using safeassign

Introduction to SafeAssign

Educational Technologies and Learning Commons


Overview

• What is SafeAssign?• What do you need to use SafeAssign?• Hiding Blackboard Assignments from Course Menu.• Set up SafeAssign, create SafeAssignments, create

announcements, and view student submissions.• Viewing SafeAssign reports.• Grading SafeAssignments.• Set up Direct Submit, submitting student work outside of

SafeAssign tool.• Tips and Best Practices• Sources for more information.


What is SafeAssign?

• SafeAssign is an anti-plagiarism tool integrated with Blackboard.

• It allows an instructor to set up a SafeAssignment within Blackboard where students can post their work.

• Once the assignment is submitted the program uses a text matching algorithm to compare the student’s submitted work to several online database sources.

• The program then produces an originality report that is viewable by the instructor and students if the option is selected.


Compared against billions of sources

• SafeAssign compares submitted works against:– Internet sources (powered by Windows Live

search www.live.com– ProQuest ABI/Inform database of over 2.5 million

articles.– SafeAssign institutional database– SafeAssign Global Reference Database – • Students voluntarily submit papers• Used across institutions

http://www.live.com/


What do you need to use SafeAssign?

• SafeAssign is available for use only within Blackboard.

• To use SafeAssign you need:– Blackboard Account– Blackboard Course Section– Must use SafeAssignment plug-in as opposed to

the assignment tool in Blackboard


SafeAssign includes

• Dedicated assignment tool• Plagiarism detection algorithm compares

assignments to billions of sources• Clear Originality Reports to support faculty

decision-making• Student opt-in to the Global Reference

Database• Gradebook integration


Opt-in Global Database

• Global Reference Database Statement and checkbox.– Lets students protect their original work.– SafeAssign matches submissions against works

submitted to the Global Database.


Getting Started

• Step 1: Log inLog into Blackboard at http://boston.umassonline.net

• Step 2: Access Course SectionClick the link for your course section from the My UMassOnline page.

http://boston.umassonline.net/


Prior to setting up SafeAssign

• Hide Assignments from course menu.– From Build tab select Manage Course from

Designer Tools

– Select Tools from Manage Course page


Hide Blackboard Assignments

– Make sure the Assignments check box under Student Learning Activities is un-checked.

– Click Save.

The Assignments option no longer appears on the Course Menu.


Set up SafeAssignment

• From Build tab select Course Content from Course Tools menu.

• Click Add Content Link then select SafeAssign



• Click Create SafeAssign

• Enter a title into the text box. Check the box to have assignments open in a new window.

• Click Configure!



• The SafeAssignment icon appears on the course home page.


Create SafeAssignment

• Click Teach tab.

• Click the SafeAssignments link from your course home page.

• Click Create SafeAssignment.


Create SafeAssignment Options

• Enter a title and description for the SafeAssignment.

• Enter a due date in mm/dd/yyyy format and the time it is due.


Student Draft Feature

• Lets students run the SafeAssign process against their own paper.

• Helps students understand what plagiarism is.– Draft: If you select Yes, the student paper is not

checked into institutional database.– Student Viewable: Selecting Yes means that

student can view SafeAssign report before finally submitting their work.


Create SafeAssignment

• Urgent Checking– Does not impact processing time. – Usually takes 1.5 min. Can take longer during peak

periods.• Grading– Grade book is integrated with SafeAssignment.

• Click Save to save changes.


SafeAssignment Created

• A success message appears and the SafeAssignment is listed with Title, Due Date and Edit icon.


Create Announcement (Optional)

• From Teach tab, click Announcements from Course Menu.

• Click Create Announcement.• Enter a Title and Message to inform students about the

SafeAssignment in the appropriate boxes. • Select Students from the Recipients section.• Select the Start Date and End Date in the Delivery Dates

section.• Check the box beside Also deliver as a pop-up message.• Click Send.


Access Student Submissions

• Access Home Page from Teach tab.

• Click the SafeAssignments link.

• Click the title of the SafeAssignment to access to access SafeAssign Dropbox.


SafeAssignment Dropbox

• Grade: Allows you to enter grade.• Text: Links to submitted paper and comments from student.• Matching: Percentage of matching between student’s

submitted work and outside sources.• SA Report: Links to the SafeAssign Report.• File: Allows you to download the original file submitted.• Submitted: Date and Time paper was submitted.


