Category: Academic and Teaching Staff

Blackboard Offline (Ultra): 0: New to Offline Marking? An overview of the offline marking process

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Offline marking works through a combination of a Blackboard submission point and the Marks and Feedback tool. First, a Blackboard submission point is created and students submit their assignments. The Marks and Feedback tool then allows the assignments to be downloaded as a zip file to be marked outside of Blackboard, or ‘offline’. The zip file includes an Excel spreadsheet, in which each student’s mark must be entered.

Once marking has been completed, annotated assignments, any other feedback documents, and the completed spreadsheet are reuploaded to the Marks and Feedback tool as a new zip file. When this has been done successfully, the Release function in the Marks and Feedback tool sends marks and feedback to the Gradebook.

Please note that ‘releasing’ marks and feedback makes them viewable by students immediately without the need to ‘post’ them from the Gradebook. This means that moderation should be conducted prior to the upload of grades and feedback to Blackboard.

If you or your school have never used an offline marking workflow before, the Digital Education Office recommends you arrange a consultation with one of our staff, assessing your needs, discussing the process, and providing training where required. Please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk with the subject line “New Offline Marking Assessment” and include the unit code and a brief description of your intentions to receive support.

Blackboard Offline (Ultra): 6: Accessing Marks and Feedback

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  1. You can access your marks and feedback from the My Marks link found on your Blackboard homepage or through the Assessment, Submission and Feedback area in the relevant course.
  2. Locate the relevant assignment and click on the title to open it.
  3. Click on the feedback file in the right panel to open it. There may be multiple files to review.

Blackboard Offline (Ultra): 4: Marking and Moderation

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Info: Parallel or “Double-Blind” marking. This workflow also allows for simultaneous, double-blind, anonymous marking. To achieve this, all markers follow the instructions for downloading and marking the same assignments. Once everyone has completed their marking, you can follow School or Department policy to reconcile the grades and generate a folder with a master spreadsheet and all feedback files. You can then zip these documents up and upload them as usual (see Mark and Feedback Upload and Release).


  1. Open the Downloaded Assignments folder allocated to you. It will contain:
    1. A folder for each student, named with their student ID.
    2. A spreadsheet, named after the submission point/assignment itself.


Warning: You should not rename the spreadsheet or change its formatting.

Extracted zip file view - Screenshot of an extracted zip file downloaded from the Marks and Feedback tool, containing a folder for each student and one spreadsheet.

  1. Each folder will contain the submitted work for that student. You can now review this work as you need to and save feedback in one of the following ways (depending on agreed local practices):
    1. If you are writing feedback directly into the student’s submission (either as inline comments, on a coversheet, or both), you should:
      1. Save a copy of the file in your allocated Feedback folder.
      2. Add the prefix “feedback_” to the file name. For example, “feedback_0000001 FILE NAME” when you save it.
    2. If you are writing a separate feedback file, you should:
      1. Save it in your allocated Feedback folder.
      2. Name the file “feedback_studentnumber”, where “studentnumber” is replaced with a specific student’s number. For example, “feedback_0000001”.
    3. If you are including multiple feedback documents (or if it is otherwise required), you can add further identifying information after a second underscore in the file name. For example:
  • feedback_0000001_1
  • feedback_0000001_2

or:

  • feedback_0000001_annotated
  • feedback_0000001_feedbackform

or:

  • feedback_studentnumber_UNIT99999_A1


Info: If you are marking a group assignment, each individual student still needs their own feedback documents. Save the same feedback document for each student, changing the name of the document to include each student’s student number after the prefix “feedback”. For example, if there are three students in one group, save the same file three times for each student as follows:

  • feedback_STUDENTNUMBER1
  • feedback_STUDENTNUMBER2
  • feedback_STUDENTNUMBER3
  1. Open the spreadsheet saved in your Downloaded Assignments folder:
    1. Enter a mark for the student in the Grade
    2. Should you wish to, you can also enter short-form feedback into this spreadsheet. If you want to do this, enter the comments without special characters in the Feedback As this is necessarily short, it should be provided in addition to the feedback in the feedback documents.


Warning: The spreadsheet must be saved in the feedback folder using its original name, file type and formatting to allow for the successful upload to Blackboard. If you are copy/pasting information into the spreadsheet, ensure you remove formatting.

Once you have finished adding marks for all students, save the Excel file in your Feedback folder.


Warning: You must enter a mark for each student in the spreadsheet. If there are students in the spreadsheet who you don’t want to receive marks/feedback yet, you should delete their row(s) from the spreadsheet. Check that a copy of the original spreadsheet has been saved with colleagues before doing this.
  1. When you have finished marking, open your feedback folder. It should contain at least one document for each student and the spreadsheet with marks. There should be no student folders in this view, only student files.Completed feedback folder view - Screenshot of a completed feedback folder showing a document for each student and one spreadsheet.


