How do I create an assignment?

With an assignment you give structure to students' work. For example, you can have them add work to their portfolio, reflect on their skills with a rubric, and give feedback on their work. You create an assignment in four steps.

Good to know

You need the Assignment author role to create assignments. Can't see the + New assignment button? Read Why can I not create an assignment, rubric or template?.

Step 1: Basic information

1. In the left menu, go to Assignments. You see the library with all of your school's assignments.
2. Choose + New assignment.
3. Give the assignment a title (required).
4. Choose how to describe the assignment: with Text, a File or a Link. You can also add an attachment below it.
5. Under Settings:
   • Make the assignment active with the toggle. Only an active assignment can be handed out or added to a lesson plan.
   • Choose a location, if your school works with locations (it is then required).
6. Under View more settings you can add labels, feedback questions, a duration and extra authors if needed. Feedback questions let students ask the reviewer questions.
7. Optionally choose an image. It appears as a banner above the assignment and on the student's dashboard.
8. Choose Finish & next.

Step 2: Link rubrics (optional)

With a rubric you measure students' skills. Once the assignment is finished, the scores go into their skills diagram.

1. Click the Add rubric block and search for the rubric. The filters help you find it faster. Below the title of a selected rubric you see the linked skills. Click the title to view the rubric in a new tab. Use the drag icon to change the order and the bin icon to remove the rubric.
2. Optionally turn on the Optional toggle. The student then does not have to fill in the rubric. In the settings you specify the minimum and maximum number of optional rubrics to be filled in. Note: if the student does not fill it in, the reviewer cannot either.
3. Under Reflection by student, choose:
   • Directly when submitting (default): the student fills in the rubric before submitting.
   • Optional after submitting: the student may fill in the rubric later. The reviewer can only reflect once the student has done so.
4. Under Reflection invitation, choose whether the student may invite someone else to reflect: None (default), Optional or Required. For required, set the minimum and maximum number of people the student invites.
5. Choose Finish & next.

Step 3: Link submission items (optional)

Here you decide what the student needs to submit. There are three types of submission items. For each type, you give a title (required) and optionally a short description, and you can make the item optional.

Portfolio item

A single work item from the student's portfolio, such as a document, image or blog.

• Allowed types: choose which types of work the student may submit. If you choose blog, you can set a minimum and maximum number of words under Blog settings.
• Multiple items allowed: the student may choose more than one item. You can set a minimum and maximum.

Page

A page from the student's portfolio.

• Release page after review: a submitted page is frozen by default, so the student can no longer change it. If you turn this option on, the student can edit the page again after the review.

Page template as submission item

A page template from the Templates module. You do not need to hand out the template separately first; that happens through the assignment. This lets you, for example, have students answer questions in text fields.

• Choose a template (required).
• Release page after review: by default the student can no longer edit or delete the submitted template. If you turn this option on, they can, even after the review.

Step 4: Activate the assignment

Done? Activate the assignment. It is then in the library, so you and your colleagues can hand it out to students.

Not ready to activate yet?

Then choose only Finish. The assignment is then inactive and does not appear directly in the library. You can find it with the inactive filter. Later, choose Activate through the blue square.

Copy an existing assignment

Do you want to adapt a colleague's assignment to your own lessons, or can you no longer edit an assignment because students have started? Then copy it and change the copy.

1. Find the assignment in the library.
2. Click the arrow next to the assignment and choose Copy. The copy gets "copied" in its title.

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