School-level feature — managed within your school portal at
yourschool.deandesk.com.Video walkthrough
This walkthrough uses the real DeanDesk interface with the fictional Northstar Academy demo school and a calm, AI-generated English voice. Payments and outside services are not connected in the demo.
Navigating to assignments
From any course, click the Assignments tab. You’ll see a list of all assignments for that course, sorted by due date. Click any assignment to open it. To see assignments across all your courses in one place, go to Assignments from the main navigation sidebar. This view shows every assignment across every course you teach or manage, filterable by course, due date, or status.Creating an assignment
1
Open the Assignments tab
Navigate to the course and click the Assignments tab.
2
Click Create Assignment
Click Create Assignment at the top of the assignments list.
3
Choose the assignment type
In the Assignment type section, pick one of the two type cards:
4
Fill in the assignment details
In the Assignment details section, enter a Title (the name students see in their assignment list) and a Description with instructions, requirements, and context for the task.To attach a supporting file, use the drop zone in the Supporting materials section — Drop a file here, or click to browse. The upload dialog includes optional details for the file: Author, Visibility (Private or Public), Tags, and Categories.
5
Set availability and grading
In the Availability and grading section, set:
6
Save the assignment
Click Save assignment. The assignment appears in the course’s Assignments tab and on each enrolled student’s dashboard immediately.
When creating an assignment, Notify enrolled students by email controls its email announcement. Turn it off when preparing content without sending an email. Students can still find published assignments from their course and dashboard.
Assignment types
DeanDesk supports two assignment types. Choose the one that matches what you’re asking students to do.Grade categories
If a course uses category-based (weighted) grading, the Availability and grading section of the assignment builder includes a Grade category (optional) dropdown, and a Category-based grading badge appears in the builder header.- The dropdown lists Uncategorized plus each of the course’s grade categories with its weight — for example, Homework · 20%.
- New assignments default to Uncategorized until you pick a category.
- You can change or clear the category later by editing the assignment.
Quizzes
The quiz builder lets you create multiple-choice assessments that students complete directly in DeanDesk.1
Choose Quiz as the type
When creating an assignment, select the Quiz type card.
2
Add questions
In the Quiz questions section, add a question and fill in its Question text and Points. Under Answer options, enter the answer choices and select the one correct answer.To build similar questions quickly, use the duplicate action on any existing question — it copies the question, including its options and answers, as a new question you can edit. Use the delete action to remove a question.
3
Save and publish
Click Save assignment. The quiz appears in the course assignments list and is accessible to enrolled students. Multiple-choice answers are graded automatically.
How students submit assignments
Students access assignments from their course page or their personalized dashboard. The submission process depends on the assignment type:- Standard assignment: Students type their response and/or attach files, then click Submit.
- Quiz: Students answer each question in sequence and click Submit Quiz when finished.
Quiz progress saves automatically
While a student works through a quiz, their in-progress answers are saved automatically — there’s nothing to click. A status line under the quiz progress bar shows what’s happening:- “Progress will save automatically” — shown before any changes are saved
- “Saving progress…” followed by “Progress saved” — as answers are saved
- “Loading saved progress…” followed by “Saved progress restored” — when a student reopens an unfinished quiz
If you edit a quiz while students have unfinished attempts, saved answers to any questions you removed are discarded from their drafts.
Reviewing student submissions
1
Open the assignment
Go to the Assignments tab in the course and click the assignment you want to review.
2
View the submission list
The submissions table lists each student who submitted, with when they submitted, a status, their submission or quiz result, and any files. Statuses include Submitted, Late Submission, Graded (with the score), and, for quizzes, Manual Review Needed. Enrolled students who have not submitted appear separately under Students Without Submissions.
3
Open a quiz submission
For quizzes, click View Submission to see each question and the student’s answer. If a quiz is flagged Manual Review Needed, click Review & Grade, review its recorded answers, and save a manual grade.
Giving grades and feedback
For standard assignments, you grade directly in the submissions table.1
Find the student's row
On the assignment page, find the student in the submissions table. The Grade column holds the grading fields.
2
Enter a grade
Enter a numeric value in Score, between zero and the assignment’s total points. Course-level letter grades are managed separately in the Gradebook.
3
Add written feedback
Use the Feedback field to leave comments. Feedback is private — only the individual student sees it.
4
Upload a marked-up document (optional)
If you annotated the student’s work or created a feedback document, attach it under Attach Graded File (Optional).
5
Save the grade
Click Submit Grade (or Update Grade if the submission already has a grade). The grade is recorded in the course Gradebook and the student is notified.
Grades you enter on individual submissions flow automatically into the course Gradebook. You don’t need to enter grades in two places.