Warning: You should not complete step 5 until moderation has been completed
  1. Once you have finished marking all of the work, package it into a .zip file:
    1. Select all the files in each marker’s Feedback folder (including the spreadsheet) by pressing Ctrl + A (Windows).
    2. Right-click and choose Send to, then Compressed (zipped) folder (or Compress to, then Zip file on Windows 11).
    3. Give the folder an appropriate and clear name agreed with administrative staff.
    4.  See separate instructions for Macs if you are using a Mac computer.

 


  1. Open the Downloaded Assignments folder allocated to you. It will contain:
    1. A folder for each student, named with their user name.
    2. A spreadsheet, named after the submission point/assignment itself.


Warning: You should not rename the spreadsheet or change its formatting.

Extracted zip file view - Screenshot of an extracted zip file downloaded from the Marks and Feedback tool, containing a folder for each student and one spreadsheet.

  1. Open the assignment for one student. It will contain the submitted work for that student. You can now review this work as you need to and save feedback in one of the following ways (depending on agreed local practices):
    1. If you are writing feedback directly into the student’s submission (either as inline comments, on a coversheet, or both), you should:
      1. Save a copy of the file in your allocated Feedback folder.
      2. Add the prefix “feedback_” to the file name. For example, “feedback_ab12345 FILE NAME” when you save it.
    2. If you are writing a separate feedback file, you should:
      1. Save it in your allocated Feedback folder.
      2. Name the file “feedback_userID”, where “userID” is replaced with a specific student’s User ID. For example, “feedback_ab12345”.
    3. If you are including multiple feedback documents (or if it is otherwise required), you can add further identifying information after a second underscore in the file name. For example:
  • feedback_ ab12345_1
  • feedback_ ab12345_2

or:

  • feedback_ ab12345_annotated
  • feedback_ ab12345_feedbackform

or:

  • feedback_ ab12345_UNIT99999_A1


Info: If you are marking a group assignment, each individual student still needs their own feedback documents. Save the same feedback document for each student, changing the name of the document to include each student’s user ID after the prefix “feedback”. For example, if there are three students in one group, save the same file three times for each student as follows:

  • feedback_USERID1
  • feedback_ USERID 2
  • feedback_ USERID 3
  1. Open the spreadsheet saved in your Downloaded Assignments folder:
    1. Enter a mark for the student in the Grade
    2. Should you wish to, you can also enter short-form feedback into this spreadsheet. If you want to do this, enter the comments without special characters in the Feedback As this is necessarily short, it should be provided in addition to the feedback in the feedback documents.


Warning: The spreadsheet must be saved in the feedback folder using its original name, file type and formatting to allow for the successful upload to Blackboard. If you are copy/pasting information into the spreadsheet, ensure you remove formatting.

 

Once you have finished adding marks for all students, save the Excel file in your Feedback folder.


Warning: You must enter a mark for each student in the spreadsheet. If there are students in the spreadsheet who you don’t want to receive marks/feedback yet, you should delete their row(s) from the spreadsheet. Check that a copy of the original spreadsheet has been saved with colleagues before doing this.

 

 

  1. When you have finished marking, open your feedback folder. It should contain at least one document for each student and the spreadsheet with marks. There should be no student folders in this view, only student files.Completed feedback folder view - Screenshot of a completed feedback folder showing a document for each student and one spreadsheet.

 


Warning: You should not complete the following step until moderation has been completed.

 

  1. Once you have finished marking all of the work, package it into a .zip file:
    1. Select all the files in your Feedback folder (including the spreadsheet) by pressing Ctrl + A (Windows).
    2. Right-click and choose Send to, then Compressed (zipped) folder (or Compress to, then Zip file on Windows 11).
    3. Give the folder an appropriate and clear name agreed with administrative staff.
    4.  See separate instructions for Macs if you are using a Mac computer.

 


Once all marking is completed, moderation can be achieved by moderators visiting the shared folders, inspecting each submission, and referencing the spreadsheets in each marker’s Feedback folders to check marks. Changed marks can be overwritten in each spreadsheet.

If required, additional information can be added (without special characters or additional formatting) into the spreadsheet for documentation, but exclusively in new columns created to the right-hand side of the existing material. This will not affect the upload of materials to Blackboard nor will it be uploaded to Blackboard.



