how to submit assignment through canvas

Getting Started with Canvas Assignments

• Last modification date Updated On July 26, 2024
• Categories: Assignments , Canvas , Uncategorized
• Categories: assessment , Getting Started , Grading

Canvas  Assignments  are a way for instructors to provide students opportunities to practice using the knowledge and skills they have gained or to assess student performance related to such knowledge and skills. (Creating an Assignment is the  only  way to create a new column in the Gradebook.)

In Canvas there are four basic  Submission Types  for assignments. The submission types include:

• No Submission : For assignments for which you are not collecting any content from the students.
• Text Entry : For students to enter text directly into a text box on Canvas.
• Website URL : For students to enter a URL (usually to a blog, video, podcast, etc.).
• Media Recordings : For students to upload or record media for submission.
• File Uploads : For students to upload files for submission ( Restrict Upload File Types  will allow you to limit which types of files may be submitted).
• On Paper : For assignments students will submit in person.
• External Tool : For assignments which students will submit through a third-party tool (such as Turnitin, Panopto Video Quiz, and PlayPosit).

Managing an Assignment

Managing assignment groups.

When getting started with Assignments, learn to

• Create an assignment shell with the Canvas guide  How do I create an assignment? 

If you select  Peer Reviews Appear Anonymously , annotation tools in  SpeedGrader  will become unavailable.

If you change the  Assign To  area from  Everyone  to select students after submissions have already begun, and do not have a second set of Assign To dates, submissions from unassigned students will disappear.

• Published assignments are visible as existing outside of availability dates, but students cannot see the details.
• If looking to update the due and/or availability dates on multiple assignments, see   How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
• If choosing the option to make an assignment a  Group Assignment : If only assigning to specific groups, make sure to click the  X  on the  Everyone Else  choice under  Assign to .

Media Recording  Assignments are not recommended due to technical reasons. Instead, have students submit media by embedding it in a  Text Entry  assignment through Panopto .

Clearly express expectations and criteria for grading by using a  Rubric .

Be cautious limiting submission attempts, as students often make mistakes loading documents and need multiple attempts to ensure you have the correct submission.

• Delete an assignment with the Canvas guide  How do I delete an assignment?
• This duplication process will not work for Quizzes.
• Attach a rubric to an assignment for grading or to communicate expectations to students with the Canvas guide  How do I add a rubric to an assignment?

Accessibility Tips

• Use descriptive text for links, instead of long URLs or ‘click here’. 
• Make instructions brief and to-the-point. Avoid long paragraphs and sentences.
• Consider allowing multiple submission types to accommodate technical limitations students may face.

Assignment Groups  are a way to categorize different graded items in Canvas. For example, you may have journals, blogs, and essays which your students create in your course. Assignment Groups allow you to label and group different types of assignments separately in order to better organize and for ease when applying weighting (see  How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups? ). When getting started with Assignment Groups, learn to

• Add and delete assignment groups with the Canvas guide  How do I add an assignment group in a course?
• Move or reorder an assignment group with the Canvas guide  How do I move or reorder an assignment group?
• Make rules governing grading expectations within assignment groups with the Canvas guide  How do I create rules for an assignment group?

Additional Resources

• CTI Resource: What is the Assignments Index Page?
• How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
• How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?
• Canvas Student Guide

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CSUEB Online Tools Help

• How to Submit an Assignment in Canvas

Updated on Apr 29, 2023

This article is for Students needing to submit Assignments in Canvas Courses. Instructors may have you access assignments in two different ways, this article will cover both.

Article Overview

• Accessing Assignments in Canvas Courses
• Viewing Canvas Assignment Features
• Submitting Assignments in Canvas

1. Accessing Assignments in Canvas Courses

Instructors may have you access assignments in Canvas by selecting the Assignments tab or Modules Tab from the Course Navigation links on the left in your courses. We will cover both ways.

1.1. Navigate to the Course's Assignments Tab

The Assignments tab can be found in Course Navigation to the left in Canvas.

Assignments will be available in four possible categories; Overdue , Upcoming, Undated, and Past . Assignments are categorized by the pencil and paper icon ( see red arrows) . Select an assignment by clicking on the text of the name of it to read submission instructions.

