View source for Sending papers (or other files) to instructors in Sakai

==How do I send assignments or documents to my instructor?==

Listed below are several different ways a student can send electronic documents to an instructor.

'''Before using any of the methods described below, BE SURE to check with your instructor.  You must submit your assignments using the method YOUR instructor specifies'''. 

===What characters should I avoid when naming files?===
When saving a document that you plan to send or post in Sakai, do NOT use any special symbols in the file name (such as:  #   $   @   *  &  ?  and so on).  
*If you do, others may not be able to open your file.  The file name CAN contain letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens and underscore marks.

 Example:  Don't use this file name --> assignment#3.doc
           Use this one instead --> assignment3.doc
===Sakai Drop Box===
If your instructor has specified that you should use Sakai's Drop Box tool, follow these steps to upload files. 
* In your Sakai course, go to the course menu on the left and click on the '''Drop Box''' tool. If you don't see the Drop Box tool on the course menu, the tool is not available. 
* Follow these instructions: [https://sakai.screenstepslive.com/s/sakai_help/m/101295/l/1340039-how-do-students-add-items-to-the-drop-box How do I add items to the Drop Box?]
** '''Note:''' Keep in mind that there is a limit of 25 MB per upload.

===Student Video for Assignments===
{| 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; border-color:#C6C6C6;" | <youtube width="400" height="225" alignment="right">kfYDjrfwBVk</youtube>
|}

===Sakai Assignments: Submitting Assignments===
Some instructors use the Sakai Assignments tool to collect documents from students.  
* Follow these instructions: [https://sakai.screenstepslive.com/s/sakai_help/m/101295/l/1339935-how-do-students-submit-an-assignment How to submit a file in Assignments]
'''Note:''' Contact your instructor if you have questions or need to resubmit an Assignment.

===Sakai Assignments: Submitting Peer Review Assignments===
If your assignment has a peer review component, the Peer Assessment for the assignment will appear immediately beneath the assignment title in the list. 
* However, you must submit your own assignment before you can complete your peer review(s) for other students.
* And your Peer Assessment links will not be available until have the due date/time of your original assignment.
* Here are the step-by-step instructions for submitting [https://sakai.screenstepslive.com/s/sakai_help/m/101295/l/1339944-how-do-students-complete-a-peer-assessment-assignment Peer Assignments]

===Sakai Assignments: Review Graded/Returned Assignments and Peer Review Assignments===
If your instructor used the Assignment tool, you can view your grades and instructor comments and/or file(s) in Assignments.
* Step-by-step instructions for students [https://sakai.screenstepslive.com/s/sakai_help/m/101295/l/1339954-how-do-students-view-their-assignment-feedback to view their assignment grades and feedback]
'''Note:''' Contact your instructor if you have questions about your Assignment grade or feedback.

===Sakai and Turnitin===
Some instructors use a service called Turnitin to check papers for plagiarism. Some instructors also use Turnitin to return graded papers with comments to students. Instructors may enable Turnitin on selected Assignments within Sakai.

* <font color="green">''If your instructor is using Turnitin to check for plagiarism:'' </font> Documents you submit through Sakai’s Assignments feature will be compared to a database containing text from billions of web pages, publications and other students’ papers. About 15 – 30 minutes after you submit your paper, a report will be returned that highlights sentences or passages that match text found in the database. This text is marked "unoriginal" and may or may not constitute plagiarism.
* <font color="green">''If your instructor is using Turnitin to provide comments on your paper:'' </font> After the instructor has graded your paper, you will be able to access the paper on Sakai and view your instructor’s comments.

====Rules for submitting papers to Turnitin====
Find out from your instructor if he/she is using Turnitin. If so, before submitting your document in Sakai, be sure it adheres to these rules:
{| class="wikitable" border-width: 1px;" 
|+ Turnitin Submission Rules
|- class="wikitable" style="color: black; background-color: #ffffcc;"
| '''Topic'''
| '''Rules'''
|- 
|style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left;" | Document Type
| '''Use a Microsoft Office file, such as Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx, .ppsx)''' 
* You can also submit RTF, PDF, PostScript (.eps,.ps), HTML (.htm, .html), WordPerfect (.wpd), OpenOffice Text (.odt) or plain text (.txt)  
* '''Note:''' Turnitin converts the PowerPoint file into a PDF file. Turnitin retains all text and images in their original format but removes the following:
** Presenter notes, embedded video, and animations. [https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/turnitin-website/student/submitting-a-paper/file-requirements.htm According to Turnitin]:
** "Text with visual effects are not supported-it is recommended that any visual effects, such as shadows and 3D be removed prior to submitting to Turnitin." 
|- 
|style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left;" | Document Extension
| '''The document file name must have an extension on the end''' 
* Example:  <tt>Paper1.'''docx'''</tt>  or  <tt>Essay.'''pdf'''</tt>
|- 
|style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left;" | Minimum Number of Words
| '''The document must contain at least 20 words.'''
* If you type in a comment for your instructor in the Assignment Text Box, it will be submitted to Turnitin. 
|-
|style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left;" | Document Size
| '''The document must be less than 25MB'''
* Sakai does not allow documents to be submitted that are larger than 25MB.
|}