  1. Navigate to the relevant course.
  2. Navigate to the Gradebook.
  3. Locate the relevant assessment and click on it to enter.
  4. Locate the relevant student’s attempt and click on it to enter.
  5. Delete the uploaded feedback file from the Overall Feedback
  6. Click Save Changes.
  7. Ensure that a new feedback file has been prepared and saved with the correct file name (eg, “feedback_USERID or “feedback_STUDENTNUMBER”)
  8. Click the + button in the Overall Feedback
  9. Select Attachment.
  10. Browse the files and locate the feedback file you want to upload. Select it and click Open.
  11. Ensure the Display Name is correct and in keeping with other student’s feedback.
  12. Enter a new mark into the ovoid grade in the top-right of the screen by clicking on it.Feedback ovoid - Screenshot of the feedback icon which reads 50/100.
  13. Click Save.
  14. Click Save Changes.


If you need to reupload several students’ feedback files, you should first delete the original files in Blackboard before following the steps for uploading feedback detailed in the Administration section of this guidance, but only for those students whose feedback needs changing. Before doing this, ensure that amended feedback files and an accompanying Excel file are prepared. When you upload the new file it is recommended that you add a comment stating that you are amending the existing mark

New marks will overwrite existing marks.

Blackboard Offline Marking (Ultra): 2: Submission

Posted on by peter.peasey
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Use a Test Student account to test your assessment setup as a student. Using a Test Student account provides the same experience any other student enrolled in the course will have, allowing staff to check the functionality and experience of any submission.


Info: Testing the group submission, marking and feedback experience will require more than one member of staff to have a test student user account. You can request multiple accounts be established if need be, but please ensure all members of staff are copied into the request.
  1. If you have not set up a test student user account, please email digital-education@bristol.ac.uk, including the subject line Test Student User Request and providing your Blackboard username and an explanation of your need for a test student account.
  2. You will receive an email that will confirm the user details, including the user name and password.
  3. Once you have a Test Student user, either open a private or incognito tab in your current browser or open another browser.
  4. Navigate to the Blackboard login page in this private/new tab and click Guest Login.
  5. Enter your Test Student User’s user name and the password provided by the DEO.
  6. Click on the profile tab on the left-hand side of the screen. This will be denoted by your Test Student User’s name (usually Your First Name Test[Your Initials]).
  7. Click on Update External Account Password.
  8. In the panel that opens:
  9. Enter the password provided by the DEO in the box marked Old Password.
  10. Enter a new password in the box marked New Password.
  11. Enter the same, new password in the box marked Confirm New Password.
  12. Store your new Test Student User password securely, or use a password that is easy for you to remember.
  13. Click Save.
  14. In your administrative Blackboard account, navigate to the course where you want to add your Test Student User.
  15. Using the side menu, click on View everyone on your course under Class register.
  16. Click on the + button in the top-right corner of the screen
  17. Enter your Test Student User’s user name into the text box.
  18. Click on the + button next to your test student user’s name, changing it into a green tick.
  19. Ensure the box beneath your test student user is set to Student, using the drop-down menu to change it if needed.
  20. Click Save.



Info:Testing the group submission, marking and feedback experience will require several test student users are added to a group assigned to the submission point. Once you have several test student users enrolled on the course, you should add them to a group assigned to the submission point by following the instructions listed in ASSIGNED GROUPS (GROUP SUBMISSIONS) in the OPTIONAL CONFIGURATION (IN BLACKBOARD) section.
  1. Either open a private or incognito tab in your current browser or open another browser.
  2. Navigate to the Blackboard login page in this private/new tab and click Guest Login.
  3. Enter your Test Student User’s username and password.
  4. Navigate to the course you have enrolled your student into, using the Courses option in the left-hand menu and searching for the unit ID or name.
  5. Click on the appropriate course and find the submission point. This will normally be found in the Assessment, submission and feedback area.
  6. Once you find the submission point, click on the assignment name.
  7. Click View instructions.
  8. Click Start submission.
  9. Either:
    1. Drag-and-drop the file you wish to upload into the space provided.
    2. Freely write your submission into the text box provided.
    3. Click within the text box and select the paperclip icon to browse files on your computer for upload.
  10. Edit your submissions file name, if you need to.
  11. Once you have uploaded a file/written a submission, you should see a preview of your work on the screen. If you are happy, click
    1. If you are submitting to a Turnitin-enabled submission point, you will receive a pop-up asking if you are happy to agree to the End User License agreement. Provided you are, click Submit.
  12. A pop-up should appear entitled Your submission was successful! This is an on-screen version of your submission receipt. This should also be emailed to the email account linked to your test student user (usually your UoB staff account). Click download to retain a copy.
  13. Log out of your Test Student User account.