Academic Website Development

I'm a computer science senior in college who was given the task to complete a website. This is a Homework so I'm not expecting answers maybe just some advice or guidance. My goal with this website is to make something similar to Blackboard.com. Blackboard is a site where instructors can upload class announcements, lecture notes, or quizzes. Students can then log on and interact with the content the instructor has posted, such as viewing the notes or taking a quiz and submitting their answers. I was advised to use drupal due to it being relatively easy on beginners. My dilemma is that I'm kinda stuck on how to begin. I have an O'reily drupal book which is giving me the basics but I'm confused on how I should begin on how to implement many of these features.

- How do I allow for upload/download files...? developed module from drupal.com? do I need to create this my self?
- How would I track attendance in class...? A spreadsheet in a database?
- Same goes for grades

As you can tell, I'm not very experienced with web development so I'm in the dark on most of this stuff. A point in the right direction would be a life saver and any help on these specific topics would be awesome. Thanks ahead of time for anything!

Adam