The new Blackboard really, really wants you to use its inline tools to grade and comment on student papers. But what if you have a system in place already, including autotext comments you’ve prepared (which won’t work inline) and don’t want to follow Blackboard’s master plan?
This is largely a bookmarking post so I won’t forget how, so please feel free to click away if you already know how to do this.
To download papers (pretty straightforward):
- Go to Full Grade Center.
- Go to the column where the assignment is.
- Click on the drop-down arrow and scroll down to Assignment File Download.
- Check “Select All Users” or “Select Ungraded” or whatever.
- Download these as a zip file.
Once you’ve graded them, how do you get them back on Blackboard? There is probably an easier way, but this one works.
- Go to Full Grade Center.
- Go to the Assignment Column. In the gradebox where the student attempt is, click the little drop-down arrow.
- Go to Attempt.
- In the right-hand box, where it says Feedback to Learner, click on the drop-down arrow.
- Underneath the Notes box, there’s your old friend the paper clip, which means that you can attach the graded file.
Here’s another way, no less obscure:
- Go to Full Grade Center. In the Assignment column, under the arrow, click on View Grade Details.
- It will take you to the Grade Details Page. (If you click Attempts at this point, you’ll be back in the “Attempt” menu, as above.)
- Click on Edit Grade. Now, you won’t see the attachment icon here, because it’s hidden in the extended menu.
- Click on the down arrows, though, and you’ll see the paper clip attachment icon.
Is there any way at all to upload a whole folder (batch) of GRADED papers? BB offers bulk-download, but, when uploading graded papers, is there any way to upload in bulk? Of course, scores will need to be entered into Grade Book, but that’s probably easier to accomplish manually than uploading files individually. Thanks!
I’ve been trying to do this too Chandru, but so far no luck. I found a web link that suggests there’s something called the Advanced Assignments tool in Blackboard, but it’s not available in my college’s list of tools. Good luck, and if you find a way, please, please let me know.
Here’s the link: https://telhelp.shu.ac.uk/batch-upload-feedback-file-attachments-grade-centre-assignments-submitted-online
Chandru, I’ve tried to figure out an easy batch upload but haven’t had any luck. Thank you, Neil, for the link. I looked at it but it looked like more trouble than uploading the papers individually if you have a smaller (fewer than 40) class.
You can streamline the upload a little bit (in my university’s implementation of Blackboard) by going to “Grade Center/Needs Grading”, clicking on the arrow next to an assignment name (so “HW 12” or whatever) and selecting “Grade all users”. This will let you cycle through a list of all students who turned in the assignment, so you don’t have to jump through the grade center hoop every time.
Thanks for the suggestion–I’ll try it!