The annotation tools that normally appear on top of the assignment submission will not appear for assignments that are submitted via "Text Entry" (i.e. students type their submission using the Rich Content Editor rather than uploading a file).
In future assignments, make sure that the "File Uploads" option is selected (and de-select Text Entry) to make sure that the annotation tools are available to instructors when reviewing assignment submissions.
Workarounds
If you would like to annotate the Text Entry submissions, you have a couple of options:
- You can change the settings to select the "File Uploads" option and have students re-submit their assignments as files.
- You can download the submissions, open the files in Word (they will be saved as .html files), and add comments using he Review tools. Save the file and attach it to a comment in the comments section of the Speedgrader or Gradebook. Students can open the .html files in their browser (your comments will appear as footer notes), or in Word.
(Alternate question: Why can’t I make inline comments on students’ assignment submissions?)