file named "doej-assign1-pj.doc or doej-midterm-pj.htm" (pj = instructor's initials added during download)   When you download files that contain spaces in the filenames, the system will often substitute characters for the spaces, usually "%20" for each space in the filename. You should delete all "%20"s or other characters such as + from the filenames, not only because it makes reading the filename more difficult, but because when you reupload a filename containing the % or + symbol, certain computer systems cannot open it. Top

6. Mark each file as Read as you save each assignment As you save each attachment, you are in a view that has a "Mark As Read" option on the blue action bar at the bottom of the window. Selecting this option changes the status line in both your Gradebook index and in the student's assignment folder, and it locks the student's ability to edit the file. This action also immediately returns you to the assignment tab index page, where you can select to "View" the next Unread assignment.   If you have already Marked files as Read prior to downloading the attachments, you can still access and save the files via the "View" link in the assignment index. After you save each file, select CANCEL on the blue action bar to return to the assignment index rather than selecting the browser BACK button. (Using the BACK button in the Gradebook area interferes with some functions and can cause problems.)   If you want to clarify to students that the "Read" mark indicates receipt, not necessarily complete reading, do so in "housekeeping" notes to students at the beginning of the semester or before the assignment is due. When you have finished downloading all student assignment files into the folder on your computer, disconnect from the Internet and proceed to virus-scan and read/mark-up the files offline. Top

7. Scan the entire assignment folder for viruses at one time Once you have saved all attachments, open your virus scanner and browse to your local assignment folder to scan the entire folder's contents at one time. You can also usually invoke virus scanning from within Windows Explorer or My Computer: Right-click on your assignments folder and select Scan for Viruses. (This step may be unnecessary if your virus scanner scans ALL downloaded files automatically, but it is best to be safe!)   Merely downloading/saving an attachment with a virus does not activate the virus.  A file containing a virus must be opened in order to activate the virus.  NEVER OPEN PROGRAM FILES WITHOUT FIRST VIRUS-SCANNING THEM. One reason to use Netscape rather than Internet Explorer is that IE often opens Microsoft files automatically when they are left-clicked on.  If you use IE, RIGHT-click on file attachments, save, then virus-scan them before opening. Top

8.  "Get comfortable" by adjusting display and Word settings and Word toolbar. Getting comfortable reading documents online takes practice, but you can improve your comfort and efficiency levels by adjusting settings that affect how the documents look on-screen to suit your personal preferences and work style. In Windows, adjust screen area/resolution of your monitor display Go to Start (Windows)/Settings/Control Panel/Display/Settings/Screen Area. Use the slide bar to adjust settings lower (larger font size but the screen dispays a smaller portion of document text) or higher (smaller font size but the screen displays a larger portion of document text) (OK). In MS Word, adjust document View In Word's View menu, there are several options for how your document displays on-screen: Normal or Print Layout are your most likely choices. In Word, customize your toolbars via the View menu to increase your view area and work efficiency Remove horizontal and vertical rulers at the top and left of your document to increase your viewing area: Select View/Ruler (this is a toggle; select again to restore the rulers). Add and remove icons or even entire toolbars, or create a custom toolbar for yourself via View/Toolbars to increase your viewing space and make it easier to find and use the tools you really need. For more information on this, type "customize toolbars" in your MS Word Office Assistant or Help search window. Within the View/Toolbars/Customize/ menu, the Toolbars tab allows you to create a new toolbar that you can customize (once you've created and named it, you can drag it to the toolbar area to "plant" it, and then populate it with tool icons.) Within the View/Toolbars/Customize/ menu, the Commands tab lists all the icons available to you. With this menu open, you can drag unwanted tools OFF your toolbar(s) or add tools that you use often by dragging the icons from the commands list ONTO your toolbar(s). Example: put Font Color & Insert Comment icons on your Word toolbar for efficiency if they aren't there already (this affects your MS Word Normal template): Click on View/Toolbars/Customize/Commands tab. Select the Format category; scroll through the Format icons to find Font Color and drag the icon to your Word tool bar.  Select the Insert category; scroll through the Insert icons to find Insert Comment and drag the icon to your Word toolbar. Click Close. Top

9.  Open the program(s) you will use to read the files, then open and read, mark, and resave the files Current versions of most popular office-type software can convert and display files created in parallel programs, but you must generally open the program first, and then open the files from within the program. For example, Open your word processing software to read and mark up all students' word processing files (regardless of the program in which they may have been created). Select File/Open and browse to the assignment folder and select a file to open it. If your program can't open a file, you may have to ask the student to resubmit it in a format that you are able to read. (You may also have to be careful how you select the Save-As Type for the file if it was originally created in a different program or a lower program version than your own software.) Open Netscape Composer to read and mark up HTML files: Go to File/Open Page/Choose File/select to open in Composer/OK. Use the editing features of your software to mark up the document as you read it.  At the most basic level, it is usually easiest to change the color of text that you insert. In MS Word you can also use features like Insert Comments to highlight and comment on specific text within a paper. Resave the document (with the same name or a different name than what you downloaded, depending on whether you want to retain a file copy of the student's paper without your comments). Read and mark up all the papers in the group you downloaded before reconnecting online to WebTycho. TIP SHEET Distinguish your markup text from a student's original text, using           • Microsoft Word's Font Color and Comments features           • Netscape Composer's Font Color and other Formatting tools Top

10. Rescan and reupload marked assignments as attachments via View/Assign Grade. After rescanning your assignment folder for viruses, reconnect to the Internet and return to the WebTycho Gradebook to return the marked up student assignment files.  You will attach the marked-up student files to the student's assignment entries at the same time as you enter the grades. In your Webtycho classroom, select Gradebook, then the tab for the assignment. Select View for the first Read (but not graded) assignment, then, on the blue "action bar," select Assign Grade. (As the assignment page loads, you may be prompted to turn your Text Formatting Editor on or off. See TFE note above for more information about the TFE setting.) When the student's assignment page appears in Edit mode, scroll down to enter the grade in the Grade box. In the Comments for student box, note that your attachment contains your detailed comments. If you wish, add a brief personal comment comparable to the remark at the top of a hand-graded paper. Scroll down and use the attachment feature: browse to select your marked-up copy of the corresponding assignment and follow the 3-step attachment instructions. (For more detailed instructions, see http://tychousa.umuc.edu/help.nsf/htmlmedia/attachfiles_userguide.html.) Submit (click the submit button once only). This will return you to the assignment index.   After you have submitted a page in the gradebook, you may not immediately see the results of your submission unless you reload/refresh the page. When working in a frame such as the gradebook area, right-click in a blank area of the frame to get a minimenu with the Reload option. Once you submit the grades and your marked up file attachment in the Gradebook, these appear in a table in the student's Portfolio. (The assignment entry disappears from the student's Assignments Folder when it is graded.) You can see the Portfolio entry by clicking on the student's name in the Gradebook table. Proceed through returning/grading all marked assignments using the View links for each Read (but Ungraded) student submission.   If you prefer to return grades and markups of assignments in the order received, refer to the printout you made of the Unread Assignments index before you started downloading the assignments.  You can hand-mark that printout with the order you want to return the assignments, and then go to the tab-index for the Assignment to select to View assignments in the order you choose. Top

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