Desire2Learn Unveils Assignment Grader App for iPad -- THE Journal

Desire2Learn Unveils Assignment Grader App for iPad

By Tim Sohn
04/03/12

Desire2Learn has released Assignment Grader, an iPad app that allows teachers to give grades on assignments submitted digitally and offer personalized feedback with the use of multimedia.

It integrates with Desire2Learn's assignment dropboxes, which allow students to submit assignments electronically.

Features of the Desire2Learn Assignment Grader iPad app include:

Access to the platform in offline and online modes. Teachers can save assignments locally when they have WiFi access, and later resynchronize with the Desire2Learn Learning Environment;
Tools to provide personalized feedback on assignments via audio, video, and text; and
Individual EduDentity account logins for each user.

The app also provides the ability to view and sort assignments by course, due date, and ungraded, and to upload grades and rubrics already set up in the Desire2Learn Learning Environment.

"I love the fact that you can view multiple file types seamlessly, such as moving from a text file to a spreadsheet with no noticeable lag," said William Folden, instructor at York Technical College in Chester, SC, in a prepared statement. "The rubric and comment functions worked perfectly, and the voice feedback system seemed like it must have been optimized for the iPad's mic. Even without a headset or other supplementary equipment, the audio was recorded perfectly without any ambient noise. I tried typing with my Bluetooth keyboard in the comments section and it worked immediately. In short, everything that's been done seems to have been done perfectly."

Assignment Grader is compatible with Desire2Learn Learning Environment 9.4 and up.

A demo "lite" version of Assignment Grader is available for free, and the full version can be found in the App Store for $9.99. The Lite version restricts homework access to four submissions per assignment. The full version requires 16.5 MB of iPad space, and requires iOS 4.0 or later.

For more information, visit desire2learn.com/assignmentgrader.

About the Author

Tim Sohn is a 10-year veteran of the news business, having served in capacities from reporter to editor-in-chief of a variety of publications including Web sites, daily and weekly newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, and wire services. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @editortim.

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