Submit Files to the Drop Box from Google Drive or Dropbox
We've just rolled out an exciting new feature for students who submit files to a course drop box. You can now select a file in Google Drive (Google Docs) or from your Dropbox or Box.net account in addition to selecting a file on your desktop or laptop computer when submitting files to a course drop box. This gives you a lot more flexibility in where you store (and how you work on) files that you eventually submit to a course drop box. Additionally, the new file picker for the Drop Box also supports dragging and dropping files from your desktop into the Drop Box file picker window.
If you decide to use Google Drive or Dropbox as the source of the file you want to submit, you'll need to give the application permission to do so. We use a third-party integration called "Inkfilepicker" for this functionality, so you may see that come up if you go this route. None of your files are stored on the Inkfilepicker servers. Files are securely stored on separate servers by the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Please also note that if you're really pushing the deadline for submitting a file — that is, you're waiting until the literal last minute to submit your file to a course drop box — you might end up submitting the file past the deadline. Remember that you have to first authorize Google Drive or Dropbox or Box.net to access your files, and only then can you pick the file you want to use, and only after that is the file actually uploaded to the course drop box. This process can take a minute or more, so if you wait until 11:58pm to submit to a course drop box that closes at 11:59pm and you're using Google Drive, Dropbox or Box.net, you might miss the deadline.
This feature is only available in online courses at this time. We plan on bringing it to CoursePlus by the second academic term.
If you have feedback about this new feature, we'd love to hear it!