File requests: Best practices

My students turn in their homework with Dropbox requests once a week. They are children.

It is convenient for all the students in the class to turn their work in to the same folder every week, week after week. After I receive it, I check it and move the checked file into a different (shared) folder that only each student can see for privacy reasons.

Our current method is very clunky and I want to make it easier.

I made an initial Dropbox request and sent everyone the link many months ago.

Parents try to find the right link somewhere in their messages folder each week for the children to use and turn in. Or some copy the link to some separate location, like in a Notes app or something.

They are all using mobile phones. When they click the link, it opens a browser (still inside their messaging app it seems). Students have to accept cookies and type in their name and email address every time—in addition to taking photos of their handwritten work and uploading them.

This doesn't seem like all that much—until you do it a hundred times.

We asked the parents to install Dropbox on their devices. They did. Even so, the link opens a browser and doesn't recognize the device or student. At least, it should open the app (can't seem to figure out how to do that). And there doesn't seem to be a way to upload to the file request starting from within the app—only by tapping the link, which is stored in some other app.

Isn't there a simple method to this, like having the students just open the app and tap on something that takes them to the file request?

How can I set up something like that? There doesn't seem to be any way to "remember" file requests one has used before in the app.

I don't want to share the folder in the usual way with everyone, because the students shouldn't see each other's homework. They should just upload files that disappear and then reappear when I put them in their checked homework folder shared with them.

There are many people involved with this and I want their experience to be as painless as possible. Hopefully, they will think of Dropbox as something convenient and easy.

I would be grateful for any help with this!