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Use Assignments with Canvas

Google Assignments and Canvas expanded Google Docs Editors and Google Drive to be compatible with Canvas for file submissions. With Assignments, you can distribute and grade student work, analyze student submissions for plagiarism detection, and use Google Docs and Drive with Canvas. 

Features and benefits of Assignments

When admins enable Google Assignments in Canvas settings, you can use its features and benefits.

• Grade in Google’s grading interface or in SpeedGrader™.
• File attachments to an assignment so each student gets their own copy to edit and submit.
• Detect missed citation checks and possible plagiarism with the originality reports feature.
• Students can submit Drive files to Canvas assignments, which instructors can grade in SpeedGrader™.
• Embed Drive files with the Canvas rich text editor.
• Add Drive files to Canvas Modules.

Assignments also provides improvements from Google Apps LTI:

• Officially supported by Google and covered by the Google Workspace for Education Terms of Service.
• Provides an option for admins to require students to use their school-issued Google accounts.
• Uses Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) 1.3 for stronger security.
• Create a new Canvas assignment.

Students can submit Drive files that you can grade with SpeedGrader™.

For teachers

Allow students to submit drive files with canvas assignments.

• After you create a new Canvas assignment, next to "Submission Type", select Online .
• Under "Online Entry Options", select File Uploads.

Important: You must select File Uploads or the submission will fail.

For students

Turn in assignments.

• Ensure you're signed into your school account. 
• Next to "File Upload", click  Google Drive.
• To open a Google Drive window, click Select file.
• Select the Drive file.

• Sign in to Canvas.
• Open the course.

• Sign in to your Google Account.
• Click Allow .
• Select the Google Drive file.
• Click Submit.

Open all   |   Close all

From October 2023, Instructure will no longer support the Google Apps LTI. This means:

• No new installs will be allowed.
• No further development will be made on it.
• No customer support will be available.

Google and Instructure makes sure that Google Assignments LTI 1.3 has the Google Apps LTI functions, and includes:

• Improved security
• Flexibility
• Integrations 

Current Google Apps LTI users won’t lose access but should transition over to Google Assignments LTI 1.3.

To use the latest Assignments features, you can install and migrate to Google Assignments LTI 1.3.

No. Currently, you can’t embed a form or select one as a file type for quizzes. To use Forms for quizzes, create a form and share the link with your students. Learn how to create a Google Form.

• Any submitted work for the Google Apps LTI Cloud assignment that you want to migrate will reset. 
• If you want to keep your previous submissions, make a copy of the Canvas assignment .
• Find the Canvas assignment you want to migrate to Google Assignments LTI 1.3.

• Click Find .
• If you can’t find this option, request your Canvas administrator to turn on Google Assignments LTI 1.3 .
• Link your Google Workspace for Education account.
• Click Continue .
• Attach the Drive worksheet files.
• Choose your grading tool, then make sure the due date and points are updated.
• Click Create .

Related topics

• Set up Assignments in Canvas
• Set up Assignments in Schoology or another LMS
• Set up Assignments in Blackboard
• Set up Assignments in D2L/Brightspace
• Set up Assignments in Moodle
• Set up Assignments in Sakai

Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.

Need more help?

Try these next steps:.

Getting Started with Canvas Assignments

• Last modification date Updated On June 8, 2023
• 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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University Center for Teaching and Learning

How to create assignments for your canvas course.

• Quick Start
• Instructor Help
• Student Help

How to Create Assignments

Using assignments in Canvas provides a streamlined process for assigning homework and creating quizzes for students.  Canvas considers an ‘assignment’ to be anything that is graded, whether that be a quiz or homework assignment, and whether it’s delivered entirely online, paper-and-pencil, or is a participatory assignment with no actual deliverable.

This Quick Start guide will cover the creation of assignments where the student submits a file electronically, on paper, using an external tool such as Turnitin or Panopto , or where no submission is expected (e.g. class participation). See How to Create Tests and Quizzes for Your Canvas Course and Create and Manage Discussions for more information about using those tools as assignments.

