There may be times when you wish to do grade calculations in Excel or grade an assessment outside of Blackboard for later uploading to Blackboard. To ensure a smooth upload, it is best to start with an Excel file that has been first downloaded from the Grade Center. Downloading the Grade Center will ensure proper formatting and include the student list of names and e-IDs.

•  Download the Grade Center

  • 1. From the Control Panel, click on Grade Center.
       
       
    2. Click Full Grade Center.
       
       
       
       
    3. Click Work Offline near the top-right corner of the Grade Center screen.
       
       
    4. Choose Download from the drop-down list.
       
       
       
       
    5. On the next screen you will select what parts of the Grade Center you want to download. From the "Data" section, choose one of these options:
    1. The Full Grade Center  - use this option to get a complete copy of student grades recorded in the Grade Center
    2. Selected Column - select this if you wish to download only one column or assignment. 
    3. User Information Only - this is a good option if you want a list of students or a printable roster
       
       
       
       
       
    6. From the "Options" section, choose Comma as the Delimiter Type.
       
       
    7. Decide whether to Include Hidden Information, such as hidden assignment columns (Choose yes or no). 
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    8. From the "Save Location" section, accept the default: Save to "My Computer."
       
    9. Click Submit at the bottom of the screen.
       
       
    10. Click the Download button on the next screen to open and save the file to your computer. 
        
        
        
    11. Open the file using Microsoft Excel. You may get a pop-up "The file format and extension of 'course' don't match. Do you want to open it anyway?"
        Select Yes.

Open the .csv file in Excel.

Do not delete or edit the column names. The columns contain ID numbers that are necessary for Blackboard to identify to read the file.

Enter Grades to Existing Columns

1. Add or change the grades to an existing column.
   
   
   
   
2. Save the file. A pop up window may ask if you want to keep the workbook in the current format...click the Yes button.
   
   
3. Return to the Grade Center in Blackboard
   
   
4. Click on Work Offline and select Upload.
   
   
5. Click Browse My Computer button and find the Grade Center file previously saved to your computer.
   
   
6. Select the file and click Submit.
   
   
7. The Upload Grades Confirmation page will display the columns with either "No Data Updates" (columns that you did not change) in the Messages column and scores for the columns that you did add in the Data Preview column.
   
   
   
   
8. If all is correct, click Submit at the bottom of the page.
   
   

Enter Grades with a New Column

1. If you are entering grades to a new column, enter a title in the first row of a blank column and enter the grades in the remaining rows.
   
   
   
   
2. Save the file. A pop up window may ask if you want to keep the workbook in the current format...click the Yes button.
   
   
3. Return to the Grade Center in Blackboard
   
   
4. Click on Work Offline and select Upload.
   
   
5. Click Browse My Computer button and search for and select the Excel Grade Center file.
   
   
6. Click Submit.
   
   
7. The Upload Grades Confirmation page will display the columns with either "No Data Updates" (columns that you did not change) and "Add Column" for the new column in the Messages column and scores for the columns that you did add in the Data Preview column.
   
   
   
   
8. Click Submit at the bottom of the page.
   
   
9. Return to the column in the Grade Center. Hover your mouse over the title of the new column. Notice that "Possible Points" is 0.
   
   
   
   
10. To assign that the correct possible point value, click on the drop down arrow next to the column name.
    
    
11. Select Edit Column Information from the drop-down menu.
12. Scroll down to the Points Possible box.
    
    
13. Enter the value for the points possible for this assessment.
14. Click Submit at the bottom of the page.