Getting the Most from Blackboard

Discussion GraderAssignment Feature

Introduction – Mike Simmons

• 12th year of teaching and training (Engineering, Computer Science, Political Science, Public Administration, Government)

• 5 years corporate and technical training• TWU Lifelong Learning – 6 years

msimmons@twu.edu

Topics for Today

• Introductions and brief discussion of session goals

• Presentation focuses on efficiency, which leads to effectiveness

• Assignments – Concept and Practice• Discussion Grader – Concepts and Practice

Context

• This presentation based on materials prepared by the staff of Lifelong Learning, Spring 2007

• http://www.twu.edu/dl/faculty/handouts.htm

• http://www.twu.edu/dl/faculty/getting_started/GSDE_Bb_Assignments.pdf

Getting Started with Blackboard Assignments

• Why Should I Know About Creating Assignments?– You can create an Assignment in Blackboard and

have the item automatically appear in the Gradebook. The students may work on assignment through Blackboard and submit them and receive a grade and your comments.

Creating an Assignment

To create an Assignment, go to the Control Panel and select the Content Area in which you would like your Assignment to appear.

Adding Items and AssignmentsWhen working in a content area, you can add items:

You also have the option to add additional content like Surveys and Assignments. To add an Assignment, select Assignment from the pull-down menu in the Content Area and click on Go

You will begin by filling in the Assignment Information. A Name for the Assignment isrequired. You may also set a default point value here.Under Instructions, Assignment. Be sure to give directions for completing the assignment and how to submit it.

As in other Content Areas, you have the choice of making the Assignment available now or at a later date. You may also choose to have the system keep track of the number of times the Assignment is viewed.

You have the option of including a file with the Assignment. This is helpful if there are materials the students need to review in order to complete the Assignment. Students can also download a document, add their information and return it to you.

When you create an Assignment, the name of the Assignment is automatically added to the Gradebook. When a student has turned in their Assignment, you will see an icon in the Gradebook.

When you click on the “!”, you will be able to view the assignment for that student and award them points

Discussion Grader• The Discussion Grader simplifies the process of

evaluating a student's participation in Blackboard discussion forums

• Allows instructor to access to a single page with every message that a student has posted to a particular forum, number of words per message, and number of original messages and replies.

• After evaluating this information, the instructors can then easily enter a grade for the student which will be stored in the Blackboard gradebook for the course. (www.blackboard.com)

Select a courseControl PanelDiscussion Grader (in Course Tools)Select discussion to be graded from list (or go to discussion section and create a new one)

Conclusion

• Concept, content and plan more important than tools, but good use of tools helps better teaching and learning.