Using
the Assignments and SafeAssignments features for students' files in Blackboard
Blackboard's
Assignment feature, and the SafeAssignment extension from MyDropBox LLC, have
proven to be very successful replacements for the obsolete Digital Drop Box.
The
Assignments feature was created to streamline the submission of students'
files, and to organize those files for retrieval through the instructor's
Gradebook. SafeAssignments adds "plagiarism detection" to the process.
Part
One: Assignments
The
Assignments process works like this:
-
The
instructor chooses the spot in any content area (Course Information, Course
Documents, Assignments, etc.) where the students' work is described, and
adds a special link which the students will use to submit their files. This
special link is displayed with the words "View/Complete." At the
moment the link is created, a column is automatically added to the Gradebook
as an access point for the instructor.
- When students click the special
link, they are invited to submit their files along with any comments.
- When the instructor opens the
gradebook, the column for the Assignment contains "exclamation point"
markers to show which students have submitted work.
- Clicking a student's exclamation
point opens a grading window, including a "View" button that leads
to the student's comments and file, which can be opened or saved. The instructor
posts the grade for the Assignment in the same spot, and may also send along
comments to the student. If the instructor has commented inside the document
and saved it as a new file, a link in the same window makes it very convenient
to send the corrected version back to the student. Instructors also have the
option to leave notes for themselves or for teaching assistants about a student's
submission.
- When students check their grades,
they also see exclamation point markers for ungraded items, and by clicking
they can review (but not change) their work. After the instructor posts a
grade, clicking it leads to the display of any comments and/or file returned
by the instructor.
This
process will become clearer to you when you observe it in action. To test it,
you can set up an Assignment in any of your courses, and then log into Blackboard
with your pretend-student username (e.g., 0smithj rather than smithj). Here
is a link to detailed directions for setting up
an Assignment.
Part
Two: SafeAssignments
The
SafeAssignments process works similarly, except for the grading steps:
-
Same
as above. (The drop-down menu in Edit View, that creates the special links,
contains selections for Assignments and SafeAssignments.)
- Same as above. Students'
files in Mcrosoft Word, Rich Text Format and plain text formats are automatically
channeled through the SafeAssignment text-matching service, which identifies
closely matching text from millions of Internet sites and previously submitted
papers. The reports from this service usually appear within 30 minutes
after the file is submitted, but with heavy traffic they can be delayed
up to 24 hours.
- When the instructor
opens the gradebook, the column for the SafeAssignment is initially empty.
Clicking a student's cell leads to a report window, but the more efficient
grading pattern is described in the next item.
- In the course's Control
Panel, clicking "SafeAssignments" leads to a window listing all
the SafeAssignments in the class, with a link to "View" the results
of each one, and a "QuickSubmit" link to allow you (the instructor)
to submit any file you desire to the text-matching service. While viewing
the results for a particular SafeAssignment you can track which students
have completed the work, retrieve each student's file and review the results
of the text-matching scan. Remember that an incident of text-matching
does not, by itself, constitute plagiarism! You must decide whether the
use of matching texts is legitimate or dishonest.The SA software
does not currently offer an efficient means to deliver comments to students,
but this feature is promised in the next release, perhaps in January 2005.
One major difference from grading ordinary Assignments: Instructors must
enter grades manually in the Gradebook, using the column automatically created
at step 1. To return comments and/or corrected files, use email or Blackboard's
Messages feature.
- When students check
their grades, they also see blank values for ungraded items. When you add
the grade they will see it in the regular way. They can see the report from
SafeAssignment by clicking into the same spot where they submitted the file.
This
process will also become clearer to you when you observe it in action. To
test it, you can set up a SafeAssignment in any of your courses, and then
log into Blackboard with your pretend-student username (e.g., 0robertsb rather
than robertsb). Here are some detailed directions to create and use a SafeAssignment:
-
Open
any Content Area and find a good spot for an assignment.
At the top right, click Edit View . (Or, through the Control
Panel , navigate to the same spot.) At the top of the window, at
the far right end of the Add bar, open the drop-down menu and select
Safe Assignment , then click Go.
-
Fill
in the boxes as desired, then click Submit.
-
When
your students get to the link, they will submit their files through a process
much like the regular Blackboard Assignment feature.
-
To
review what they have submitted, go into your Control Panel
and select Safe Assignments. Click the View link for the
assignment, and then you will see the report screen that lists their files
and the reports, generated from the SafeAssignment scanning
process
-
Record
the students’ grades in the regular Bb Gradebook , in the
column automatically created for this purpose. To return comments and/or
graded files to students, use email or Blackboard's Messages feature.
If you use Bb's Messages, please be sure your students understand how to
retrieve what you send them!