Submit an external document

Your instructor can design questions that require an external document upload (Example — you might be required to draw a graph by hand and submit the graph to your instructor for grading).

There are two ways for you to submit an external document:

  • Directly upload a document from within the activity
  • Reference a document code and send the document directly to your instructor

NOTE: Questions that require you to upload a document (either directly or using a document code) require manual grading by your instructor. The grades for document upload questions aren't available until your instructor has completed the manual grading of your submission.

A feedback message showing that the user scored 0 out of 2 on their assignment because the responses still require manual grading.

TIP: Have you misplaced or just can't remember your document code? No problem. Check out Forgot or lost my document code.

TIP: Want to double check which of your completed activities still need a document upload? Have you sent an external document to your instructor but just want to check that they've uploaded it for you? Check out View my Document Upload page.

IMPORTANT: If you're working on a proctored exam with Proctored Browser Mode enabled, you shouldn't be expected to upload a file from your computer or navigate to a different website as a part of your attempt since this will force you to exit Proctored Browser Mode. Check out Complete a proctored exam in Proctored Browser Mode.

Submit a document using direct upload

Certain questions in your activities may require you to directly upload a document from within an activity question.

To directly upload a document from within a question:

  1. Click Choose File within the question response area.

The "Choose File" button appears in the response area of a document upload question.

  1. Navigate to where your document is stored on your computer and select it.

An external document is selected from the user's local drive.

NOTE: The file types permitted for upload are defined by your instructor and are listed below the response area.

A list of allowed file extensions for external documents is listed below the "Choose File" button in the response area of document upload questions.

  1. Click Open.

The "Open" button is shown to upload the external file selected from the user's local computer.

TIP: If you've selected the wrong document in error, click Choose File again and select the correct document that you meant to upload.

Click "Choose File" again if the wrong external file was uploaded.

  1. Click Upload.

The "Upload" button is visible to the right of the response area once an external file is selected.

TIP: Click the name of the document to preview your selection in a new browser tab.

The name of the uploaded external document is clickable within the response area of the document upload question.

TIP: If you've uploaded the wrong document in error, click the choose file iconThe "Choose file" icon is an arrow pointing up over a stack of documents.and restart your upload at step 2.

The "choose file" icon appears to the right of the uploaded external document.

  1. Continue working through your activity.

NOTE: Your instructor will receive the uploaded document once your response is saved. Your response is saved when you perform one of the following actions:

  • Navigate to another question within the activity
  • Click Quit & Save
  • Close the activity
  • Submit the activity

IMPORTANT: If you didn't submit a file to an external document upload question, you'll receive a warning before officially submitting your activity for grading.

A submission report screen before officially submitting your attempt lists the questions from the activity that still require document uploads.

You're given the opportunity to return to the question to complete your document upload. You won't be able to return to the question to complete your external document upload if you ignore this warning and submit your attempt. Furthermore, the document upload question that's missing a file will be graded as incorrect.

Submit a document using a document code

Certain questions in your activities may require you to send a document directly to your instructor (Example — send an email from your school email account) while referencing a document code.

To submit a document to your instructor that references a document code:

  1. Click Generate Document Code within the question response area.

Questions that require a document code display the "Generate Document Code" button in the response area.

  1. A unique document code is generated for you.

A document code appears in a document code modal.

NOTE: Document codes can be numeric, letter, or alphanumeric values.

NOTE: The document code that's generated is unique to your profile and the question that requires an external document.

  1. Click Done in the document code preview to return to the question.

"Done" is the only button within the document code modal.

  1. Take note of your personalized document code that's now displayed in the question response area. You can continue working through the activity. At any point, you can independently contact your instructor (Example — send an email from your school email account) and attach the required document. Be sure to reference the document code that relates to your submitted file.

The generated document code is now displayed in place of the "Generate Document Code" button in the document upload response area.

NOTE: Your instructor may provide you with a due date of when your file is to be submitted that references the document code.

IMPORTANT: Ensure that you've included the document code from the activity question in your communication with your instructor. Consider the following suggestions to ensure that your document is easily associated with your profile and the correct activity question:

  • Include the document code in the subject line of your email
  • Include the document code in the body of your email
  • Include the document code in the name of the document

IMPORTANT: If you didn't click Generate Document Code in an external document upload question, you'll receive a warning before being able to submit your activity for grading.

A submission report screen before officially submitting your attempt lists the questions from the activity that still require a document code to be generated.

You're given the opportunity to return to the question to generate the document code. You won't be able to return to the question to generate a document code if you ignore this warning and submit your attempt. The document code won't be visible on the Document Upload page and the document upload question that's missing a document code will be graded as incorrect.

What's next?

Now that you've submitted your external document(s) for grading, you're ready for: