Hi Mike

 

We have had a small pilot similar to your own and intend a wider-ranging one next year.  We are aware of some of the issues that you refer to and can’t offer any solution but from my scanning of institutions there seem to be quite a few of us seeking very similar adaptations to the system.  Another feature that we would like is an anonymous marking capability.  Perhaps we could lobby Blackboard, as a group, to introduce features that are common requirements for many UK institutions.

 

Regards

Alice

 

 

 

 

 

Dear All

We are currently piloting online submission of coursework by students via our BB (v7.3.216), and a number of issues have arisen as a result.

Has anyone come across these items already, and if so, what solutions or workarounds have you come up with?:

• Cover sheets- when downloading the assignments the automatic coversheets are not always being reliably created (we have raised a support ticket with BB already). The coversheets also contain insufficient information to be useful (only basic student data, no instructors' comments etc).
• Lack of automatic email notification- students are not notified automatically by email when they submit, which can lead to confusion and potential disputes.
• Save/ Submit buttons- students get confused between saving and submitting, and it's not clear that by clicking save they have *not* actually submitted their work to be marked.
• Gradebook/ Unit-e data- given we currently have no automated link-up between the BB Gradebook and our Unit-E student record system, marks need to be manually entered twice (once in BB and once in Unit-E), which is obviously time-consuming.
• Second and external markers- the Gradebook does not seem to easily allow for second or external markers to clearly add marks and comments.
• Submission via email- if a student emails their assignment to their tutor (rather than via BB), there is no way for the tutor to upload that assignment into the Gradebook on their behalf and then correct the date/time stamp accordingly.

• Query about file sizes being uploaded- a number of large files (eg those containing photos/images) seem to become corrupted and unviewable by tutors. We're not sure why but think it may be due to their size. BB are not sure why either....

The response to the pilot is generally very positive so far, but some staff are finding these glitches understandably frustrating, so any feedback or suggestions from your own experiences would be appreciated.

Many thanks in advance!

Mike


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Mike Green
BLE Co-Ordinator

Room G12
SOAS Learning and Teaching Unit
020 7898 4788

BLE Support Pages: http://www.soas.ac.uk/ltu/blesupport/