How can I work with student files submitted via the Assignment Submission optional feature?
If an Assignment Submission area is requested for a course's webCafé room, within that area there will be a subfolder for each student who has obtained a Wharton computing account. Students are unable to see the contents of other students' subfolders; however, instructors and TAs may access all folders. In large courses, the individual student subfolders will be grouped within course section-specific folders for easier browsing.
An instructor or TA can simply click on a student's subfolder to see her or his uploaded course work. Another alternative, rather than visiting every student's subfolder, is to utilize the search capability in webCafé to bring files uploaded by various students onto a single screen. Use the search button on the top-level folder of the room (or the search tab shown in the left-side navigation pane, then a "more options" link shown under that tab). One method is to search for files within a date range likely to cover the period of time during which students submitted files for the assignment.
To open a file for reading, just click its name or icon. If you need to edit a student's file for purposes such as posting feedback or a grading rubric, right-click the file's icon (not the file name, but the little Word document picture) and choose Edit from the pop-up menu. Depending on whether you use the eRoom plug-in, the mechanics of editing may differ. Here is a link with details (ignore the "eRoom Enterprise" section, but read through "Tracking File Versions"), as well as a quick summary:
- If you don't use the plug-in, you'll be prompted to download the file, make changes to it, and then re-upload it. Here is a more detailed set of steps for doing that.
- If you do use the plug-in, editing may be done more directly, without having first to download and save a copy of the file. After you right-click on the file's icon and choose Edit, the file will open immediately in Word. When you're done, just save and close the file. Closing the file is done in Word either by using the smaller black x button at upper right of the document window, or by pulling down the File menu and choosing Close. After you close the file, the plug-in will transfer it back to the student's folder.
Here is a link to our Help & Support article for the editing methods described above. In some cases you may find that a student has made a file "read-only" or "reserved for editing"; those settings can be removed by you if needed (removing read-only setting; removing reserved setting).
- Another plug-in-based option is to reserve one or more files for later editing, which should be done "offline" (while you are not connected to the internet). Currently, reserving files can be done only one file at a time, although you may use the search results screen to first get a list of files to reserve.
To reserve the file for editing, right-click on the file's icon and choose Access Control; on the screen that appears, check the "Reserved for editing" checkbox and press OK. This will transfer the file to the Start Menu > Programs > eRoom Files for Offline Editing folder on your hard drive. Edit the files while not connected to the internet; when you reconnect, the plug-in will prompt you to ask whether any changed files should be transferred back to webCafé. Unlike with the reservation process, this reconnection step will transfer any changed files automatically, showing you a "progress bar". Here is a link to further help for the offline editing method.
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