Create a Google Assignment in Canvas

Owned by Rob Caldwell, created
Last updated: Oct 03, 2023
3 min read

 

A “Google Assignment” is a new type of assignment you can create in Canvas that more fully utilizes the power of Google Apps. With it, students can submit files directly from their Google Drive accounts, teachers can assign a Google Doc to be completed by each student, and Google Assignment will give each student their own copy to edit. Google Assignments also has plagiarism detection built-in.

Google Assignments are not graded in Canvas SpeedGrader, but instead utilize Google’s own grading platform. Grades automatically transfer into the Canvas grade book.

Instructions for Creating a Google Assignment in Canvas

Create an Assignment in Canvas

  1. Choose to add a new assignment in Canvas

  2. Add clear instructions for students, explaining the assignment objectives, due date, how it will be graded, etc.

  3. Give the assignment a point-value

Make the assignment a Google Assignment

  1. Under the “Submission Type” pull-down menu, choose “External Tool”

  2. Press the “Find” button.

  3. Choose “Google Assignment (LTI 1.3) and press the select button.

You may be asked to link your Google account with Google Assignments and grant Google Assignments access to your Google account.

Edit Google Assignment Settings

  1. (Optional) Choose to check for plagiarism. Google will compare the students' work against hundreds of billions of web pages and over 40 millions books. More information about originality reporting.

  2. (Optional) Attach a file from Google Drive. This will create a copy of the Google Doc file for each student to edit and submit.

  3. Set the point value. Be sure it matches what is in Canvas. (only needed if using Google Assignments for grading instead of SpeedGrader)

  4. We recommend setting a due date in the Google Assignment settings as well as in Canvas (only needed if using Google Assignments for grading instead of SpeedGrader)

  5. Create a rubric. Because you will be using the grading tools in Google Assignments instead of the Canvas SpeedGrader, you must create your rubric in Google Assignments. (only needed if using Google Assignments for grading instead of SpeedGrader)

Google Assignments now allow you to choose whether to grade assignments using Google Assignments' tools or SpeedGrader. We recommend choosing the SpeedGrader option.

Grading Google Assignments

Because Google Assignments is a separate service from Canvas, you will not be notified within Canvas each time you get a new assignment submission. However, Google will email you about new submissions.

From within Canvas, you can:

  • view how many submissions you’ve received

  • choose to open the assignment

     

Once you have opened a Google Assignment, you can select a student to grade.

The submission will open in Google Drive, where you can:

  1. leave comments

  2. Issue a grade and overall comments

  3. Access a comment bank where you can save your most commonly used comments for easy reuse.

  4. Access the originality report.

     

Once you grade each student, be sure to return their work (you can also wait to return all students' work at once after grading).

Optional Video Tutorial

Video Tutorial for Using Google Assignments in Canvas

More Information about Google Assignments

Google Assignment Guides