Grading Canvas Assignments with Apple iPad

To grade assignments uploaded to Canvas, faculty can use an Apple iPad and the Canvas and Box Folder apps. Students should upload their assignments as PDFs, and faculty should create a Box folder to download the submissions into for grading. It is recommended that faculty use a Box folder structure that emulates Course Number > Assignment > PDFs.  The containing folder name is inconsequential, however to insure that Canvas can re-upload graded assignments, PDF must keep the same names.  

What's Needed

• iPad using iOS 11 or later
• Files App
• Box App
• Apple Pencil (optional, recommended)
• Box Drive (optional)

General Process

Assignment and Submissions

1. Faculty should craft their assignment as needed, requesting a file upload of a PDF
2. After the students have submitted the assignment, faculty should download all submissions: In the Canvas course, navigate to Grades >  Three Dot Assignment Menu > Download Submissions
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to save the generated zip file
4. Unzip files into a folder
5. Import files and folder into Box

Grading on iPad for the first time

1. Open the Box App
2. Log in with HWS credentials
3. Verify that files that need to be graded can be accessed
4. Open the Files App
5. Using the internal navigation, open the Box Folder containing items that need to be graded
6. Using the Pen icon at the top to open markup, grade as needed, toggling the markup button on and off as needed to scroll
7. Upon completion, in the upper left, tap Done. This should save the marked up PDF to Box

Subsequent Grading Experience

1. Open the Files App
2. Using the internal navigation, open the Box Folder containing items that need to be graded
3. Using the Pen icon at the top to open markup, grade as needed, toggling the markup button on and off as needed to scroll
4. Upon completion, in the upper left, select Done. This should save the marked up PDF to Box

Uploading Graded Assignments to Canvas

1. From the folder containing the graded PDF assignments, create a zip file. The name of this file should not matter, so long as the PDFs contained have remained the same name.
2. In the Canvas course, navigate to Grades >  Three Dot Assignment Menu > Re-Upload Submissions
3. Select the zipped folder with graded PDF files
4. Tap Upload and verify that files are successfully returned to students

Additional Resources

Canvas Download All Submissions Guide

Canvas Re-Upload Guide

Compressing and Uncompressing Files: PC or  Mac

Using Markup

Using Markup with Apple Pencil

Need additional help? Contact the HWS IT Services Digital Learning Team.