1. In the Course Navigation menu, click the Assignments link.

2. Click “ +Assignment ” at the top right.

3. Write the assignment title and directions for students.

4. Assign the number of points available for the assignment.

5. Choose an “ Assignment Group” . Assignment groups are, in essence, a category of assignment. For more information about using Assignment Groups, see the Canvas guides regarding Assignments.

6. There are four submission types :

• No Submission: an activity where nothing will be collected from students (e.g. a participation grade)
• For the full details about the online assignment subtypes, (text entry, annotation, file upload, etc.), please see the official documentation .
• We have a recorded mini-webinar on annotation assignments, including assignment ideas, available on the Training Webinars page.
• On Paper: assignments/quizzes/activities that were written on paper and collected by the instructor
• External Tool: assignments submitted through a 3rd party tool that is integrated with Canvas, such as a textbook publisher’s website or Turnitin

7. Submission Attempts: You may allow unlimited submission attempts for Online assignments, or restrict attempts to one or more. When a student submits to an assignment they have already submitted to, the previous submission is retained as well, and the instructor may view both.

8. Group Assignments and Peer Reviews:  Assignments can be created as either a group assignment or peer review assignment.

9. Assign options- You can assign an assignment to your entire class, a specific student, and/or a section of your class. You can also set the due date and the availability dates (when your students can submit their assignment). Each section can have different due dates and availability dates.

10. If you are finished creating the assignment, click on “ Save & Publish “. If you are not finished creating the assignment, click on “ Save ” and you may come back and work on it more later without students having access to it.

Instructor Help for Assignments

Creating assignments.

• How do I create an assignment?
• How do I add a moderated assignment to be graded by multiple reviewers?
• How do I create an online assignment?
• How do I add or edit details in an assignment?
• How do I add or edit points for an assignment?
• What assignment types can I create in a course?
• How do I limit submission attempts for an assignment?
• How do I add an assignment that includes anonymous grading?
• How do I enable anonymous instructor annotations in student submissions?
• How do I import SCORM files as an assignment?
• How do I publish or unpublish an assignment as an instructor?

Managing Assignments

• How do I use the Assignments Index Page?
• Can a student resubmit Canvas assignments?
• How do I assign an assignment to everyone in a course?
• How do I assign an assignment to a course group?
• How do I assign an assignment to a course section?
• How do I assign an assignment to an individual student?
• How do I view differentiated assignments with different due dates in a course?
• How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
• How do I delete an assignment?
• How do I duplicate an assignment?
• How do I move or reorder an assignment?
• How do I use Direct Share to copy an assignment to another course?
• How do I use Direct Share to send an assignment to another instructor?

Creating and Managing Peer Review Assignments

• How do I create a peer review assignment?
• How do I use peer review assignments in a course?
• How do I automatically assign peer reviews for an assignment?
• How do I manually assign peer reviews for an assignment?
• How do I view student peer review comments as an instructor?

Creating External Tool Assignments

• How do I add an assignment using an external app?
• How do I create a cloud assignment with a Microsoft Office 365 file?

Using Assignment Groups

• How do I add an assignment group in a course?
• How do I create an assignment shell in an assignment group?
• How do I create rules for an assignment group?
• How do I move or reorder an assignment group?
• How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?

Grading Considerations

• How do I add a grading scheme to an assignment?
• How do I download all student submissions for an assignment?
• How do I upload all student submissions for an assignment?
• How do I exclude an assignment from the course’s final grades?
• How do I give extra credit in a course?

Student Help for Assignments

• How do I view Assignments as a student?
• How do I filter assignments by type as a student?
• How do I submit an online assignment?
• How do I submit a text entry assignment?
• How do I enter a URL as an assignment submission?
• How do I submit a media file as an assignment submission?
• How do I upload a file as an assignment submission in Canvas?
• How do I upload a file from Microsoft Office 365 as an assignment submission?
• How do I know when my assignment has been submitted?
• How do I manage celebration animations in Canvas as a student?
• How do I submit a cloud assignment with Microsoft Office 365?
• How do I download assignment submissions from all my courses?
• How do I annotate a file as an assignment submission in Canvas?
• How do I use DocViewer in Canvas assignments as a student?
• How do I submit a PDF assignment with annotations in the Student app on my Android device?
• How do I add annotations to a submission in the Student app on my iOS device?

