Welcome to the Blackboard Mailbag, where we feature a commonly asked question that has been hitting our mailbox recently: blackboard@fordham.edu. You’ll find an archive of all of the previous questions and answers on our fordham.edu/blackboard website.
Note: Features may change with future updates.
Fellow educators, rejoice! There’s a fantastic new feature in Blackboard that many of us have been eagerly awaiting for what feels like forever: you can now see whether (and when) your students have reviewed the grades and feedback you’ve provided!
Yes, you read that right. No more wondering if your students are actually seeing your carefully crafted feedback. No more feeling like you’re talking to a wall when you remind them repeatedly to check their grades. Blackboard has finally delivered on this much-requested functionality, and we are thrilled!
This is a game-changer for those who pour time and effort into grading and providing meaningful feedback to help our students learn and improve. We all know the frustration of students claiming they didn’t see their grade or the detailed comments we painstakingly wrote. Now, we have concrete evidence of when they accessed this information.
Where to Find This Wonderful New Feature
Accessing this information is straightforward:
- Navigate to your Gradebook.
- Click on Students.
- Select a specific student from the list.
Once you’ve selected a student, you should now be able to see a record of when they viewed their grades and feedback for individual assignments.
Why This Matters (and Why We’re So Excited):
- Increased Accountability: This feature adds a layer of accountability for students to engage with their grades and feedback actively. No more plausible deniability!
- Informed Conversations: When students have questions about their grades, you’ll now have context. You’ll know if they’ve reviewed your feedback before coming to you.
- Identifying Students Need Extra Support: You can easily identify students who consistently aren’t reviewing their feedback. This could be a flag that they need additional encouragement or support in understanding their performance.
- Peace of Mind (Finally!): Let’s be honest, it’s just nice to know that our students are seeing and hopefully utilizing our hard work.
Despite our best efforts and numerous announcements reminding students to check their grades and feedback, we have always suspected that a good portion weren’t doing so. This new feature provides valuable insight and will help us better understand student engagement with assessment.
For additional FAQs and resources about Blackboard, visit fordham.edu/blackboard, attend one of our workshops, sign up to meet with us on our EdTech Consultation Calendar via Zoom, or reach out to us with your availability and we will work with you to accommodate small groups and one-on-one sessions.
Have feedback or suggestions on features? Blackboard’s parent company Anthology hosts The Idea Exchange. This is a place specifically for Blackboard to track and manage enhancement requests. It allows for things like upvoting ideas and sharing development plans and statuses. You will need to create an account to access the Idea Exchange.