Which ONLINE SUBMISSION TYPE ASSIGNMENT should I select?

Online Submission Types

There are five different online submission types from which you may select:

Text Entry
Website URL
Media Recordings
Student Annotation
File Uploads

Select Online Submission Types

Text Entry

A Text Entry assignment provides students with a text box and access to the Rich Content Editor. The Text Entry assignment type is the most versatile assignment type because it gives access to the Rich Content Editor to students. Via the rich content editor, students can attach links, type in text responses, submit images and documents, submit and record videos via Studio, and access other 3rd-Party apps connected to the course.

To choose the Text Entry assignment submission type:

When you edit the assignment settings, next to Submission Type, select Online, then Text Entry [1].

Submitting a Text Entry Assignment:

When students submit a Text Entry assignment, students have access to the Rich Content Editor [1] and a text box [2].

Website URL

Choosing the Website URL option is the most limited option. However, if you only want students to submit a website URL/web address for an assignment submission it may be the assignment submission type of choice.

To Create a Website URL Online Submission Assignment Type:

Step 1: When you edit the assignment settings, next to Submission Type, select Online, then Website URL [1].

Step 2: Complete the other settings for the assignment and click on the Save & Publish button.

What students see when they submit a Website URL:

When a student submits an assignment via Website URL submission type, they see the following options:

Website URL - paste any website URL into the Website URL box
Microsoft OneDrive - students connect to their OneDrive and submit a URL to a file within their OneDrive
Studio - students can access and submit a video or record a video using Studio.
Submit Assignment - click on this button to submit the assignment.

Media Recordings

Media Recordings provides an option to upload videos or record videos using the Canvas Inline Recorder. We do not recommend using this option for student video recording assignments. The Inline Recorder does not maintain Internet connectivity sufficiently enough for students to complete recordings. Instead, we recommend using Canvas Studio for video assignments. See the Canvas Studio module for further instructions for student video assignments.

Student Annotation

Student Annotation assignment submission types allow instructors to upload documents to students so that students can draw on and annotate the document.

To Create a Student Annotation Online Submission Assignment Type:

Step 1: When you edit the assignment settings, next to Submission Type, select Online, then Student Annotation [1]. Upload the file that you want students to annotate [2].

Step 2: Complete the other settings for the assignment and click on the Save & Publish button.

What students see when they submit a Student Annotation Submission:

When a student submits an annotation assignment, the drawing toolbar appears. Students can use the drawing toolbar to annotate, highlight, draw, and add comments to the document.

File Uploads

The File Uploads submission type allows students to upload files such as Word Documents, PDFs, PPTs, Excel spreadsheets, and images. This assignment type also allows instructors to do two things:

restrict assignments to specific file types, and
add Turnitin to the assignment.

Turnitin will not read Mac documents.

To Create a Files Upload Online Submission Assignment Type:

When you edit the assignment settings, next to Submission Type, select Online, then Files Upload [1]. To restrict file types, check the box next to "Restrict Upload File Types" [2], and then type in the files that you will accept [3]. In the example, the assignment will accept Word documents and PDFs.

What students see when they submit a file to a Files Upload assignment type:

When a student submits a file, they see File Upload [1], Microsoft OneDrive [2], and Studio [3] as submission options. They can submit the assignment after uploading the file [4].