Groups and Peer

• How do I submit an assignment on behalf of a group?
• How do I know if I have a peer review assignment to complete?
• How do I submit a peer review to an assignment?
• Where can I find my peers’ feedback for peer reviewed assignments?
• How do I view the rubric for my assignment?
• How do I view the rubric for my external tool assignment?
• How do I view rubric results for my assignment?
• How do I know when my instructor has graded my assignment?
• How do I view assignment comments from my instructor?
• How do I view annotation feedback comments from my instructor directly in my assignment submission?
• How do I view my Roll Call Attendance report as a student?
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Grading assignments in canvas.

On This Page

Enter Score on Grades Page

View online submission and submit a score in speedgrader, sort and name display options, annotation tools, grade entry, use a rubric, additional feedback, moving to next student, more resources.

If students aren't submitting anything, like for an in-class activity or participation points, you will need to create a "no submission" assignment on the Assignments page. Then, you can go right to the Grades page and enter a grade for each student, just as you would in spreadsheet software.

Enter "EX" (excused) for students who do not need to complete the assignment so that the score won't count as a "0" when it comes time to calculate a final grade.

When students submit artifacts online (text, document, picture, etc.) you will use the SpeedGrader to grade the assignment. The SpeedGrader will show a preview of the student submission and give you a box to enter the score and a comments field.

You can access the SpeedGrader in a couple of ways:

On the Canvas Dashboard, click on the assignment title in the To Do list

In the course, click on the assignment title in the To Do list on the home page

In the course, click on the Assignment page, then the title of the assignment, and click SpeedGrader

In the course, click on Grades , then the three dots, and SpeedGrader

Once you are in the SpeedGrader, you can sort the submissions alphabetically, by the date of submission, or by submission status and hide the student names.

If students submitted documents for the assignment, you have the option to use a pointer, highlighter, text entry, text strikethrough, or box outline to provide feedback. When using these tools, be sure to add a comment for students to view the feedback. Here is sample verbiage you might use:

Please be sure to view the comments on the body of your paper by clicking on the "View Feedback" link from the assignment page.

If you prefer to use annotation tools using an application on your computer, you can download the file and upload the edited version. For example, you could download the submitted file and open it into a word processing software like Microsoft Word and use the Track Changes feature. There, you can save your document with the annotations and upload them to SpeedGrader by using the File Attachment button underneath the comment box on the right-hand panel of the Speedgrader.

Enter the score in the grade field on the right panel.

You can use a rubric to grade the assignment. See Rubrics for more details.

You can provide additional feedback to students in the form of comments, an uploaded file, video, or audio recording.

You can move to the next student by clicking on the left arrow at the top of the page, or use the dropdown menu to select a specific student.

• Canvas guide: How do I use SpeedGrader?
• Canvas guide: How do I post grades for an assignment in the Gradebook?  

Upcoming Canvas Refresh Will Give Students More Options and Control

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• IT Services and Support
• Teaching and Learning Technologies
• Teach \ Tech

On June 13, 2024, Northwestern Canvas will be updated and enhanced with features to provide a more modern discussions interface and better support for use of the Canvas Student app. Information about what you can expect to see starting June 13 is summarized below.

What You Need to Know About the Canvas Updates

• The look and feel of Canvas discussions and announcements are changing, and you will be able to customize the way posts are organized.
• automatically convert documents and pages into a range of alternate formats including audio (MP3), e-books (EPUB), digital Braille, and digital large print;
• create accessible versions of inaccessible documents such as image-only PDF files, JPG pictures, and Microsoft PowerPoint presentations; and
• translate documents from one language into another.
• You will be able to sync course content to the Canvas Student app for offline viewing .

