Using Turnitin in the eLearning Dropbox
Turnitin has two tools that are integrated with eLearning’s Dropbox tool: Originality Reports and
Grademark.
Originality Reports: Checks student work similarity
to other works (other students’ or published) by
comparing it against others found on the Web or
already checked against Turnitin.
Grademark: Enables online editorial highlights, custom comments, and QuickMark editing marks
directly on the student papers.
These tools integrate with eLearning(D2L) where you can “enable” Turnitin using the Dropbox. When the
Dropbox folder is created and the “Originality Checking: Enable for this folder” box is checked, the
course and assignment information is sent to Turnitin automatically. When a student submits a file to
the Dropbox folder, the originality report process begins and the file is sent to Turnitin for checking.
If you would like more information on this process, when creating your Dropbox Folder click on the “How
does originality checking work?” link and a new window will open with more information.
Notes:
If the assignment being submitted has a low word count, Turnitin will not be able to generate a report.
Turnitin is available “outside” of eLearning as well, but does require some setup. Please contact Dr. Claudia
Stanny (cstanny@uwf.edu) in CUTLA for information.
Step 1: Enable Originality Checking in a
Date- Restricted Dropbox
1. Enter the course you would like to create the Folder in and
select Dropbox from the Assessment dropdown menu on
the Course Navigation bar.
2. Click on the New Folder button to create a new Dropbox Folder
OR edit a currently-existing folder.
3. Fill out the folder fields like you normally would on the
Properties tab and then check the Originality Checking:
Enable for this folder box under the Name field.
Originality Checking Options appear at the bottom of this
tab.
Questions? Contact the Academic Technology Center: askatc@uwf.edu
Using Turnitin in eLearning
4. In the Originality Checking Options, you will find:
A. Display – this determines if your students
will see the Originality Report for their
submission or not.
B. Online Markup Available to Students –
This will determine when students are
able to see the grammar, spelling, style,
etc. markup for their paper.
C. Frequency – this determines which files
the system will send to Turnitin.
D. Check submissions against – This
determines what sources Turnitin will
check the files against.
E. Index files for Originality Checking – This
will allow the files in this Dropbox Folder
to be used to check originality by other
submissions. Other instructors will not
see any of the student’s information, just
the percentage that the files match.
F. Grammar Check Settings – This will
determine if you are able to use
grammar check and what options the
system will use.
G. Other Options – These are settings in
Turnitin that you can adjust through D2L.
On the Restrictions tab, change the Date
Availability to the appropriate start and end
dates. The default start date is the current
day and the end date is a week from that day.
Click the Save and Close button when you
have finished creating the folder.
Note: You are now able to change Originality Checking
options after you have saved the folder or moved to a
new tab.
5. On the folder list screen, you will see an icon after each folder that uses Originality Checking. The icon with the
ruler shows that the folder is tied to a Grade Item.
Questions? Contact the Academic Technology Center: askatc@uwf.edu
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Using Turnitin in eLearning
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Step 2: Viewing a Turnitin Originality Report
1. After a student has submitted a document into the Dropbox folder, the report will initially appear as “In Progress”
while the information is submitted to Turnitin. Documents may take 10 minutes or more to process.
After the percentage appears in the Reports column, click Grade and Leave Feedback to grade using the
Dropbox tool or click the Originality Report percentage directly if you wish.
2. In the Dropbox Leave Feedback area, select the Originality
Report to view the document.
Note: When you look at a report for the first time,
you will need to read and agree to the Turnitin Users
Agreement before it will allow you to view the report.
You are able use the scroll bar to read the full
agreement. Also, If you view reports from a different
course you are teaching, it may ask you to read and
agree/disagree to the agreement each time.
Questions? Contact the Academic Technology Center: askatc@uwf.edu
Using Turnitin in eLearning
3. A new browser tab will open from Turnitin containing the student Originality Report. The report is divided into
two panels.
On the left side will be the student’s paper with any sections highlighted (1) that the Turnitin system
believes might be improperly cited or not original work, and on the right side will be the source(s) (2) the
Turnitin system found that match the student’s submission.
Note: If the Turnitin system returns an originality report that has a high percentage that they believe came from another
student’s paper, the right side of the report will have a link the instructor may use to request a copy of the original paper to
review. Permission must be granted before the paper is released. The Turnitin service does not govern the release of the
student’s work; it just facilitates the connection between the instructors.
Step 3: Use Turnitin’s GradeMark
Note: To use this feature fully, you will want to associate this
Dropbox folder with a Grade Item before starting this step.
1. Turnitin’s Grademark function can be accessed in two ways:
a. From the Turnitin report (Select GradeMark)
b. From the Leave Feedback page (select the Markup Document icon)
Note: The Turnitin GradeMark window might take a moment to load, depending on which options you
selected.
Questions? Contact the Academic Technology Center: askatc@uwf.edu
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Using Turnitin in eLearning
2. When you look at the screen, ETS eRater comments will appear in purple.
As you read the student’s paper, you
can Dismiss or Add Comments to the
items that the Turnitin system has
already marked for you by hovering
over the highlighted area and using
the fly-out window.
3. You can add comments (blue) by
selecting one of the QuickMark
Comments located on the right side of
the screen and dragging it onto the
paper where it is needed.
Note: The default QuickMark
Comments section is the Commonly
Used Comments, there are others you
can chose from the QuickMark
dropdown menu.
4. You can edit the QuickMark
comments by hovering over the
highlighted area of the comment
until you see the Edit button on the
fly-out window.
5. You can manually add Comments
by clicking on the paper and
entering text in the box provided. If
there is a comment you make
frequently on your students’
papers, you can make your own
QuickMark by clicking on the “Save
as a new QuickMark” link.
Questions? Contact the Academic Technology Center: askatc@uwf.edu
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Using Turnitin in eLearning
6. When you have finished commenting on the paper,
you can give it a score by clicking on the two dashes
( -- ) in the upper right corner. Type in the score for
the paper and it will be transferred back into D2L
(will need to refresh score where dropbox
submission is located).
7. If you click Use this score, the student’s score will
be transferred to the right panel where the
Evaluation section is located.
Questions? Contact the Academic Technology Center: askatc@uwf.edu
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