D2L Brightspace: Students' Assignment Tool

STUDENTS: Step by step instructions on how to submit files into assignments in D2L and review feedback

This article will address submitting assignments to an assignment folder and reviewing feedback from the instructor, as well as common troubleshooting issues.

Table of Contents:

• Submit to an assignment folder
• Review feedback in an assignment folder
• Troubleshooting

Video Summary:

Submit to an assignment folder:

1. Start logged into D2L Brightspace and in the course you are submitting the assignment. From the navigation bar within the course, select the Assessments button and then Assignments from the dropdown menu.
2. Select the name of the assignment that you want to submit to in the first column of the assignments table.
3. The Submit Files page will list any instructions or rubrics for your review. 
4. Below the instructions and rubrics, select the Add a File button.
   
5. In the Add a File popup window, select an option to navigate to your files:
   1. My Computer – your local device
   2. My Locker – your personal locker in the D2L Brightspace site
   3. Group Locker – a course group locker
   4. OneDrive Files - a file within your University OneDrive account
   
6. Select the Upload button, and then navigate to the file.
   
7. After the file has finished uploading, the file name displays as a hyperlinked text.
8. After uploading the files, select the Add button.  
   
9. Select the Submit button.
   Important: Make sure you select Submit. If you do not, the assignment will not be uploaded. If you miss this step, your assignment is not submitted!
   
10. On the File Upload Results page, select the Done button.

Reviewing feedback in an Assignment Folder:

1. From the course navigation bar, navigate to the Assignments tool.
2. From the Assignments page, locate your assignment, and select Unread in the Evaluation Status column.
   
3. From the View Feedback page, you can view your teacher’s feedback, which may include a score, text feedback, rubric assessment, attachments, and/or in-line feedback.
4. If there are any feedback files, select Download All Files to download feedback attachments.
   
5. When you are finished viewing the annotated feedback, navigate back to the View Feedback page and select Done.

Troubleshooting:

File format

When you attempt to upload a file to an assignment in the Add a File window, you may see an “Invalid file type” message.  The file does not upload in the window.

• Check if the assignment submission page has an “allowed file extension” section.  If so, your instructor has restricted the assignment to the specific file extension type.
• Is there a special ASCII character such as  / \ : * ? " < > | & # {}  in the file name?  Problems may arise if file names contain any of those special characters.  Rename the file to remove the special characters then upload the file.  
• How long is the file name? Rename the file and keep the name under 45 characters.
• Are there any leading or trailing spaces in the file name?  Remove any spaces at the start or end of the file name. Otherwise, spaces in file names are allowed, but you may wish to use underscores ( _ ) instead.
• Are there one or two periods before the file extension (for example ..doc)? There should be only one. All file names must have a valid extension. It is good practice to only use periods in a file name between the file name and the extension. In particular, avoid using two consecutive periods ( .. ) in a file name. Two or more consecutive periods may cause problems, such as a broken link.

File Size

The maximum file size that can be uploaded in D2L Brightspace is 2GB per file.  The 2 GB limit is hard-coded into all areas of D2L Brightspace, except for tools with smaller size limits (such as the Locker tool).

For 2 GB or larger files, the file may begin to upload but stop at a percentage (e.g. 50% or even 100%) in the assignment.  However, a message may eventually display with the "Oops. File could not be uploaded" message and the file will fail to upload to the screen. 

In these cases, try to make the file smaller or break it up into multiple files.

Internet Connection

Files are uploaded in D2L in 10MB chunks and times out if a 10MB chunk takes longer than 2 minutes to upload.  It may appear that your file is continuing to upload after the two minutes, however it is not.  It the file upload timeouts, you may see an "Oops - File could not be uploaded" message in the Add a File window.

In this case, check your Internet connection to make sure the computer is connected to the Internet and try again. 

Further Questions

If you need help please contact the Service Center at service.center@metrostate.edu or at 651-793-1240.

For more detailed instructions, refer to Submit to an assignment and view feedback (KA #879).