{"id":2866,"date":"2021-06-04T12:40:24","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T17:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spsfaculty.commons.gc.cuny.edu\/?p=2866"},"modified":"2026-03-03T16:20:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:20:52","slug":"ofdit-newsletter-may-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.sps.cuny.edu\/sps-faculty-community-hub\/2021\/06\/04\/ofdit-newsletter-may-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"OFDIT Newsletter May 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

The below newsletter was originally sent out in May 2021 and was not posted to the blog at that time.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"OFDIT<\/a><\/p>\n

May 2021<\/h1>\n
Dear CUNY SPS Faculty,<\/div>\n
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We want to thank everyone who attended our\u00a0Faculty Development Day\u00a0and made it such a success. In particular, we would like to thank all our speakers for their thoughtful, engaging, and fun presentations! Please feel free to check out the recordings which are now available on the\u00a0Faculty Development Day page<\/a>, as well as the\u00a0vision board<\/a>\u00a0created collaboratively over the two days of the event.\u00a0We encourage you to provide feedback and comments about our latest Faculty Development Day in our\u00a0survey<\/a>.\u00a0Thank you!<\/div>\n
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In this month\u2019s newsletter, we share information about calculating final grades, details about Blackboard Academy’s Instructor Webinar series, VoiceThread’s new assignments feature, and the CUNY Central OAA’s Innovative Pedagogy Team’s Mindset mini course. We also provide information on the new Food Access Initiative at CUNY SPS and our last training sessions of the semester. Last but not least, please check out OFDIT’s summer reading recommendations!<\/div>\n
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Final Grades using Blackboard’s Grade Center<\/h2>\n
As the Spring semester draws to a close, we wanted to share some helpful information about calculating the final grades for your classes. Blackboard allows you to use Total Points or Weighted Total to calculate your final grades.<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0Total Points\u00a0column is created by default in Blackboard. The Total points column will calculate final grades by simply adding up all the points a student earned and dividing it by the total points possible\u00a0\u00a0(if you have selected \u201cCalculate as Running Total\u201d).<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0Weighted Total\u00a0column calculates a final grade based on the respective percentages assigned to categories or individual columns. The final grade is calculated independently of the points assigned to each graded item. It is important to note that the Weighted Total column is created by default in Blackboard, but it is empty unless you set it up.<\/div>\n
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Please keep in mind that you can change the format in which grades are displayed in both the Total and Weighted Total columns. When you change the Primary Display, this is the format that appears in the Grade Center and My Grades area for students. When you change the Secondary Display, this is only visible to you as the instructor in the Grade Center. Students\u00a0do not\u00a0see a secondary display. We recommend changing your Secondary Display to either SPS Undergrad Letter or SPS Grad Letter, whichever is appropriate, as this converts the final grade into the appropriate letter grade which you’ll have to enter into CunyFirst.<\/div>\n
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Please visit our Quick Guides for further Grade Center help, or contact us for any questions!<\/div>\n
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