This request builds on top of another K-12 Idea regarding assignment submissions.

At the moment, the settings teachers have regarding file submissions in assignments feels very limited.  Teachers frequently outline very specific expectations as it relates to the digital format an assignment should be submitted to them for grading.  Some teachers want everything as a PDF, others permit only Word documents, others are more open.

Unfortunately, the system does not currently support teachers' efforts to standardize how and what format students' submit their work for grading.  As a result, the teacher has to play double-duty: both communicating the expectations and verifying the expectations are followed, rather than having the system limit what and how students can submit.

Enhancement #1: Allow teachers to choose whether to limit file submissions to just attachments, just entering text in the Online Submission Text Field, or both

Currently, teachers only can limit the number of files a student can provide as part of an assignment.  Given teachers may only want students to attach a file or manually enter text in the text field, we would like this to be options in the assignment.  There are two components to this:

1. A dropdown menu in the file submission area with the 3 possible assignment submission options.  The text would start "Allow ... for this assignment" with the dropdown in between this text.  The options would be:
   1. Both attachments and entered text (this would be set to the default option - first in the list)
   2. Only file attachments
   3. Only entered text
2. Add a setting for teachers to define a default option for all assignments.

Regarding the second item above, similar to the Assignment Center settings button that allows teachers to turn on/off the "Add to Gradebook" by default, teachers should be able to select which of the 3 dropdown options should be set by default in their assignments, so they don't have to change this manually each time they create an assignment. 

Enhancement #2: Remove the Current "Attach Files" button and Put the "Drag files" and "Attach files from Google Drive" Options Directly on Submissions

Currently, it's an extra step to attach files to assignments.  You have to first click the "Attach Files" button (attachment 1) to get an overlay window which gives you the drag and attach options (attachment 2).  The extra step seems unnecessary, and creates confusion when students attempt to drag files into this area.

Enhancement #3: Make 'Attach Files' Icons / Buttons - the Folder and Google Drive - Bigger and Clearer

While most will drag files on top of file attachment area, it's not super clear that the folder and Google Drive icons are actually buttons for getting the native operating system file chooser or Google Drive file selector & search.

My hope here would make the full area of the square the button to get to this menu, rather than the small icon as it currently is.

Enhancement #4: Allow teachers to restrict file submissions to specific file types

While I can see this getting fairly complicated quickly, I feel this is an absolute necessity.

Frequently teachers will email IT regarding students submitting file formats they can't open or don't know how to, and that shouldn't be.  Teachers do communicate what they expect from their students, but as we know, students don't always follow directions.

The challenge is making the restrictions and implementation of this robust enough, but also easy for those teachers who don't know all the different file types.

 

I envision this starting with a single checkbox option with the following text: "Restrict the type(s) of files that can be submitted".  This checkbox would only display if the teacher had selected "Both attachments and entered text" or "Only file attachments" per Enhancement #1.

 

If a teacher selected the "Restrict the type(s) of files that can be submitted" checkbox, the following additional checkboxes would appear below this:

• Allow text files
• Allow presentation files
• Allow spreadsheet files
• Allow image files
• Allow audio files
• Allow video files
• Allow other files

Only when a teacher enabled one or more of the above filetype categories would the applicable filetypes within that category appear in a multi-column list.  Having a multi-column list here would potentially avoid having a really long list of filetypes.

Each file grouping (text, presentation, etc.) should have an associated "Select all" and "Select none" button to allow teachers to achieve the desired result within each category, albeit with the fewest number of clicks:

• Allow text files
  • PDF (.pdf)
  • Word (.doc, .docx)
  • Apple Pages (.pages)
  • Plain text (.txt, .text, .plain)
  • Rich text (.rtf)
  • ... am I missing any other standard text files?
• Allow presentation files
  • Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx)
  • Apple Keynote (.keynote)
  • ... am I missing any other standard presentation files?
• Allow spreadsheet files
  • Microsoft Excel (.xls, .xlsx)
  • Apple Numbers (.numbers)
  • ... am I missing any other standard spreadsheet files?
• Allow image files
  • JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)
  • PNG (.png)
  • etc.
• Allow audio files
  
  • MP3 (.mp3)
  • MIDI (.mid, .midi)
  • M4A (.m4a)
  • Matroska Audio (.mka)
  • Windows Audio (.wma)
  • WAV (.wav)
  • Finale (.mus, .musx)
  • Sibelius (.sib)
  • Pro Tools (.pts, .ptx)
  • GarageBand (.band, .gbproj)
  • MuseScore (.mscx, .mscz)
  • MusicXML (.mxl, .musicxml)
• Allow video files
  • AVI (.avi)
  • Matroska Video (.mkv)
  • QuickTime (.mov, .movie)
  • MP4 (.mp4, .mp4v)
  • iTunes Video (.m4v)
• Allow Google Drive links (while a category, does not additional options)
• Allow other files
  • Code
    • Bash (.bash)
    • Shell (.sh)
    • Python (.py)
    • etc.
  • Compressed files
    
    • ZIP (.zip)
    • Others?
  • Others???

Enhancement #5: Allow Teachers to Restrict Google Drive links

I feel there should also be another checkbox option at the same level as the "Restrict the type(s) of files that can be submitted" in Enhancement #4, specifically for permitting Google Drive links.  Proposed text: "Allow Google Drive links".

The purpose of separating Google Drive links into its own option is to give teachers the ability to prevent students from submitting a live Google Doc link on a major writing assignment.  Because this isn't an option currently, students are allowed to use this option (which the system chooses by default, which is in of itself problematic) and as a result are able to keep working on their original Google Doc after the assigned due date.  Unless a teacher knew to look back at the version history, a student could effectively get extra time to complete a major assignment. 

Not allowing Google Drive links wouldn't prevent students from using Google Drive as a file source for attachments, however.  It would just remove the "Google Drive Link" option for the File Type dropdown menu when a Google Doc is attached, thereby forcing students to choose PDF, Word, or one of the other available filetype options.

That being said, the Google Drive filetype options available in the dropdown menu when attached to an assignment should be governed by whether or not the teacher has allowed, for example, Word documents (under text files).  Any options not allowed by the teacher in other filetype categories (text being the most common) should not be available from the Google Drive filetype dropdown.

Enhancement #6: Produce Error When Student Attaches Ineligible Filetype

To top off the ability for teachers to restrict filetypes for file submissions, students should be presented with an error when they attempt to choose a filetype the teacher hasn't allowed.  Something to the effect of:

"The filetype you have selected to attach to this assignment is not permitted by your teacher.  Please export or convert your file(s) into one of the acceptable filetypes from the list below:

Bulleted list of supported types given teacher settings in the assignment."

In conclusion ...

All of these enhancements to file submissions I feel would significantly aid teachers in collecting digital submissions of student work and prevent a lot of the extra work that often results.