Dropbox
Baskets | Students | Entire Inbox
.NExT includes several improvements to the Dropbox area of the course. The Dropbox is divided into three areas, or sub tabs, entitled Baskets, Students, Entire Inbox. Upon entering the Dropbox, the initial view defaults to the Baskets area.
Baskets
The first tab displayed when a user enters the Dropbox tool is the Baskets view.
Entry Page
The initial view within the Baskets area of the Dropbox includes a number of enhancements within .NExT.
All Baskets Listed
Upon entering the Dropbox area, the initial screen in a .NExT course lists all available baskets in a table view instead of forcing the user to select the desired basket from a pull down menu. By clicking on the basket name, the user is taken to that particular basket's Inbox.Submission Summary
Upon entering the Dropbox area, instructors will see a summary per basket of how many student submissions are currently in the Inbox for that basket, and in parenthesis next to that number, how many are yet unread by the instructor.Edit Basket Name
Instructors can edit the basket name by clicking on the Edit link next to each basket on the entry page.
Dropbox - Initial Entry Page
Individual Basket View
When a user clicks on a particular basket from within the Baskets area of the Dropbox, the user is initially taken to the Inbox for that basket. In .NExT, the Inbox and the Outbox are displayed on separate tabs within the view for a particular basket. This change was added for easier loading of the initial Inbox page when there are a large number of basket submissions. Finally, a third new view was added to the individual basket view. The No Submissions tab will also be discussed in this section.
Individual Dropbox Basket View
Inbox View
In the instructor view of a .NExT basket, the Inbox is displayed within its own tab. In earlier versions of the platform, both the Inbox and Outbox were displayed on the same screen for instructors and students. In .NExT, both the Inbox and the Outbox are still displayed on the same page for students. The Inbox for instructors lists all student submissions that the instructor has not yet responded to are student responses to ongoing dialog concerning a submission. The Inbox for students includes all instructor responses to their submissions.
In a .NExT Inbox, instructors have a number of actions that they can execute for one or more selected student submissions. Actions available from within the Inbox include Send Email, Download Attachments, Move to Basket. These actions are executed for the selected submissions, indicated by a checkbox next to the submission in the list. To select all submissions in the Inbox, the user can click on the checkbox next to the Student column heading. The user can also manually select one or more individual submissions by clicking on the checkbox next to the submission itself.
Send Email
At the top of the Inbox view is a link entitled Send Email. If selected, the user will be taken to a view of the Email tool with the recipient list pre-populated with all of the students that the user had selected within the previous Inbox view. From here instructors can easily send an email to a single student or a group of students to communicate a message concerning their submissions to that basket.Download Attachments
Instructors can download many student submission attachments simultaneously within the .NExT Dropbox. By clicking on theDownload Attachments link near the top of the Inbox view, the instructor can chose to download all attachments for the selected Inbox submissions simultaneously. The user will be prompted to select a location in their local machine for the purpose of saving all the attachments. The documents will be renamed as <student last name><student first name><original filename>.<file extension>.Move to Basket
When students have submitted assignments to the wrong basket, instructors can move one or more submission to a different basket. To do so, the instructor clicks on the Move to Basket link near the top of the Inbox view. The instructor will then be prompted to select the basket to which the selected submissions should be moved.
Outbox View
In the instructor view of a .NExT basket, the Outbox is displayed within its own tab. In earlier versions of the platform, both the Inbox and Outbox were displayed on the same screen for instructors and students. In .NExT, both the Inbox and the Outbox are still displayed on the same page for students. The Outbox for instructors lists all submissions that the instructor has already reviewed and in some fashion responded to. For students, it lists all submissions or responses back to the instructor (so back-and-forth dialogue is possible).
Also in .NExT, instructors have the option to email one student or many students simultaneously from within the Outbox view for a particular basket. This action is executed for only the selected submissions, indicated by a checkbox next to the submission in the list. To select all submissions in the Outbox, the user can click on the checkbox next to the Student column heading. The user can also manually select one or more individual submissions by clicking on the checkbox next to the submission itself.
Send Email
At the top of the Outbox view is a link entitled Send Email. If selected, the user will be taken to a view of the Email tool with the recipient list pre-populated with all of the students that the user had selected within the previous Outbox view. From here, instructors can easily send an email to a single student or a group of students to communicate a message concerning their submissions to that basket.
No Submissions View
From within the basket view, there is brand-new view entitled No Submissions which lists all students who have not yet submitted anything to that particular basket. As with the Inbox and the Outbox, instructors can select all of those students and email them straight from this view.
No Submissions Page in Dropbox
Student Dropbox Submission Page
When students are submitting an entry to the Dropbox, they will now have the Visual Editor in addition to the ability to add attachments. Students can now cut and paste text created in documents offline into the visual editor and much of the formatting will be preserved. Students will see some discrepancies between the formatting in MS Word, for example, and the visual editor.
Student Dropbox Submit Assignment View with Visual Editor
Instructor Dropbox Submission Page
In the Dropbox grading screen that instructors see when they click on an individual submission, .NExT also provides the Visual Editor for instructors. .NExT also provides a new Save & Next button in cases where there is more than one submission in the list of submissions. This allows instructors to stay in the same grading pop-up window but move directly to the next submission in the list to improve grading efficiency.
Grading a Dropbox Submission
Students
The second sub tab available to instructors from within the .NExT Dropbox is the Students tab. When a user clicks on the Students tab, they are taken to a list of all students in the course with the student's total number of submissions (across baskets) listed next to each students name and the number yet unread by the professor in parenthesis next to the total. This should help to improve instructor grading efficiency as it points them to students with unread submissions (across all baskets).
Send email
At the top of the Students view is a link entitled Send Email. If selected, the user will be taken to a view of the Email tool with the recipient list pre-populated with all of the students that the user had selected within the Students view. From here, instructors can easily send an email to a single student or a group of students to communicate a message concerning their submissions to the Dropbox.
Send Email
Instructor view of Summary of Individual Student's Responses
Entire Inbox
The third sub tab available to instructors from within the .NExT Dropbox is the Entire Inbox tab. This view provides a list of all submissions that are still waiting in the instructor's Inbox (across all baskets). This view aids in instructor grading efficiency by directing instructors to all yet unread submissions.
Send email
At the top of the Entire Inbox view is a link entitled Send Email. If selected, the user will be taken to a view of the Email tool with the recipient list pre-populated with all of the students that the user had selected within the Entire Inbox view. From here, instructors can easily send an email to a single student or a group of students to communicate a message concerning their submissions to the Dropbox.
Student View of Dropbox (Entry Page)
Student Submission View in Dropbox
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