Downloading & Uploading the Gradebook

Downloading the Gradebook

Instructors can work on the Gradebook using Excel; however, for the best results, it is important to first download the Gradebook from Blackboard. This ensures that the file is properly formatted when it is uploaded back into Blackboard. Any new columns created in Excel will need to be made numeric after uploading the file to Blackboard.

Instructions for Downloading the Gradebook

Step 1: Navigate to your Blackboard Ultra course and click Gradebook from the top menu.

Step 2: Click the Gradebook Settings gear in the upper-right corner of the Gradebook.

Step 3: In Gradebook Settings, locate Upload and download gradebook and click Download grades.

Step 4: Under Grade Records, select Full Gradebook. Under Record Details, select Select All Items to download the entire Gradebook, or select individual items to include in the download.

Step 5: Select your file type. Tab-separated File (.xls) is the default option and is recommended when you plan to work with the Gradebook in Excel. If needed, you can instead select Comma Separated Values (.csv).

Step 6: Click Download.

Step 7: Open the downloaded file using Excel or another spreadsheet program.

Note: Unless you have a specific reason to use a .csv file, use the default Tab-separated File (.xls) option when downloading your Gradebook.

Uploading the Gradebook

Once you download your Gradebook, you can work on your Blackboard Gradebook on your computer and upload the edited spreadsheet back into Blackboard.

We recommend that you first download your Gradebook to ensure that the data matches when you upload the edited grades.

Instructions for Uploading a File to the Gradebook

Step 1: Navigate to your Blackboard Ultra course and click Gradebook from the top menu.

Step 2: Click the Gradebook Settings gear in the upper-right corner of the Gradebook.

Step 3: In Gradebook Settings, locate Upload and download gradebook and click Upload gradebook.

Step 4: Upload your spreadsheet by dragging it into the Drop file area or click Upload Local File to select the file from your computer.

Step 5: After the file is processed, review the Gradebook items Blackboard identifies for upload. Click Select All or select only the individual items you want to upload.

Note: Only select the items you want to update in the Gradebook.

Step 6: Click Upload to apply the selected changes to the Gradebook.

Important: Uploading grades changes the values in the Gradebook. Grades that require posting must still be posted before students can see them.

File Format Guidelines

You can only upload a file in a comma-delimited (CSV) or tab-delimited (XLS) format. To upload a correctly formatted file, first download the Gradebook and then edit that file with the data you want to upload.

To synchronize external data with Gradebook data, Blackboard uses unique identifiers for each student and each Gradebook item. The unique identifier for each student is the student’s username. Each existing Gradebook item also has a Blackboard-generated column ID. These identifiers should not be changed or deleted.

You can add a column without a column ID to the file you upload to create a new column in the Gradebook. However, you must add at least one student’s grade so the column is recognized and uploaded. Blackboard then adds a column ID. You can edit the column after it appears in the Gradebook to add the points total.

Be Careful with Blank Grades

A blank grade entry in an uploaded file may clear an existing grade. If attempts exist, Blackboard may display a warning and provide options for how those attempts or override grades should be handled.

Before uploading: Review the items Blackboard identifies as changed and make sure you are uploading only the items you intend to modify. Pay particular attention to blank cells where grades already exist.

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