1.2. Navigate to the Course's Modules Tab

The Modules tab can be found in the Course Navigation to the left in Canvas. Selecting the Module tab will show you course content organized by week, unit, chapter etc. depending on the way your instructor sets up their course. Scroll through the module to find the Assignment to access. In this example I will select " Assignment 1 " pointed to with the red arrow .

2. Viewing Canvas Assignment Features

2.1. select the name of the assignment to open it..

Open the assignment by clicking on its name inside of the Modules or Assignments area in Canvas.

You will see the (1) title of the assignment at the top, beneath that, the (2) due date and time. If multiple attempts were assigned, attempts will be listed in a (3) drop box below the due date. On the far right, you can view (4) total points possible , as well as (5) an Add Comment button to select to leave your instructor feedback per each attempt submitted. See the (6) Details section with drop down arrow on the left, which outlines the instructions for the assignment. Your instructor may also place a rubric below the instructions. If this is the case, a drop down arrow with the words View Rubric will appear (7). If a rubric is present, read through it to get a better idea of what you need to do to successfully complete the assignment.

3. Submitting Assignments in Canvas

In the bottom right hand corner, there will be a faded out red "Submit Assignment" button . Canvas will not allow you to select this button until you scroll down and view the submission options your instructor enabled.

Scroll to the bottom of the assignment to view Submission type information. In this example, the red square for file uploads is enabled for submission. Select the rocket ship to open your computer's file browser, or drag an accepted file type into the perforated box to submit.

The red Upload square denotes the submission type chosen by your instructor. Clicking the red upload square will not allow you to submit. You must select the rocket ship and choose a file to upload. Do not select the the "More " square, unless directed to do so by your instructor.

Once a file has been selected, (1) the file name will be displayed above the rocket ship . The red Submit Assignment button will be bright red. At this time, you can (2) select the Submit Assignment button to submit your work.

Your submission will be (1) time stamped and your work will be visible in the (2) document viewer. You can send a comment to your instructor for your submission that they may see when grading your work. You can select the (3) Add Comment button in the upper right corner. If your instructor has enabled multiple submission attempts a red "Try Again" button (4) will be available in the bottom right corner. Selecting the Try Again button will allow you to submit another attempt.

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Canvas for Students

• (Students) Access Course Evaluations in Canvas
• Replying to a Canvas Discussion Board for Students
• (Students) Using Turnitin Draft Coach in Canvas
• Submit a Turnitin Assignment on Canvas
• (Students) Accessing Canvas Groups
• Creating Collaborations in Canvas Student Groups
• Submitting a Group Assignment in Canvas
• Calculating What if Scores in Grades
• Accessing Materials in a Course with Prerequisites, Requirements, and Mastery Paths
• Taking a Canvas Quiz with Respondus Lockdown Browser
• How to Check Waitlist Status Within Canvas

Featured Articles for Faculty

• Preparing to Teach Your First Canvas Course
• Locate and Import Blackboard-Migrated Course Content in Canvas
• Canvas Migration Exception Log
• Change Canvas Course Availability
• Create a Turnitin Assignment in Canvas

Featured Articles for Students

Other resources.

• Canvas for Faculty
• Grackle Docs
• RTP, Post Tenure & Range Elevation Processes and Interfolio (eDossier) Tutorials
• Sabbatical and DIP Info/Tutorials
• Lecturer-Related Tutorials
• Miscellaneous OAA Form Tutorials

How to Create an Online Submission Assignment

Instructors will organize their graded assignments from the “Assignment” link in the Course Navigation. Published assignments will then automatically sync into the Canvas Gradebook for instructors to add grades and provide feedback. 

Online submission-type assignments, specifically, allow students to submit work for instructors online, through Canvas. Then, instructors can have digital forms of work without the need to download and clutter their desktop memory.

**Once students submit to an assignment, the instructor CANNOT unpublish it

**Graded discussions or quizzes will automatically drop into the “Assignments” section, but should be created in their respective sections (“Discussions” or “Quizzes” via the Course Navigation links).

• What are Assignments?
• How do I create an Assignment
• How do I create an online assignment?
• How do I assign an assignment to an individual student?
• How to Upload and Embed Files via the Rich Content Editor
• How do I assign an assignment to a course group?
• How do I use peer review assignments in a course?
• Email the LX Design team
• Video Suggestions
• Hybrid Learning

California State University Fullerton

Canvas resource center.

