Tips for Submitting Homework Online

Improve your experience for creating and submitting your assignments to Moodle via assignment drop boxes or forums.

Last Updated: May 31st, 2022

Submitting electronic files (file upload areas/dropboxes)

  • Use filenames that mean something to the receiver. You may know what “Essay 1” is, but imagine you are professor with fourteen copies of “Essay 1” in your Downloads folder. Consider including the course number and your name.
  • Use the file format (e.g., Word doc, PDF, etc.) your professor requests. (If no format is specified, ask!) Most programs will let you convert your files to different formats; see the online documentation for your word processing program. WordGoogle DocPages
  • Back up your file as you are working! Crashes happen and files get corrupted, so make sure you protect yourself. It is a very good idea to save a new version of your document whenever you make major changes. This way, if you later decide you really liked that paragraph you deleted, you can go back to an older version. Add version numbers to the filename (e.g., v1, v2, etc.) to help track which is the latest and the order.

Submitting text into a text area (Submitting text in text input for assignments and forums)

  • Moodle does not save as you type. We strongly recommend composing your essay or forum response in your preferred word processing program (Word, Google Docs, etc.) where you can save as you go. Once it is ready to be submitted, copy-and-paste the finished text into Moodle.
  • Keep an archival copy — either save the document you used to compose your submission or, if you composed in Moodle, copy-and-paste the text into a document before you submit and save that. You may want to refer back to the submission later, submit it as writing samples, or share it with someone who is writing a recommendation for you. You won’t always have access to the copy in Moodle.


Student Help Desk Support (SHeD)

The student help desk is located on main campus in the Library (center building).

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