BlackBoard Question of the Week

Q. I accidently hid a column in my Blackboard grade center — can you help me make it visible again?

 A. You can unhide a column in Blackboard’s grade center by selecting Organize Grade Center under the Manage button on the grade center toolbar.

For complete instructions, visit this link Unhiding a Grade Center Column .

Q. I need to add a content area to a Blackboard course. Can you tell me how to do this?

A. You can add a content area (course menu link) by doing the following:

1. In the Blackboard Course Menu, click on the Add Menu Item button (represented as a plus sign) located at the top left of the menu.
2. A drop down menu will appear; click on the type of menu item you would like to add.
3. Give the area a name and check the box “Available to Users” to allow students to see the content area.
4. Click Submit.

For complete instructions, visit this link Customizing Your Course Menu.

Q. All of my grades for one student are missing – in fact, her whole row of grades and her name is missing. Can you fix this?

A. There are two possible solutions if a student’s name and grades are missing from the grade center:

1. If her name is at the end of the alphabet and has been displaying at the end of the list of students, you can try one of these two solutions:

a. Reverse the alpha order twice in the Last Name column and the last row will show – you can do this by clicking on the yellow triangle in the column header.

OR

b. Change the Grade Center view from the default “Full Grade Center” to “Preview of My Grades.”

2. It may be that you have inadvertently hidden this student in your grade center. Click on Manage > Show/Hide Users in the grade center. If you see the student’s name grayed out, select it by clicking in the box to the left, and click Show Users; then click Submit.

Q. When I use Turnitin, inevitably I have students who failed to turn in their papers by the due date and their attempts are denied. Is there a way for me to submit their papers or override the system so they can be turned in?

A. To submit students’ papers, follow these instructions:

1. Go to Turnitin Assignments via the Control Panel.
2. Click on the assignment for which you want to submit a student paper.
3. When the Turnitin page opens scroll down to the inbox.
4. Click on the submit paper button in the top left hand corner of the inbox and submit your student’s paper, making sure to go through both the  upload and submit steps.

The paper should then turn up in the inbox and you should be able to view the Originality report.