Welcome to the Canvas Resource Center where you may find self-help guides on a wide range of topics regarding teaching and learning using Canvas. Begin by typing in a keyword and clicking on Search.

How do I submit a student's assignment on their behalf?

You will learn how you can submit/upload a file attachment for an Assignment in your course in Canvas on behalf of a student.

The Assignment submission type must be for a file upload.

For example, if a student missed a deadline or submitted the wrong paper or you are allowing the student to re-edit the paper, you can submit the assignment on their behalf without having to go through the steps of changing any deadllines or allowed attempts.

1. Navigate to the Gradebook for your course.

2. Locate the student with the missing submission.

Tip: You can also re-submit an Assignment for a student. For example, if a student submitted an incomplete assignment or submitted the wrong file, you can upload the correct file for that student even if it is past the due date and the until date for a particular Assignment.

You can use the Search tool or simply scroll down the list of students.

3. Click on the desired cell.

4. Click on the Arrow.

5. Click on Submit for Student.

6. Drag and drop the file.

7. Click on Submit.

8. Click on SpeedGrader.

Note that the cell now shows that the Assignment needs grading.

9. In the SpeedGrader, you can see when the submission was made and by whom.

You can see the date and time and by whom the Assignment was submitted (1). You can apply all of your regular grading, rubric, comments, etc. that you would do a for a student-submitted Assignment.

Article Summary

You have now learned how to submit an Assignment on behalf of a student.

• Prev: How do I give extra credit in a course?
• Next: How do I hide student grades while I am grading that Assignment?

Last Updated

Nov 01, 2023

Self-Help Guides

• Making the Most of Canvas
• Canvas Studio
• FAQs for Using Canvas

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• Respondus 4.0 in Canvas
• Respondus LockDown Browser in Canvas
• Scantron and ParScore
• ShareStream Video in Canvas
• SoftChalk in Canvas
• SOQ in Canvas
• Teams in Canvas
• Turnitin in Canvas
• VoiceThread for Canvas
• YouTube in Canvas
• Zoom in Canvas

STUDENT SELF-HELP GUIDES

• Student Self-Help Guides

Search Utah State University:

Assignment submission types in canvas.

Canvas lets you decide the way you want students to submit their assignments. You specify the submission type in the Submission Type box when you create the assignment. Assignment settings always remember and display the settings created or edited in the previous assignment in the course.

On This Page

No Submission

External tool.

Choose No Submission when you do not want students to submit an assignment in Canvas. You can use this assignment type to create extra columns in the Gradebook, or when you want to create an assignment that involves multiple scores.

Choose Online when you want students to submit their assignments in Canvas. When you use the online submission type, you can specify online entry options.

Text Entry : Students can submit their assignment directly in the Rich Content Editor .

Website URLs : Students can submit a URL that fulfills the assignment.

Media Recordings : Students can submit an audio or video recording that fulfills the assignment. They can either record new media or upload existing media.

File Uploads : Students can upload a file to fulfill the assignment. Note that if your institution has enbled Google Docs as a submission type, students can connect to Google Docs as a web service to submit an assignment as a Google Doc, Google Sheet, or Google Slide. However, these files will convert to their Microsoft counterpart file type—Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, respectively.

If you want to only allow certain types of files for assignment submissions, click the Restrict Upload File Types check box and manually enter a list of accepted extensions in the Allowed File Extensions box. In the case of an odd or unusual file type, try adding it to your course to confirm the file is accepted before requesting students to submit the file type.

Select On Paper when you want students to submit an assignment to you but not through Canvas. When you choose this assignment type, Canvas creates a column in the Gradebook for grading purposes. However, you must enter the grades manually.

Choose External Tool when you want students to submit their assignments using an external app (LTI) enabled for your course. You must enter a URL for the external tool.

Canvas @ Yale

• Submitting a File to a Canvas Assignment on a Student's Behalf

Updated on Jun 12, 2023

Instructors can submit a file to a Canvas Assignment set to accept file uploads on behalf of a student in their course's Gradebook. Their submission to the assignment will include the timestamp as well as who submitted the file to the assignment. The instructor can also submit multiple files at a time for a single student, and submit beyond the availability date of a Canvas Assignment.

