Submit, feed back, publish: Using Blackboard to enhance students assessment experience and improve administrative process efficiencies Louise Thorpe Program Manager, Bb Consulting

Louise Thorpe Program Manager – Blackboard Consulting Universities, colleges and professional education Strategy, implementation and change management UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia Head of Academic Innovation Sheffield Hallam University Head of Learning Strategy and Enhancement University of Sheffield Project Manager Sheffield Hallam University About Me

About you

Overview Technology to support assessment and feedback Focus on online coursework management Drivers to make greater use of technology in assessment 3 case studies Share experiences and Q&A

Assessment and Feedback Platform

Common Drivers Student expectations expectation of online transactions and services High student numbers assessment types that can handle high volumes ability to deliver grades and feedback at scale New and expanding global markets effective processes for fully online assessment management and feedback delivery Cost, efficiency and effectiveness workflow efficiency and accuracy

Additional UK Drivers National Student Survey (2011) 83% satisfied with overall experience 68% satisfied with their assessment and feedback experience New higher education funding regime (2012) Switches primary cost of HE from public purse to student Students are paying more but institutional income remains same Institutions anticipate that prospective students: –will seek evidence of quality from information in the public domain –will look for indicators of distinctiveness in student experience –will have higher customer expectations

Institutional starting points Strategic we want to define an assessment and feedback strategy/policy Implementation we want to have 100% online submission Tactical we want a tool that will improve deliver feedback Operational we need to establish key service foundations

Scenario 1 (end to end) Online Administration of Coursework Online Submission Onscreen Marking Online Grades and Feedback Online Delivery of Marks & Feedback in Bb Online Publication of Grades in SIS

University of Salford 3 Colleges and MediaCity in Manchester 20,000 students 2,500 staff Existing use of Turnitin for some e-submission Workflow efficiency alongside upgrade to Bb9.1 Administering Academic Progress and Blackboard Programme

Challenges How to reduce the number of exceptions to online submission? How to improve workflow for the transaction of handling coursework collection, feedback and return? How to improve grade collation process - double mark entry?

E-submission and tools in use Detailed design requirements Blackboard – Student Record System integration planning Feasibility of timeline –Decisions required –Technical build –Process redesign impact –Staff development

Scenario 2 (establishing the basics) Online Administration of Coursework Online Submission Onscreen Marking Online Grades and Feedback Online Delivery of Marks & Feedback in Bb Online Publication of Grades in SIS

Staffordshire University 2 campuses – Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford 16,000 students 2,000 staff enhance assessment and feedback experience of students through the application of technology to support e-assessment, e-assignment management and importantly feedback

Challenges How to meet student expectations of online submission and support growth in distance learning? What are we able to deliver with the core functionality that we already have? What is the academic change process required to move online submission and online publication of marks and feedback to business as usual?

Design and discovery Online Administration of Coursework Online Submission Onscreen Marking Online Grades and Feedback Online Delivery of Marks & Feedback in Bb Online Publication of Grades in SIS

Implementation planning -What needs to be in place -Technical infrastructure and service resilience -Core system integration -Upgrade to latest version -What needs to be done -Regulations and recommendations -Staff development, training and support -Impact on practice -Academic change process

Scenario 3 (extending out the platform) 24 Online Administration of Coursework Online Submission Onscreen Marking Online Grades and Feedback Online Delivery of Marks & Feedback in Bb Online Publication of Grades in SIS Third party receipting Batch down/upload of feedback Grades Transfer Technical solutions

Case study 3: Extending out the platform University of the West of England 4 campus sites in and around Bristol 30,000+ students (full-time, part-time and sandwich) 3,500 staff Bb rolled out in 2004 and used institution-wide (>500k logins per month) One University Administration....partnering for custom development to meet UWEs business process needs

Case study 3: University of the West of England Challenges How to get the marks from Blackboard to the student record system with minimum administrative intervention? How to accommodate local assessment policies (e.g. student anonymity, second marking approaches)? How to achieve consistency given diverse staff IT skills and awareness?

Starting point Blackboard Assignment Blackboard Grade Centre ISIS Marks Validation and Import

Encourage adoption Blackboard Assignment Blackboard Grade Centre ISIS Marks Validation and Import Marks and Feedback Tool Easy for staff to put feedback files alongside marks Student Receipts Provide student with a detailed receipt of submission Offline Marking Tool

Blackboard to SIS workflow Blackboard Assignment Blackboard Grade Centre ISIS Marks Validation and Import Marks and Feedback Tool Student Receipts Offline Marking Tool Grade Mapping Tool Get the marks into ISIS ?? ISIS Work Item Data Extract Create Blackboard Assignment By using data from ISIS to create Bb Assignment and associated Grade Centre columns can we can specify what Extract Marks to extract

Result - End to end process Staff publish assignment details to students online Students submit coursework files online System issues a detailed receipt to students Staff access in one place and online to all assignments Staff easily download work to mark offline Staff easily upload all marks with feedback files Students access in context and online marks and feedback All coursework marks are visible to staff and students in Bb System transfers marks to SIS for processing and publication

Summary Case study 1 –Salford Complementary technologies Admin process change Case study 2 – Staffordshire Within existing Bb toolset Hearts and minds of academic practice Case study 3 - University of the West of England Core Bb technologies with bespoke enhancements Admin efficiencies and scale

Thank you Louise Thorpe, Program Manager, Bb Consulting