Versions Compared

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

Blackboard Learn Logo

Table of Contents

Topic Overview

If you prefer to maintain student grades in an Excel spreadsheet on your computer, you can still upload them to your course site.

...

Note
titleIMPORTANT!

Columns that are added to the Grade Center from an external file are text columns with zero points possible. Text columns cannot be included in Calculated Columns such as Weighted Grade, Total Points, Average Grade, and Minimum/Maximum grade. To include the added column in calculations, modify the column after uploading: change Primary Display from text to score and type points possible.

Steps

Download Grade Center Spreadsheet

  1. Click Work Offline in the upper right corner of the main Grade Center page.
  2. Select Download from the drop-down menu.
  3. Select the Full Grade Center radio button.
  4. Leave Tab as a delimiter type. Tab delimited files have the file extension .xls.
  5. Choose Yes next to Include Hidden Information if you want hidden columns and students to be included in the spreadsheet.
  6. Press the Submit button.
  7. Press the Download button and save the file on your computer.
Note

Calculation formulas cannot be downloaded or uploaded in such columns as Total and Weighted Total. Blackboard only copies values that resulted from the calculations.

Open a Tab-Delimited File in Excel

Double-click the downloaded tab-delimited file.

OR

  1. Open the Excel program.
  2. Select File > Open. Select the saved tab-delimited file. Select Open.
  3. If Text-Import Wizard opens, leave the default “Delimited” option unchanged and press Next.
  4. Leave Tab selected as a delimiter and press Next.
  5. Press Finish.

Edit a Spreadsheet

You can use the downloaded spreadsheet to manage the grades in an Excel spreadsheet on your computer. For example, you can:

...

Note

Don’t change any student information (name, username, and student ID) and existing column headers if you plan to upload the spreadsheet back into Blackboard. When you add a new column, remember to type the name of the column in the header. Blackboard will add a column ID automatically when you upload the column.

Save a Spreadsheet as a Regular Excel File

  1. Select File > Save as.
  2. Type the descriptive name of the file including the course code and date (e.g., ed255_050508) in the File Name box.
  3. Select Excel Workbook in Save As Type (on a PC) and Format (on a Mac) drop-down menu.

Save a Spreadsheet as a Tab-Delimited Text File for Uploading

  1. Select File > Save as.
  2. Type the descriptive name of the file including the date (e.g., ed255_050508) in the File Name box.
  3. Select Text (tab-delimited) in “Save As Type” (for a PC) and Format (for Mac) drop-down menu. You can also select CSV (comma delimited option).
  4. Click Save.
  5. Click Yes to the question, "Do you want to keep the workbook format?"

...

In order to upload grades to the Grade Center in Blackboard, you can first download the Grade Center, make your modifications, and save the file. For instructions on how to download the Grade Center and correctly save the modified file, click this link: Downloading the Grade Center

Upload a Delimited File

Info
titlePreparing the csv file

Your file should contain a header row on top to include the word username. You should also have a title for the newly created column and should not be left blank.

Excel Spreadsheet Example With Headers

...

Note

You can upload multiple grade columns to the Grade Center at once. The columns that do not have any difference with the Grade Center columns will be faded and not available for upload. To avoid long processing times, break up large files into separate uploads

Sources and Relevant Links

Video- Working Offline with the Grade Center