D2L: Link a Discussion to the Gradebook
In D2L, we can link a discussion to the gradebook in D2L. This makes for faster grading of students' contributions to a discussion topic. In the following tutorials, we assume that we already have a discussion topic created. However, the process is similar if we are creating a discussion from scratch.
Table of Contents
Getting to the Discussion Editor Screen for Pre-Existing Discussions
For each of the following tutorials, we need to go to the Discussion Editor Screen. For an already existing discussion, go to the Discussions tab in the Course Navbar. Then, click on the dropdown arrow to the right of a discussion we want to edit. Click on Edit Topic in the screen that appears.
Create a New Grade Item
If we already have our Gradebook setup but have yet to create the Grade Item for the discussion, we can do both processes right from the Gradebook.
| 1 | Click on Ungraded and set the number of points we want the discussion to be worth. | Highlighting ungraded
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| 2 | When we do, we should see that a new option, “In Grade Book”, appears. | Highlighting In Grade Book
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| 3 | Unless we are interested in modifying the grade, we can click on Save and Close. Note: If we are interested in modifying the grade, we can click on In Grade Book and select Edit or Link to Existing. This will give us options to modify the grade, including selecting a Category and Choosing a Grade Scheme. We can also modify the newly created grade item in the Gradebook later. | Highlighting Save and Close
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| 4 | This will create a Grade Item in the Gradebook with the same name as the title of the Discussion. In this case, the grade item will be Module 1 Discussion Board - Introduce Yourself. | Highlighting the new grade item.
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| 5 | We can edit this grade item as we would any other grade item. |
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Link a Discussion to an Existing Grade Item
If we already have our Gradebook set up and Grade Items for our Discussions, we can quickly link them in the Discussion Editor.
| 1 | Click on Ungraded in the Discussion Editor. | Highlighting Ungraded
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| 2 | Rather than typing the Points out, simply click on In Grade Book. If we accidentally type in a total number of points, no worries! D2L will automatically change it to the whatever the total of the linked Grade Item is. | Highlighting In Grade Book
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| 3 | Click on Edit or Link to Existing in the menu that appears. | Editor or Link to Existing
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| 4 | In the pop-up that appears, make sure to select Link to an existing grade item. Be careful! If we named our discussion the same thing we called our previously created grade item, we may be a bit confused to see that it is “already selected”. D2L defaults to creating a new grade item rather than linking to a grade item. | Link to an existing grade item.
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| 5 | When we select Link to an existing grade item, we get a dropdown menu with all of the grade items that have not been graded or linked to a course activity yet. Select the Appropriate Grade Item. | Selecting a Grade Item to link to.
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| 6 | Click on OK in the lower-left. This will close the pop-up. | Highlighting OK.
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| 7 | When we do, the grade out of will update to whatever the linked Grade Item is set to. Double-check to make sure that the total is correct. Click on Save and Close when ready. | Highlighting the Grade Out Of and Save and Close.
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