Creating Assignments

Blackboard uses the term “Assignments” to describe two different functions. You should avoid mixing and matching these two terms to avoid confusing your learners.

Definition

• Non-Interactive Assignments: These documents are content containers which present static material which may be viewed, downloaded, or saved.
• Interactive Assignments: These entries allow an instructor to post instructions and attach files which the learners may view, download, or save and respond to the instructor and submit files.

Using Interactive Assignments

You may create an interactive Assignment in any of the Content Areas, to do so:

1. From the Add ribbon at the top of a Content Area, select Assignments from the dropdown menu on the right side of the screen and click Go.
2. Specify the interactive Assignment’s name, point value, instructions to the learners, set availability options, and attach files.
3. Instructors may grade an Assignment from the Gradebook. Files which the learner attaches to their Assignment submission may be viewed, instructor comments may be added that are visible to the learner, and notes to the instructor may be added which are not visible to the learner.

Note Upon opening an interactive Assignment, learners may either save or submit their work. Once submitted learners will NOT be able to resubmit their work.

Points to Consider

• Instructors and learners may attach any file type to Assignments. As such, it is important to specify what type of files instructors will accept (i.e., .txt, .doc, .xls). We recommend using Rich Text Format (.rtf) files for word processing documents as they are accessible in any word processing program and platform.
• Instructions to learners should clearly specify the due date, the procedure to submit an assignment, and when they should expect to receive a grade in the Assignment Instruction area.
• If instructors wish to use both the interactive and non-interactive Assignment functions, we recommend re-titling the non-interactive Assignment area by modify it under the Manage Course Menu area of the Control Panel.