====Accessing your Turnitin report====
{| 
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; border-color:#C6C6C6;" | <youtube width="400" height="225" alignment="right">DdIHYokjOgo</youtube>
|}
* Click on the same link in Sakai that you used to submit your assignment. 
* If the Turnitin report is ready, beside '''Turnitin Report''' click on the colored status icon link; a new browser window will open showing your results.
* If you return too soon, beside Turnitin Report, the blue hourglass status icon will be displayed: [[Image:TurnitinReportStatusIcon.jpg|alt=Sample blue hourglass status icon]] 
** NOTE: It may take 30-60 minutes from the time you submit your paper for the Turnitin report to appear. 
** ALSO NOTE: Instructors can choose to make the reports unavailable to students or to delay the availability.
[[Image:TII-View_submission_of_TII_student_assignment.png|border|alt=A submitted assignment displays a Turnitin Report row, with a square, red status icon link beside it]]

====Viewing your Turnitin Originality report==== 
* The Turnitin report will show the ''Similarity report'', which ''highlights'' any sentences or passages of text that match those in Turnitin’s database.
* If your instructor is using Turnitin to provide comments on your paper, you can click on the blue '''Instructor Feedback''' button in the upper right to see your instructors' comments.
** NOTE: Your instructor must grade your paper using Turnitin before you will see comments in Instructor Feedback/Grademark. Many instructors do not use this feature.
* For details about the Turnitin Report, please review the image and explanations listed below:
[[Image:TII-Image-for-Student-wiki-page.jpg|border|Sample Turntin Report|alt=Long Description is located below the image]]
# In the example above, the Turnitin Report displays the ''Similarity'' report, which highlights any sentences or passages of text that match those in Turnitin’s database. '''Click on numbers displayed IN''' the ''Similarity'' report, to learn more about the source of the highlighted text that Turnitin found. In the example above, the highlighted text is associated with multiple sources. 
# The ''red overall similarity percentage'' (96) reflects the percentage of the entire submission that matches selected Turnitin sources. This paper may or may not have been plagiarized, even though the similarity percentage is 96%. Why? Some or all of the sources may have been quoted properly and/or referenced in footnotes or in a bibliography in the paper. '''Click on the overall similarity percentage''' (96) to view the ''Match Overview'', which displays the top matches in different colors. According to [https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/sakai/student/the-similarity-report/viewing-a-breakdown-of-your-matches.htm Turnitin], "Matches are color coded and listed from highest to lowest percentage of matching word area to the submission. Only the top or best matches are shown".
# Below the similarity percentage, '''click on the "graph icon"''', the ''All Sources'' icon, to view all matches between the paper and sources in the Turnitin database. In this paper, there are many potential sources of the highlighted text.
# Finally, '''click on the filter or "funnel" icon,''' which is the  ''Filters and Settings'' icon, which allows you to exclude quotes, a bibliography and/or small word matches, which could affect the matches found. After editing the filters and settings and saving the changes, the student and instructor will be able to make a better decision about whether some or all of the text was plagiarized.

* [https://help.turnitin.com/feedback-studio/sakai/student/student-category.htm#TheSimilarityReport Turnitin Student User Guides]: How to view or interpret the Similarity Report.

====Turnitin error messages====
[[File:120px-Crystal_Clear_app_error-info.svg.png|50px|alt=Yield symbol; yellow triangle with exclamation point inside of it]] 
When you view your Turnitin report, you may see one of these messages:
* <font color="red">''This attachment has been submitted and is pending review.''</font>
This means the Turnitin report is processing but not yet complete. Check back in 30 to 60 minutes, and the report should be available.
*  <font color="red">''An error occurred submitting this attachment to the originality checking service. The system will automatically try to re-submit this attachment.''</font>
This means Turnitin could not process the paper. This error could appear for several reasons. Wait about an hour; the problem may resolve itself. 
* If not, make sure your paper adheres to the [[#Rules for submitting papers to Turnitin|rules for submitting papers to Turnitin]]. 
* Contact [mailto:sakaihelp@durhamtech.edu sakaihelp@durhamtech.edu] if you are a Durham Tech student and need assistance.

