Blackboard – Help Guides for External Examiners

Finding Blackboard courses

Log into Blackboard with the provided email and password. This may be a username email based on your initials (like abc1a24@soton.ac.uk) or a generic account (like fxeexx@soton.ac.uk).

If you are having issues logging in, try a different browser or a private browsing window. We recommend Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

Once logged into Blackboard, select Courses from the menu on the left-hand side.

  • You can change the view of the courses page to Grid or List view.
  • You can use the search to look up a course by its name or ID, including the module code.
  • You can favourite a course by selecting the little star on the tile. This will ensure the course appears towards the top of the page.

See our elearn guide Blackboard – Find and organise your list of courses

Can’t find a Blackboard Course?

Please speak to the faculty Assessment and Administration team or the module lead and ask them to ensure you have been added to the course. Your account should be enrolled with the course role of External Examiner.

If you see too many courses, please ask the faculty Assessment and Administration team to double-check that you have been added only to the correct courses.

Can’t see a course menu?

The course menu may be hidden if you have zoomed in or are using a smaller screen on a mobile device. Select the greater than sign > to expand the course menu.

Screenshot of the top left of a Blackboard course when zoomed in. Below a blue bar there is a greater than symbol in a circle.

Determine the course type: Original or Ultra?

We are currently transitioning our teaching courses to Blackboard Ultra. These courses have slightly different features so please note the course type and look up guides accordingly.

  • Original courses have a dark left-hand menu which will be Grey, Blue or Purple.
  • Ultra courses have a lighter colour, and the main menu is along the top.
  • In list view of your courses page, Original courses have a dark grey line and will say “Original Course View” after the course name. Ultra courses have a coloured line.
An example Blackboard Ultra Course.
Example Blackboard Ultra Course

Blackboard Original Guides

Do not change or remove any student marks or feedback.

Blackboard Help: Original Grade Centre

Navigate content using the left-hand menu. There is usually an item called Module Profile or Module Information.

Screenshot of Module Profile on a course menu. There is a grey box with a line through next to the word profile. This indicates that the menu item is not visible to students.

A box with a line through indicates that this menu item is not currently visible to students.

Please ask the module lead to clarify where you should be looking in Blackboard. You can also view module information on the Module Information service.

The faculty Assessment and Administration team may also provide you with any relevant documents by email or SharePoint.

We use a variety of assignment platforms at the University. Please speak to the module lead for help finding the online assessment, marks and feedback you are to review.

All assessment should be in a top-level folder such as Assignments. Once you have located the assignment you can look at the description and icon to determine the assessment type.

The most commonly used assigments are Blackboard Assignments, Blackboard TestsTurnitin LTI Assignments and eAssignments.

A screenshot of various assignments in Blackboard Original.
The Blackboard Assignment icon is a page with lines on.
The Blackboard Test icon is a page with squares and lines.
The marked discussion icon is two speech bubbles.
The marked journals icon is a spiral bound notebook.
The Turnitin LTI assignment icon is a blue rectangle with an arrow.

You can view the assessment in context here, the description and other information provided to students.

If you have been given access to eAssignments, see the eAssignments support guide.

To view a course or assignment as if you were a student, you can use Student Preview.

A screenshot of the student preview button. It is a green dot with two arrows going around it. It is reminiscent of an eye.
  • Select the Student Preview button towards the top right of the page.
  • Navigate to the assessment, view the assessment in context and it’s description.
  • Select the assessment to open the submission page and view any rubrics.
  • When you are finished using Student Preview, select Exit Preview in the yellow bar.
  • Select Delete the preview user and all data and then Continue.
Screenshot of the pop up you see when you exit student preview. The option Delete the preview user and all data is highlighted.

Do not change or remove any student marks or feedback.

Blackboard Help Guide: Original Grade Centre

  • Enter the Blackboard Course.
  • Scroll down to view the Course Management/Control Panel menu.
  • Select the Grade Centre and then Full Grade Centre.
    If the course instructor has created a Smart View, you may be able to select it here under Full Grade Centre.

Here you can see all student submissions for all assignments on this Blackboard course.

  • Select a student submission you would like to review.
  • Select View Mark Details
  • Select View Attempts (Blackboard Assignment or Test) or Mark User Activity (Turnitin LTI Assignment)

Guide: Viewing Blackboard Assignments

Follow the instructions above to view a student assignment. On this page you can view the marks in the top right of the Assignment Details panel.

