Student Overview

If your course is in Original Course View, see the Original Course View tutorial collection.

 

What Is Student Overview?

The Student Overview screen is a single place to get relevant information on a student and personalize your communications with them. You can see how your students have performed over time with analytics. You can also use the message feature to quickly follow-up with a student about any of the information on the Student Overview.  From this screen, you can:

• Student name and surname
• Date a student last accessed your course
• View the student's Overall grade (e.g. Current Grade), if this column has been set up in the Gradebook
• From the Grades Tab, view grades earned and outstanding activities to be completed.
• From the Progress Tab, access the student's progress through the course.
• Add Notes to the student's information.
• Access the Student Activity Report, which provides you with an overview of how a student is interacting with your course over time. Observe how a student's engagement and performance have changed on a week-to-week basis. 
• Accommodations shows due dates or time limits accommodates that have been set for the student.
• Access the exemptions option for an assessment graded anonymously.
• Send message directly to the student about their grades or progress.

 

Watch:  The Student Overview Page video to learn more.

 

In addition, the Student Overview can provide additional information, if a student has opted to provide:

• Additional name
• Username
• Student ID
• Pronouns
• Pronunciation description
• Name pronunciation recording

Accessing the Student Overview

You can access the Student Overview through five different locations:

• Gradebook on the Students tab
• Roster
• Messages
• Discussions
• Table View of the Course Activity Report.

At any access point, select a student's name to bring up the Student Overview.

Grades Tab

There are five columns in the Grades tab: Item Name, Due Date, Status, Grade, and Feedback. Each column can be sorted in ascending or descending order. Select the ellipsis icon to exempt any item from being graded for that specific student. 

Select anywhere in the row to bring up a student's submission or participation for each item. You can grade or review the item from this panel. Different items will have different options.

Progress Tab

NOTE:  For the Progress Tab to display, Progress Tracking must be turned on in the course.  By default, Progress Tracking is turned on in all courses.

The Progress tab displays item names and statuses. By default, the tab only displays content visible to students. There are four statuses:

• Unopened, illustrated by a circle icon
• Started, illustrated by a half-filled circle icon
• Completed, illustrated by a green check mark
• Marked complete, also illustrated by a green check mark

You can change the filter to show all content by using the Content availability menu at the top of the tab and selecting All. This view includes the items that aren't visible to the student. This helps you better understand students' progress with all course content.

See Progress Tracking to learn more.

Notes Tab

The Notes feature allows you to leave notes for yourself and other instructors in the course about your students. Notes are not visible to students, but can be accessed by instructors, administrators, and higher roles. Discretion should be used in creating notes. Notes should not contain sensitive information such as medical or mental health details, unsubstantiated suspicions, or specific performance details. 

Notes have many uses for informing your teaching and interaction with students:

• Track the evolution of a student over time and leave useful notes on their progress
• Document communication that has taken place outside of Blackboard (i.e. email sent on 4/26/22 regarding late assignment)
• Note classroom interactions if documentation is warranted (i.e. student was asked to leave class due to unsafe laboratory behavior on 1/3/22)
• Record considerations for grading (i.e. student granted 2-week extension per email on 3/5/22)

Select the Notes tab. You can review older notes or add a new note. The most recent notes appear at the top of the list. Select within the Add a note field to create a note.

The text editor has several options for formatting. For instance, you can bold or italicize text, change colors, apply styles, and adjust font size.

Select the Save button to save your note. Each note has the author of the note and a timestamp with its creation date. You can return to older notes to edit or delete them by selecting the ellipsis icon. Other instructors can’t edit your notes. If a note is edited, there is a separate timestamp for the latest edition.

Note: By default, only administrators have the privilege to delete any note. Administrators can clean up the Notes tab in cases of irrelevant or outdated notes. Harmful comments can also be deleted this way.