How do I set up an Offline Assignment to issue receipts to students for work which cannot be submitted online?

There may be instances where you want your students to receive a receipt for their work where it canot be submitted online e.g. a presentation or an artefact. You can use the Receipting Of Physical Submissions tool to manually issue receipts to students. In order to issue receipts, you first need to create an Offline Assignment. This will also automatically create a grade column in the Grade Centre, enabling you to provide marks and feedback online.

Blackboard Offline Assignments (where a receipt can be issued for work that cannot be submitted online) for summative tasks and subtasks are automatically created at the start of the academic year based upon the data held within the Student Records System (SITS). For more information about this process and when it takes place, see the Start of Semester article on setting up assessments and Grade Centre.

To set up an Offline Assignment for formative/draft submissions or where summative Offline Assignments were not set up as part of the automated process:

Step 1: Ensure that the Offline Assignment tool is available within your site. Expand Control Panel, then Customisation, and click Tool Availability. Scroll down to Offline Assignment, and check the Available in Content Area box. Click Submit.

Step 2: Click on the content area (normally Assessments) in the Site Menu where you would like to set up the Offline Assignment.

 

Step 3: From the Create Assessment menu, select Offline Assignment.

 

 

Step 4: A Name will have been automatically generated for your Offline Assignment, you should rename this to something more recognisable for the students. Instructions for completing and handing-in the assignment can be typed in the Instructions box.

 

 

Step 5:  Under Assignment Files, attach any files associated with the assignment that students require when completing their work (e.g. a detailed assessment brief, proformas or cover sheets that students need to complete and submit along with their work). 

 

Step 6: Under Due Dates, use the calendar and clock icons to set the Due Date and Time. (NB. Attempts receipted after the Due Date are marked as late).

 

Step 7: Under Grading, enter the Points Possible (normally 100) and, if using, click Add Feedback Rubric to associate a Feedback Rubric with the assignment.

 

IMPORTANT: Students can see a Feedback Rubric regardless of its visibility when they access the Assignment via the mobile Blackboard App. If you are using a Feedback Rubric for grading only and do not want students to see the Feedback Rubric before submitting work, do not associated the Feedback Rubric until submissions have been received and you are starting the marking process.

 

If you are receipting group submissions, expand Submission Details and click Group Submission and select the groups to associate with the assignment. You must have first set up the groups in your site.

 

The Display of Grades Options includes settings that you would normally perform in the Grade Centre once you have set up an assignment and a grade column has been created. This includes changing the way in which the grade is displayed to students (e.g. percentage or specific schema to support Grade Based Assessment), or hiding the grade column from student view so that students cannot see their feedback and grades during the marking process. Expanding this section and deselecting ‘Show to students in My Grades’ streamlines the process as you do not have to go to Grade Centre after creating the assignment to hide the column.

 

Step 8: Under Availability:

• Ensure that Make the Assignment Available box is checked.
• Use the Limit Availability calendar and clock icons to set the dates between which submissions are permitted.

 

Step 9: Finally, click Submit to finish creating this Offline Assignment. For students, the Offline Assignment will look no different from a Blackboard submission point. However, when a student clicks on the title of the assignment, there is no option to submit a document but any attached files and additional information are shown.