Each month we will share some of our timely frequently asked questions around educational technology.

I need to give a grade for an oral presentation. How can I do that if nobody hands anything up electronically?

There are two ways you could go:

1. Add a manual grade item in the gradebook.
   This is the easiest method if all you are giving is a grade (numerical or scale).
2. Use an assignment activity.
   If you need to give a grade and feedback to the student use an assignment activity and untick all submission types in the settings.

My assignment is worth 20% of the total grade. Should I mark it out of 20 or 100?

It’s totally up to you. You can mark the assignment out of anything but ensure it makes sense and that you’ve provided students with marking criteria. You will need to check that the assignment has a weighting of 20 in the gradebook. Refer to Setting up the topic total in the eLearning Gateway for further information about gradebook.

Should I enter assignment grades in the gradebook or in the assignment itself?

We definitely advise you to add assignment grades into the assignment itself, for a few reasons:

• Tutors can’t enter grades in the gradebook.
• If you enter grades in the gradebook then the grade is ‘locked’ and cannot be changed until it is unlocked, which can cause problems with multiple tutors/markers.
• If you use the assignment activity to enter grades you can upload grades and feedback in bulk.

Written by George Filipov
eLearning & Media Support Officer – CILT