Currently on users with the role of Instructor or Guest Instructor in a course have the ability to upload a file on a student's behalf for a Canvas Assignment. All other course and system admin roles cannot submit a file on behalf of students.

Note: Submitting a file on behalf of a student to a Canvas Assignment that is also using Turnitin circumnavigates a student's requirement of accepting that they are submitting their work to Turnitin.

• In your Canvas course, navigate to your course Gradebook section.
• You may only upload a file to a Canvas Assignment that has been configured to accept " File Uploads " in the settings.
• Select the Gradebook cell for the student and click the Grade Detail Tray icon .

• From the Grade Detail Tray that opens on the right-hand side for that student, click the " Submit for Student " button.

• In the " Upload File " picker box that opens, drag and drop or search your computer for the student's file that you want to submit on their behalf.
• Click the Trash Can icon to the right of the file name to remove it from being submitted.
• When all files have been selected in the picker box, click the " Submit " button to add the files to the Canvas Assignment on behalf of your student.

• When viewing the documents submitted in the SpeedGrader, the timestamp will specify who submitted the files .

For more information please email [email protected] .

Assessments, Feedback and Grades

• Building Assessments in Canvas
• Creating an Assignment
• Creating a Media Recording Assignment
• Creating an Ungraded, No-Submission Assignment (Reading Assignment)
• Implementing Peer Review Assessments
• Duplicating an Assignment
• Setting Lock / Availability Dates
• Due Dates versus Display Dates
• Checking a Canvas Activity in Student View without Releasing It to Students
• Assignments (Vendor Guides)
• Turnitin: Creating a Turnitin Assignment
• Turnitin: Assignment Settings Options
• Turnitin: Viewing the Similarity Report / Originality Score (Instructor Guide)
• Creating a Discussion Board
• Implementing Online Discussions
• Discussions (Vendor Guides)
• Strategies for Delivering Exams / Quizzes in Canvas
• Introducing New Quizzes
• New Quizzes (Vendor Guides)
• Quizzes (Vendor Guides)
• Supporting and Using Feedback in Your Class
• Submitting Audio / Video Feedback to a Student
• Grading Assignments Using the SpeedGrader
• Utilizing Anonymous Grading
• Accessing the SpeedGrader from the Gradebook
• Gradebook Overview and Features
• Understanding Gradebook Views and Filters
• Using the Grade Posting Policy
• Changing Grading Schemes / Grade Letter Ranges
• Creating Weighted Assignments Groups
• Importing Grades into Gradebook
• SpeedGrader (Vendor Guides)
• Rubrics (Vendor Guides)
• Gradebook (Vendor Guides)
• Feedback & Accessibility Barriers Tool: Overview
• Enabling / Viewing the Feedback & Accessibility Barriers Tool
• Mid-Semester Feedback: Overview
• Disabling / Enabling the Mid-Semester Feedback Tool in Your Canvas Course
• Timing of Mid-Semester Feedback
• Managing Mid-Semester Feedback Survey Questions
• Viewing / Downloading Student Mid-Semester Feedback Submissions
• New Analytics (Vendor Guides)
• Analytics (Vendor Guides)
• Outcomes (Vendor Guides)

Other Resources

• Accessibility
• Inclusivity
• Canvas @ Yale Settings
• Enrollment & Permissions
• Technical Support Guides
• Updates & Known Issues
• Canvas @ Yale Admin / Registrar
• Instructor Getting Started Guides
• Course Management
• Canvas @ Yale External Applications
• Discover Instructional Tools
• Instructor FAQ
• Student Getting Started Guides
• Student Assessment Guides
• Student FAQ

• Best Practice
• Contact and Consulting

Higher E-Learning

Online Help for Higher Ed – Jason Paul Johnston

How to Submit an Assignment through Turnitin in Canvas for Students

Instead of the video, you can follow these quick steps below:

1. Upload the Assignment

Navigate to your assignment page and click the button to submit the assignment. Don’t see the button? See an error? First try another browser.

2. Submit the Assignment

Wait for Turnitin to complete processing. If necessary, move the windows so that you can see the “submit” button

3. Wait for the feedback

If your instructor allows it, you will be able to see Turnitin feedback

Need more help?

Click here for the official Turnitin student training (or contact me)

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