Outlook Version
Receiving/Grading Student Assignments Electronically
Saving Time Series: January 10 or 12, 2004
Teaching/Learning Center
Basic Principles
1. Tell students how to submit assignments correctly
2. Tell Outlook to “filter” the email messages as they come in to put the right ones into a folder that you create for them
3. Grade the assignment by using Word’s Track Changes feature to mark it up.
4. Return assignments to students as attached files to an email message.
1: Tell Students
A. In the document in which you describe the requirements for an assignment, include a clearly demarcated section called “Submitting Your Assignment.” Specify:
1. what the students should name their assignment file and what format to save it in (Word or RTF); include how to save a file in RTF
2. what they should put in the subject line of their email message
3. what email address to send the message and attached file to
4. and tell them that they will be receiving an email confirmation that you have received the message/assignment if you plan to do this
B. Provide specific instructions for what to name the assignment file (e.g., BakerPaper1) and to save it in Word or RTF format.
1. This sample, with the student’s last name first, will allow you to find a specific student’s file easily from an alphabetical list. It might help to have the course and section numbers if you plan to do this with more than one course (e.g., BakerP1_221-4). You don’t want 25 files that are all named “Paper1!”
2. Be sure to tell them to save in Microsoft Word or RTF (a choice in the Save As dialog box) format
3. Expect a few students who will not do this correctly the first time around. Return the assignment to them and ask them to resubmit correctly before you grade it.
C. Provide specific instructions for what to put in the subject line of the email message they send to you when submitting their assignment. If it can be the same as the attached assignment file name, it will be easier for the student to remember to do it correctly. For example, BakerP1-221-4
D. Provide instructions for what email address to send it to. Many of us have more than one. Which one allows you to filter mail into folders and generate an automatic reply message? Outlook does not currently allow the latter function, but you can do it manually.
2. Tell Outlook to filter the students’ messages into a folder
A. Create and name a folder in your Inbox that will hold the assignments
1. Click the small arrow next to the word “New” in the top left area of Outlook; then choose “Folder”
2. Name the folder (e.g., 221-4 Paper1) and click once on the word “Inbox” if you want to place the folder in your Inbox.
3. If desired, also create a labeled folder on your hard drive to hold all of the attached files if you prefer to eventually detach the files and keep them elsewhere.
B. Filter the email messages as they come in by setting up a “Rule” in Outlook.
1. Choose “Rules and Alerts” in the Outlook Tools menu.
2. Click the “New Rule” button. The Rule Wizard will appear.
a. At the top, make sure the radio button is selected that says “Start creating a rule from a template.”
b. In Step 1, choose “Move messages with specific words in the subject to a folder.”
c. In Step 2, click on the blue “specific words.”
d. Type in the words you want Outlook to look for in your student’s email subject line (see step 1C above). For example, P1-221-4.
4. Click the “Add” button. [Note: If you think students might make mistakes, you can repeat this process for each of the several versions of acceptable word combos you think the students might use, so that they all filter the same. For example, Paper1-221-4, Paper1 221-4, Paper1221-4.]
5. Also in Step 2 of the wizard, click on the blue words “specified folder.” Select the folder you created in Step A above to accept the messages in your Inbox and click “OK.”
5. Click the “Next” button. The next few screens just ask you to proof read what you have done above to make sure it is correct. If so, continue clicking the Next button. If incorrect, click the Back button and fix it.
6. When you reach the Finish screen:
a. Give a name to your Rule that is descriptive. For example, “Filter 221-4 Paper 1 assignments”
b. Click the “Run Now” radio button if you already have some of these messages in your Inbox so that they can be filtered now. Either way, make sure the “Turn on the Rule” radio button is selected.
7. If you are not using Outlook, many email programs allow you to set up a rule to send an automatic reply to your students that the message has been received, as well.
3. Grade the assignments using Word’s Track Changes feature
A. Turn on “Track Changes” by selecting “Track Changes” in the Tools menu.
B. Set the colors and methods you would like to use to mark up the student’s paper:
1. Choose “Options” in the Tools menu and make your selections.“OK.”
4. To select a more colorful highlighting color to better attract your student’s attention, click on the Highlighter icon (note icon below with an “ab” in it) in the tool bar just above the document, selecting the color you want.
C. To mark up the document:
1. Add new text to the document by placing your cursor at the insertion point and typing. Blue underlined words will appear unless you have changed the colors in the Options window above.
2. Strike out words you don’t want to be there by drag/selecting the words and pressing the Delete key. The words will show a black strikethrough line unless you have changed the feature in the Options window above.
3. Insert a popup comment that appears when the students mouse-over a highlighted word:
a. Highlight the word or phrase where you want to insert the comment.
b. Click the Comment button (looks like a folder with a star) in the tool bar above the document. Red parenthesis marks surround the word/phrase.
c. Type the comment while watching it appear at the bottom of your screen.
D. If you do not want the students to be able to change the comments, choose “Protect document” in the Tools menu.
E. Save the document in Rich Text Format (RTF).
F. To turn off Track Changes at any time, click the icon with the “X” in it above.
4. Return assignments as attached files to an email message.
A. Create a message in Outlook addressed to the student. Insert any directions you wish, such as:
1. If you don’t see my comments, choose “Markup” in the View menu.
2. To see my hidden comments, hold your mouse over any highlighted word(s). The comments will appear.
3. If you’d prefer to see all of the comments as “balloons” in the margins, choose “Print Layout View” in Word’s View menu and “Balloons” in the Show menu just above the top of the document.
4. If you’d prefer printing the document with all of my comments, choose “Print Layout View” in the View menu, “Print” in the File menu, and then “Document Showing Markup” in the Print dialog box.
B. Put “Feedback to BakerP1-221-4” in the subject line so that the students can find the message that ties to the correct assignment.
C. Click the paper clip icon and choose the student’s file from your assignment folder to attach to the email message.
D. Click Send.
**Note: For additional features of Word’s Track Changes feature, press the F1 key and type “track changes” in the Help menu’s search box. Questions? Call us at the TLC 5045 or send your question to