Discussions/Announcements Redesign

Canvas's Discussions and Announcements areas will have updated functionality and a new layout. With the enhanced discussions and announcements design enabled, you will be able to switch between (1) viewing threaded replies separately via a bump-out window or (2) in the traditional inline flow.

In addition to the ability to switch views, the following new features will be enabled:

• Sort and Filter Options: Sorting options such as "Newest to Oldest" and "Oldest to Newest" and filtering choices including "All," "Unread," and "Read," allow you to quickly and efficiently manage discussions.
• Enhanced Search: The revamped search functionality makes finding specific discussions and topics easier than ever by highlighting text that matches the search query.
• @ Mentions: Directly mention classmates and faculty members in discussions using the "@" symbol.
• Anonymous Discussions and Reporting: Instructors can now allow anonymous replies on ungraded discussion posts. Additionally, most discussions will have a feature that allows users to report discussion comments that are inappropriate, offensive, and abusive. These reports will go to the course instructor(s) for further review.

SensusAccess Integration

As another step forward in increasing the overall accessibility of Northwestern Canvas, we will enable the SensusAccess tool on all course sites. With SensusAccess, you can convert text and image-based files into more accessible formats. It can also transform text and image-based files into different outputs, including audio, Braille, or e-text formats. The tool will not make a document fully accessible, but it can create a readable, tagged document for images and image-based PDFs.

When enabled in Northwestern Canvas, the SensusAccess icon will appear at the top of all Canvas pages and next to course files.

Clicking on the icon will bring up the menu of available alternative formats. Once the conversion process is complete (typically around 10 minutes), the file will be emailed to the address listed as primary in Canvas.

For more on this tool, visit the SensusAccess page on the AccessibleNU website.

Mobile Offline Support

Having a good internet connection is not always a sure thing. Canvas now offers mobile offline support for the Canvas Student App to help students access course content when a solid Wi-Fi connection is not available. With offline support, you can download certain parts of courses and access them through the Canvas Student app if they are enabled on the course site. Those sections include:

• Assignments (list, details, no submission option)
• Grades (list, details, no active submit/resubmit option)
• Quizzes (quiz list, quiz details, no option to take a quiz)

Not supported:

• Collaborations
• YouTube or other external links

When enabled, the default setting is to automatically synchronize course content periodically. There is an option to manually trigger the sync, which will be visible on the dashboard when enabled. Please note that the offline viewing of content is intended to be essentially "read-only," so you can view course content but not participate. Please be sure to refer to an active version of the course site via the app or a browser for the most up-to-date version of the course content.

If you need assistance with any of these updates, please contact [email protected] .

Career Services

• Faculty and Staff Resources

Ready-to-Integrate Assignments and Curriculum

The following assignments are ready as-is, or can be modified for your discipline/course. If you’d like support as you integrate or modify these, please email [email protected].

Boise State Career Fair Extra Credit Assignment Boise State University Career Services hosts two career fairs each academic year. If you’re interested in offering extra credit for attendance at this event, download a copy of our pre-made career fair assignment.

Informational Interview Assignment An informational interview can be an impactful way for students to explore their interests, potential careers, and network with professionals in their field. This assignment asks students to conduct an informational interview with somebody in a field that they’d like to explore and then complete a write up.

Internship Curriculum Career Services is proud to launch our internship curriculum that focuses on helping students identify the skills they are developing in their internship, connect these skills back to their academic program, and articulate this experience to an employer. This curriculum is available as a course copy in Canvas. For more information, please see the Internship Curriculum Overview.

Virtual Workshops Designed to meet the needs of faculty, these eLearning modules allow you to easily incorporate career planning into your course in a variety of ways, regardless of how much time you have available in your course or your level of expertise in career development topics.

Pathway U Assignment – Coming soon!

Midpoint Assignments – Coming soon!

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The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

A Message From the Assistant Director of Content Development 

The Purdue OWL® is committed to supporting  students, instructors, and writers by offering a wide range of resources that are developed and revised with them in mind. To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time.

Please don't hesitate to contact us via our contact page  if you have any questions or comments.

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