Dropbox: Basic

Follow these steps to set up and use a basic Dropbox in Carmen. For best results, work through these steps in order. For a general overview of Dropbox features, see Dropbox: Overview.

To begin, log in to Carmen and go to a Course Home page.

Step 1: Create a Folder

1. Click Dropbox.

2. Click Admin, then Add Folder.

3. Type a Folder Name. (Typically, this will be the name of the assignment, such as Response Paper #1 or Mid-term Essay Exam).

Note that Dropbox will not accept file names that include certain characters, such as ' (apostrophe), " (quotes), * (asterisk), | (vertical bar), \ (back slash), / (slash), ? (question mark), : (colon), < or > (greater than or less than), ' (back tic), & (ampersand), ; (semicolon), and # (pound sign). Please alert your students of this; if they submit a file that has one of these characters in the name, it will show up as submitted, but you will not be able to read it.

4. If desired, select a Dropbox Category, which helps to organize your folders. (Click Add Dropbox Category to add a new category.)

5. If desired, select a Grade Item to link the Dropbox to – the Grade Items you've previously created will be in the drop-down list. (We encourage users to create all Grade Items within the Gradebook before linking them to a Dropbox folder. For more information on creating Grade Items, see Create Grade Categories and Items.)

Note that Dropboxes can only be associated with numeric grade items.

6. If desired, type Custom Instructions for students to see before submitting assignments.

7. If desired, restrict submissions by date by setting Restrict submissions to this date or later (earliest date an assignment can be submitted) and/or Restrict submissions to this date or before (latest date for submission).

If you choose to specify a Start or End Date, check Add Event to Schedule to automatically create an event for the Dropbox in your course Calendar. See Build Course: Add Tool for instructions on adding Calendar to your course.

8. Click Save.

After saving a Dropbox, you can choose to apply Release Conditions, which allow you to specify requirements that students must satisfy before they can access a specific Dropbox folder. See Release Conditions for more information.

Step 2: Manage Submissions

1. Click Dropbox.

2. Click on a folder name to view and download submissions.

For each file, you can see the name, file type, and size. You can also see any comments your students made when submitting the file.

To Email a student, click the student's name (either by their submission or in the unsubmitted list). Click Email Unsubmitted Students to send an email to all students who haven't submitted a file to the folder.

3. Filter submissions by selecting an option from the drop-down menu at upper right (Show Everyone, Show Submitted, Show Unsubmitted, Show Read, Show Unread, Show With Feedback, and Show Without Feedback).

4. Use the View By, Search for, and Paging options to customize your view of the submissions.

5. Check the boxes next to submissions you want to download. To select all the submissions for download at once, check the box in the header. (Downloaded assignments are combined into a single zip file.)

You can see which submissions you have downloaded by noting whether Read or Unread appears beside the file.

You can open files one by one to read them online. You can also download them as a group to read off-line. If you want to make comments within the documents, you will need to download them.

6. Click the Download icon.

7. Save the zip file on your computer, then locate and open the files.

Use the action buttons in the header and footer to manage your submissions. Select relevant submissions, and then click Delete to remove them, click Mark Read to mark them as Downloaded, and click Flag to flag them for later attention. (Select flagged items and click Flag again to unflag them).

Step 3: Grade and Leave Feedback

1. Click on Dropbox.

2. Click on a folder name to leave feedback, or apply a grade if the dropbox has been associated with a grade item in your Gradebook.

3. Next to a student's name, click Leave Feedback or Leave Feedback/Grade. (You can only choose Leave Feedback/Grade if the folder is associated with a grade item in your Gradebook.)

4. Enter a Grade and Grade Comment (if available) and Dropbox Feedback for the student.

When you leave feedback, the student's Dropbox folder indicates there is new feedback. When a student reads the feedback, a note appears to indicate the date and time the feedback was read. If you add additional feedback, the student gets another notification of new feedback.

5. You can also Browse to upload an attachment (such as a paper with your comments).

6. Click Save.

Step 4: Edit, Delete, or Re-Order Folders

Edit a Folder

To edit a Dropbox folder:

1. Click Dropbox, then Admin.

2. Click Edit beside the appropriate folder name.

3. Update folder properties (see Create a Folder for a review of folder properties).

4. Click Save.

Add Activities
To add a new activity:

1. Click Dropbox, then Admin.

2. Click Edit beside the appropriate folder name.

3. Click Activities tab.

4. Click Add Activity button.

5. Type a name for New Activity.

6. To add Associated Learning Objectives, click Add and make a selection from the new window. Click Insert when a selection has been made.

7. To select a Rubric (if they exist), choose from the dropdown menu.

8. To select an Achievement Threshold (if they exist), choose from the dropdown menu.

9. Click Save Activity.

Delete a Folder

To delete a Dropbox folder:

1. Click Dropbox, then Admin.

2. Click Delete beside the appropriate folder name.

3. Confirm that you want to delete the folder.

Re-order Folders
To re-order folders:

1. Click Dropbox, then Admin.

2. Change the numbers in the Order column to show the desired order. (Smaller numbers appear closer to the top.)

3. Click Submit Order.