techknow november 2012 edition
DESCRIPTION
This issue of TechKnow focuses on how to leave feedback for students.TRANSCRIPT
VOLUME 6
Issue 11
November 2012
THANKFUL FOR THE BLACKBOARD GRADE CENTER
This Issue Exploring the Grade Center P. 1
Countdown to Holidays P. 1
Exploring the Grade Center P. 2
Exploring the Grade Center P. 3
Exploring the Functions of the Grade Center
TechKnow
With Thanksgiving
right around the
corner, let us take a
moment and be
thankful for all that
we have. Also, let us
not forget to thank
those who have served
our nation on
Veteran’s Day.
BE THANKFUL!
With the end of the semester quickly approaching, it is likely that you as well as your
students will be using/viewing the Grade Center more often. For many students the
Grade Center is one of the most important places within Blackboard as it lets them
gauge their progress and grade within the course. Thus, it is important that the grade
center is well organized. This TechKnow edition is dedicated primarily to showcasing
the great tools available at your disposal with the Grade Center as well as how to
organize your Grade Center in a logical and organized manner.
Countdown to Holidays:
(from today)
Thanksgiving (November 22nd) - 8 days
Beginning of Advent (December 2nd) - 18 days
Beginning of Hanukah (December 9th)- 25 days
Christmas (December 25th) - 41 days
Kwanza (December 26th) - 42 days
Fall II DE Course Schedule P. 3
DE Faculty and Staff P. 3
The Grade Center has a lot of great functions for instructors. Below are several
tutorials on how to organize and use the Grade Center:
Exploring the Functions of the Grade Center, Cont.
Creating a well organized Grade Center is not only helpful for you as an instructor but
also for the student as they check their grades.
Once you have opened up the Full Grade Center, select Manage from the
Grade Center menu bar. Click on Column
Organization. From this page you are able to drag
and drop various columns around in the grade
center. You can organize by due date, type of
assignment, overall point values, etc. To drag and
drop, simply click on the four arrows as shown.
Also, from the Column Organization page you are able to drag and drop
various columns to above the “frozen bar”. Everything above the frozen
bar will appear on the left hand side of the Grade Center even when you
scroll over to view other grade columns. For example, you could freeze
the weighted grade column, last access column, etc.
Apart from having a well organized Grade Center, students also appreciate feedback from the instructor
about their grade. Were points taken off for a late-submission or not completing the full assignment?
Were points added for a curve or extra credit? There are several ways to provide feedback.
For example, when reviewing a quiz or paper from the Grade Attempt option, you can simply leave a
comment in the Feedback to User text box. Notes posted under Grading Notes are not visible to the stu-
dent. The following are steps to leave a comment for a student directly from the Grade Center homepage:
Select the drop-down arrow in the grade box for a particular student
under a specific grade column
Select Quick Comment
Leave a comment in the Feedback to User textbox. (The Textbox
editor is available by selecting Textbox Editor at the bottom)
Select Submit
Exploring the Functions of the Grade Center
Another way to organize your Grade Center is to “hide”
unused or duplicate grade columns from student view.
However, there are several different hide options available.
You have the option to hide a column just from the
instructor’s view of the Grade Center (students are still able
to view the column) or you can hide the column from student
view (the instructor is still able to view the column).
Below are instructions on how to complete both of these
options:
Hide Grade Column from Student View:
From the drop-down arrow of
the respective grade column,
select Show/Hide to Users.
This will hide the column from
student view. The grade column
will now display a beside the
grade column title indicating it is
hidden. Follow the same steps
to make the column reappear
for student view.
Hide Grade Column from Instructor View:
From the drop-down arrow of the
respective grade column, select
Hide Column. This will hide the
column from the instructor view
only (students can still see the
grade column). Once you select
this option the column will
completely disappear from view.
To make the column available
again, from the Manage menu
bar drop-down arrow, select
Column Organization. Locate
the hidden grade column (will be faded). Select the checkbox
beside the item and scroll to the bottom of the page. Select
Show/Hide followed by Show Selected Columns. Click
Submit.
Distance Education Staff:
Katherine Spradley
Director of Distance Education
Jessica Hatcher Instructional Design & Training Coordinator
Amanda Batten DE Faculty Mentor & Trainer
Jane Strother DE Faculty Mentor & Trainer
Marty Blackmon DE Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
www.campbellde.com
Fall II DE Course Schedule:
November: November 12th - Veteran’s Day
November 21st - 24th - Thanksgiving Break
December: December 8th - Courses End
December 10th - Grades Due