Tag Archives: mylesley

Getting Familiar with Inline Grading

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Did you know that myLesley has a new way to grade assignments? It’s called inline grading. Inline grading greatly streamlines the old grading process and best of all – it saves you time!

What is Inline Grading?

Inline grading allows instructors to view and grade submitted assignments directly in myLesley. You no longer need to download your students’ assignments to your computer to assess their work. Now you can view, annotate, and grade student work directly in your myLesley course.

inline_grading_grade_assignment_page

How Does it Work?

When you access a student’s submission in the Grade Center, myLesley will automatically load a preview of the submitted document. Simply click on the Comment button to open the annotation tools and interface.

annotation sample

Within the new grading interface you can create notes on specific areas of the document by highlighting sections of text and using the Comment button. The pencil tool can be used to draw in a freeform manner on the document as you might with a paper and pen offline.

Click on the Assignment Details link in the right-hand sidebar to reference the assignment requirements. If you use the Rubric tool, you can access and use your rubric from the Attempt section.

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If you wish to provide additional suggestions or notes outside of the submitted document, type your message to the student in the Grader Feedback area.

GraderFeedback

Once you have finished grading your student’s submission, you have the option of downloading a PDF version (with all your newly created annotations) which you can save for your records.

Inline grading works with PDF’s, Word documents, Powerpoints and Excel files. If a student submits a different type of file such as an image file, you will be prompted to download the file to your computer exactly as you have done in the past.

What Does This Mean For My Students?

Students can also view their annotated and graded assignment directly in myLesley. Their view is very similar to the instructor’s interface. Students can also view any additional feedback you may have provided and download the annotated PDF with all of your comments to save for their records.

Please note that there are no changes to the way students submit their assignments. Also, as before, they can view and retrieve their graded assignments in one of two ways: by going back to the original assignment location or by accessing the MyGrades area.

How Can I Learn More?

For more information on how to use inline grading in myLesley, check out this overview or view the video tutorial.

The New myLesley Calendar is Here

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myLesley has a brand new calendar tool. Not only does it have a more modern look and functionality, but now you can personalize and customize it to your needs.

myLesley calendar

View calendar events by day, week or month and view all course calendars at once. Select which calendars you want to view and color code calendars to quickly identify personal, course or university items.

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Instructors can easily create new events for their courses and both instructors and students can add personal events. Course assignments with due dates will automatically appear on the calendar.

Need to edit an event? Simply click on the event to open it or drag and drop it to the new date. Instructors can change assignment due dates in the calendar making it easy to update your course for the new semester. Need to update the assignment details. Just click on ‘Edit this Assignment’ and go directly to the assignment.

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Do you use Google calendar for your personal events? Export your myLesley calendar to Google or other calendar tool and have everything in one place.

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You can access the new calendar in two ways:

Click on your name in the top right corner and then click on the calendar icon…

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… or click on Tools in any myLesley course menu and then click on Calendar.

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For more information on how to use the new calendar tool, watch the video tutorial below or check out the handy step-by-step overview.

myLesley Improvements Coming This Fall

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Fall_leavesWhen the new school year kicks off on September 4th you’ll not only be reveling in the fantastic smell of shiny new textbooks, fancy pens, and a clean slate. This Fall you’ll also be unwrapping a completely refreshed and upgraded Blackboard interface. As the leaves start to change and the air becomes crisp here are just a few of the exciting additions you can look forward to using with students in both your online and face-to-face classes:

Inline Grading for Assignments
You can now view, comment, and grade student-submitted assignment files without leaving the Grade Assignment page. This is a very exciting tool and we think you’re going to love how much time and extra work it’s going to save you.

Learn more about this new option via written instructions or video.

New Discussion Board Look and Feel
The discussion board now has a completely revamped user interface. Forums and threads are better organized allowing for a more streamlined experience for both instructors and students.

Learn more about this new option via written instructions or video.

A More Intuitive Text/Content Editor
Blackboard now uses a a text editor based on the TinyMCE platform. We bet you’ll recognize it as soon as you sign in and you’ll be formatting your course text, adding images, and laying out tables like a pro in no time.

Learn more about this new option via written instructions or video.

In addition, please review our Professional Development calendar for training opportunities throughout the semester and check out the complete list of new features on our website.