  • Select the light blue down arrow to expand feedback and view the rubric (if attached).
  • Use the breadcrumb trail to return to the Grade Centre

  • Locate the assignment and select it.
  • Select a group if one has been set up for you.
  • Select the student’s Paper Title to view the submission, marks and feedback
  • Review inline comments. Select the blue icons on the right to view feedback and the rubric. Select the red icons to review the similarity checking.
  • Close the window when you have finished reviewing the student’s work
  • Select the course name in the breadcrumb trail to return to the main course area.

See our guide Feedback Studio: Marking and feedback within Turnitin

Blackboard Ultra Guides

Do not change or remove any student marks or feedback.

Blackboard Help Guide: Find your courses
Blackboard Help Guide: Navigating a Course

There should be a Learning Module called Module Information.

Screenshot of the Module Information Learning module in Blackboard Ultra. The down arrow on the right. which expands the learning module content, is highlighted.

If the instructor is using a different template, module information may be located in a different Learning module or document such as in a course handbook. Please ask the module lead to clarify where you should be looking in Blackboard. You can also view module information on the Module Information service.

The faculty Assessment and Administration team may also provide you with any relevant documents by email or SharePoint.

We use a variety of assignment platforms at the University. Please speak to the module lead for help finding the online assessment, marks and feedback you are to review.

All assessment should be in a top-level folder such as Assignments. Once you have located the assignment you can look at the description and icon to determine the assessment type.

The most commonly used assigments are Blackboard Assignments, Blackboard TestsTurnitin LTI Assignments and eAssignments.

A screenshot of various assignments in Blackboard Original.
The Blackboard Assignment icon is a page with ticks, crosses and lines on.
The Blackboard Test icon is a page with squares and lines.
The marked discussion icon is two speech bubbles.
The marked journals icon is a spiral bound notebook and pen.
The Turnitin LTI assignment icon is a blue rectangle with an arrow.

You can view the assessment in context here, the description and other information provided to students.

If you have been given access to eAssignments, see the eAssignments support guide.

Select the assignment.

For Blackboard Assignments, Tests, Discussions and Journals the assignment settings including the rubric will appear in the Assignment Settings panel on the right.

For Turnitin Assignments, select the cog in the top right corner to view the assignments settings page. Select Optional Settings to see if a rubric is attached.

Blackboard Help Guide: Assignment Settings
Blackboard Help Guide: Rubrics

Do not change or remove any student marks or feedback.

Blackboard Help Guide: Navigating the Gradebook
Blackboard Help Guide: Grading Assignments

  • Select Gradebook.
  • Select Grid View.
  • Select Filter. You can filter on a group (if one has been set up for you) or by selecting individual students. You can also select the markable items or use the other filters such as Formative/Summative and Categories.
  • Select Apply.
  • Remove filters at any time by selecting the cross next to the fillter along the top.
  • Select the student assignment you wish to view and then select View.

Icons

Marks are often indicated in a pill icon:

Mark pill

Feedback is often indicated by this icon:

Feedback icon

Blackboard Help Guide: Navigating the Gradebook
Blackboard Help Guide: Grading Assignments

  • Select Gradebook.
  • Select Grid View.
  • Select Filter. You can filter on a group (if one has been set up for you) or by selecting individual students. You can also select the markable items or use the other filters such as Formative/Summative and Categories.
  • Select Apply.
  • Remove filters at any time by selecting the cross next to the fillter along the top.
  • Select the student assignment you wish to view and then select View.
  • The mark will be in the top right. Select the feedback icon on the right to expand the feedback panel.

  • Locate the Journal or Discussion in the course and select it to open it.
  • Select Marks and Participation along the top menu.
  • Select a student to view their contributions.
  • View the mark and select the feedback icon in the top right corner.

See our guide Feedback Studio: Marking and feedback within Turnitin

  • Locate the assignment in the course and select it to open it.
  • Select a group if one has been set up for you.
  • Select the student’s Paper Title to view the submission, marks and feedback.
  • Review inline comments. Select the blue icons on the right to view feedback and the rubric. Select the red icons to review the similarity checking.
  • Close the window when you have finished reviewing the student’s work.
  • Select the course name in the breadcrumb trail to return to the main course area.

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