SafeAssignment Reports

• SafeAssignment Reports tell you how much of the student’s submitted document matches other sources as an overall percentage.

• Blackboard recommends:– scores over 15% should be checked to see if

content has been cited properly– scores over 40% indicate plagiarism is likely and

further investigation is recommended.


Originality Report (page 1)


Originality Report (page 2)


Source Comparison

• SafeAssign looks for strings of at least 3 words together.


Grading SafeAssignments

• To grade a SafeAssignment click Teach tab.

• Click on SafeAssignment content link from Home Page

• Click Assignment link


Grading SafeAssignment

• Click the ! link in the Grade column.

• Enter the Grade in the Grade box.

• Enter comments for the student and/or attach a feedback file.


Grading SafeAssignments

• Click Submit.


Grade Book Integration

• From Teach tab, click Grade Book from Instructor Tools menu.

• SafeAssignment Grades are viewable/editable in Grade Book


Direct Submit

• The Direct Submit tool is for Instructor use.• Use Direct Submit to submit student work from

previous courses to build repository of documents in the institutional database.

• Can use this option for papers submitted by email or any work submitted outside of SafeAssign.

• Can not submit papers to Global Database.• Can upload multiple files at a time as a zip archive (up

to 100 files at a time).• Not integrated with grade book.


Set up Direct Submit

• From Build tab click Add Content Link and select SafeAssign Direct Submit.

• Click Create SafeAssign DirectSubmit.


Set up Direct Submit

• Enter a title into the box and click Configure!.


Direct Submit

• Click Teach tab.• Click the Direct Submit content

link from the Home page• Takes you to the Direct Submit

management console.


Direct Submit

• Click Private or Shared.• Create a folder for organizing

submissions by entering a folder title under New Folder and click Add.

• Click Submit Papers to add files.

Previously submitted papers will be listed to the right with filename along with a link to the file, matching score, SA Report and date submitted.


Direct Submit

• Select paper submission option:– Submit as a draft– Skip Plagiarism checking

• Click Browse to upload file or click Copy/Paste Document option, enter title and paste the text to the text box.

• Click Submit.


General Tips

• Drafts – not checked into institutional database.

• Allow 5 to 10 mins for SA report return.• File sizes under 2 MB.• Formats accepted: doc, docx, odt, pdf, txt, rtf,

htm or html


SafeAssign Instructor Presentation for Students

• A customizable PowerPoint presentation is available.

• Lets students know you that are using SafeAssign and why you are using it.


SafeAssign Considerations

• Provides a starting point to identify potential intellectual property issues.

• Cannot determine if sources were cited properly.

• Considers titles of books and articles as copied text– Footnotes, endnotes and bibliographies can inflate

the score.


SafeAssign Best Practices

• Create simple assignment to show what is allowed, not allowed

• Allow students to submit work in Draft mode.• Release reports to students.• Use SafeAssign as a way to educate students about

plagiarism.• Provide links to guides for citing resources properly.• Help students to conceptualize SafeAssign as a tool for their

use, and much like a spell checker or grammar checker.


Student Citation Resources

• A good resource for getting students to think about plagiarism: Rutgers Provost Video on Plagiarism

• Additional resources may be found in the Code of Student Conduct "Academic Honesty" http://www.umb.edu/students/student_rights/code_conduct.html

• Reading, Writing, and Study Strategies Center (RWSSC)http://www.academicsupport.umb.edu/rwsscenter.htm

• Reference Librarianshttp://www.lib.umb.edu/research-help

http://library.camden.rutgers.edu/EducationalModule/Plagiarism

http://www.umb.edu/students/student_rights/code_conduct.html

http://www.umb.edu/students/student_rights/code_conduct.html

http://www.academicsupport.umb.edu/rwsscenter.htm

http://www.academicsupport.umb.edu/rwsscenter.htm

http://www.lib.umb.edu/research-help


Where to get more information

• SafeAssign– Visit www.safeassign.com and wiki.safeassign.com

for more information and download manual.– Download this presentation from

www.umb.edu/it website.

http://www.safeassign.com/

http://wiki.safeassign.com/

http://www.umb.edu/it

using safeassign

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