----

''Credits:'' "Yield" image: By Jacob Hnri 6 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons


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==How can I save my file so that my instructor will be able to open it?==

If your instructor is unable to open and read files that you send him or her, it is probably because your word processing programs are not compatible. (For example, if you use Microsoft '''Works''' but your instructor uses Microsoft '''Word''', then you may have problems opening each others' documents. Although the names are very similar, these are two different products and are often not compatible.)  

'''It is a good idea to save your documents in a format that can be opened by ANY word processor:  Rich Text Format (RTF).'''

Saving in Rich Text Format preserves formatting (such as bold, italics, bullets, numbering, tabs, tables, etc) AND allows the document to be opened in any word processor.

===How do I save a document in Rich Text Format (RTF)?===
* First, type up your document and save it as usual.
* Then choose File > Save As.  
* In the dialog box that appears, just underneath the file name, you will see a drop-down menu where you can select different '''file types'''.  From this menu, choose '''Rich Text Format'''.  After you choose this, the file ending will change to RTF.

===When attaching a file to send to my instructor, how can I tell which is the RTF file?===
By default, Windows hides the file extensions (3 letter endings of file names).  Therefore, when you are attaching a file, it can be hard to tell which files are in rich text format (that is, which files end in RTF).  The solution is to change your Windows settings to show file endings.

Follow these steps to set Windows to show file endings:
* In Windows, open "My Computer".  
* From the Tools menu, choose Folder Options.  Click the View tab.
* Uncheck the box beside "Hide file extensions for known file types".  
* Click Apply, then click OK.  Close the "My Computer" window.
-->

<!-- 
ALSO, before sending, it is a good idea to save your document as RTF (Rich Text Format) so your instructor will be able to open it and read it in any word processor.

===Email attachment===
Some instructors ask students to send documents to them as email attachments.  You can do this through your Durham Tech ConnectMail email account. Or, you can use Sakai's Email tool to send an email to your instructor.
* In your Sakai course, go to the course menu on the left and click on the '''Email''' tool. If you don't see the Email tool on the course menu, the tool is not available.
* In the '''TO''' line, click '''Roles''', then click '''Instructors''', then check the box beside your instructor's name.
* Type a meaningful subject line and message. (Be sure to follow any specific rules your instructor has set for email communication.) At a minimum, your message should include your name, the course and section, and the name of the specific assignment you are submitting.
* Click '''Attach a file''' (just under the Subject line) to attach your file. 
* Click '''Browse...''' then locate and select your document.
* If you'd like to attach multiple files, click '''Attach another file'''. Then, click '''Browse...''' to locate and select another file.
* <font color="red">'''BE SURE'''</font> to scroll to the bottom and check the box beside '''Send me a copy''', so you will have a record of the email.
* Do not check the Add to Email Archive box. This option applies to instructors only and will not work for students.
* Click '''Send Email'''.

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<!-- ==I'm having trouble with Office 2010 and 2007 files.  What should I do?==

Microsoft Word 2010 and 2007 saves files with an (.docx) extension.  Microsoft Word 2003 and older versions save files with an (.doc) extension.  Even though the file extensions look similar, Microsoft Word 2003 and older versions cannot open (.docx) files without installing additional software called the Microsoft Compatibility Pack.  The Microsoft Compatibility Pack allows you to open, edit, save and create files with (.docx) extension using Microsoft Word 2003 and older versions.  The Microsoft Compatibility Pack includes a compatibility option for Excel and PowerPoint 2010 and 2007. 

See Microsoft’s website to learn how to download and install the free [http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101686761033.aspx Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack] for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2010 and 2007 File Formats.

===I'm using Office 2010 or 2007. How can I save files so my instructor or others can open them?===
If you are using Microsoft Word 2010 or 2007, follow these steps to save your files in an older version (.doc) format:
*First, type up your document and save it as usual. 
*Then choose the Office Button (colorful circle in upper-left corner) or the File menu, then choose Save As.
*In the dialog box that appears, just underneath the file name, you will see a drop-down menu where you can select different file types. From this menu, choose Word 97-2003 Documents. After you choose this, the file ending will change to doc.
-->