Within the Digication Blackboard Building Block you can create ePortfolio assignments as well as grade ePortfolio assignments. You will need to login to Blackboard and enable Digication as a tool within your course if you do not see it there by default.
Once the Digication tool is enabled, open the Digication tool and setup your course in Digication using the link under the Welcome to Digication message. You can enable ePortfolio templates (if you are using Classic Digication) and you can create ePortfolio assignments (supported in both Classic and New Digication).
Please note if you are using New Digication, students will login directly to Digication to create their ePortfolios and will not create ePortfolios through the Blackboard Building Block. Support for creating New Digication ePortfolios through the Blackboard Building Block is anticipated to launch before the end of Fall semester 2017.
Creating an ePortfolio Assignment through the Blackboard Building Block
To create an ePortfolio assignment:
- Click on the "+ New Assignment" button
- Enter a name for the assignment and click on the "+ Add Assignment" button for it to appear under "ePortfolio Assignments."
Once this is done, a column for this ePortfolio assignment will be added to the Grade Center and the assignment will automatically be imported into your course in Digication so that students will be able to easily submit their ePortfolios.
All ePortfolio assignments should be added through the Digication Blackboard Building Block and not added to the Digication directly. Blackboard supports the import of assignments created from the Digication Blackboard Building Block, but does not support importing assignments created directly in Digication into the Digication Blackboard Building Block. This importing process is known as one-way synch. Assignments that are created within Digication directly will not appear in Digication Blackboard Building Block list of ePortfolio Assignments or the Grade Center.
Gradebook
You'll see that in the "ePortfolio Assignments" area next to the "+ New Assignment" button there's a link called "Grade book." Clicking on this link will bring you to "Grade book" tab for grading ePortfolio assignments. Grades entered into this Grade book will be automatically imported into the Blackboard Grade Center in your course. From the Grade book, you'll see a roster of all the enrolled students with fields for each assignment placed next to their names.
To Enter Grades
Simply click on the cell for the student and grade to be entered. Clicking on the tab key on your keyboard will bring you to the next assignment for that student. For large classes there is a "Search" field that will allow you to filter by a students by name as well, for easy grading.
Adding Comments to Grades
A small text bubble icon will appear whenever clicking in a grading field; this is for you to add comments. Clicking on it will give you a pop-up window to enter your comment and click "Save changes" to save it. This can be done and redone as many times as needed.
Editing Assignments
You'll also notice a small cog icon underneath the assignment name.
Clicking on it gives you a pop-up that allows you to edit settings for the assignment which include:
- A "Make viewable?" checkbox, which allows students to see their grades.
- A "Maximum Points" field where you can set the maximum amount of points for the assignment.
- A "Relative Weight" field which allows you to assign a relative weight for each assignment. Weight is set to 1 by default.
Once all of the necessary changes have been made, you'll need to click on "Save changes" for them to be reflected in both systems. Please note that all grades entered will push automatically to Blackboard.
Warning: If you change the name of an assignment in Digication externally, the assignments will no longer sync with the Blackboard grade book. Please also note that if you changes the grades in the Grade Center within Blackboard they will not be updated in the Digication Grade book.
Grading in Blackboard
If you'd rather use Blackboard's grading functionality instead of the Grade book within the Digication tool, you can do so easily! Creating an assignment within a course also creates an entry in the Grade Center. This is another way of streamlining the process of grading by allowing users to work in the ways they know best.
We hope that this new addition to the toolset will make the creating and grading of eP assignments within Blackboard and Digication seamless and enjoyable for faculty and staff. Please try it out and let us know what you think at support@digication.com
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