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Create Columns
The SPARK grade book allows you to manually create columns where you can record scores or grades for work done outside of SPARK. SPARK automatically generates columns for assessments, and when you create a new assignment or discussion, you have the option to tell SPARK to...
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You need to activate the tools you wish to use in your SPARK course. Once activated, the tool will show in the Course Tools menu and you will have the option to add a Content Link for the tool on a page.
In your SPARK course, click the Build tab.
On the Designer Tools menu (bottom left),...
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About Library Guides
Library Guides (http://guides.library.umass.edu) are Web sites created by Subject Specialist Librarians. These sites contain links and resources which help your students do research by focusing on books, databases and other resources that are most appropriate for the...
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When creating or editing a file, you can use SPARK's built-in HTML Creator to easily insert images into your text files, or you can insert the HTML tags yourself. The instructions below use the HTML Creator. To enable the HTML Creator, on the Create File screen, click Enable HTML Creator.
For...
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You must add questions to your assessments before you can make them available to students. You can create and add questions within an assessments or add questions from your Question Database.
To create and add new questions within an assessment, see our Create Questions instructions.
Add...
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Enable the Web Link Tool
To add a Web Link to a course in SPARK (e.g., your course Home Page, a folder, or a learning module) you must work under the Build tab of your SPARK course. You must also have the Web Link tool enabled in your course. For more information about how to add and remove...
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Assessments in SPARK can be used to collect survey data or to evaluate student understanding of material. The Assessments tool lets you create a wide range of questions, provide different kinds of feedback, and configure settings to control access.
Set up an Assessment
Add the...
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When you create an assignment, you can choose to release it to your students individually or in groups, depending on your needs. You can also release an assignment to all students, but send additional instructions to a specific group. You will have access to the release options on the Create/Edit...
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Watch a short video on this topic: backupYourSPARKCourseData_Discussions_070802nw.swf (swf, 6 MB)
Part One: Access the Content
On the Teach tab, from the left menu, click Discussions. The Discussions screen will open.
On the Discussions screen, click the title of the topic you wish...
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Download Mail Messages
On the Teach tab, from the left menu, click Mail. The Mail Inbox screen will open.
Click the folder that contains the messages you wish to download. The screen for that particular folder will open.
Next to the Subject heading, check the box to select all of...
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Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is used to structure information displayed on a Web page. Text can be "marked up" as headings, paragraphs, bold, italic, and so on. If you learn some basic HTML tags, you will be able to format text (even where the HTML Editor may not be available) in SPARK...
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The following steps will help you create your course in SPARK. If you are still trying to decide if you should use SPARK, see our SPARK Overview pages.
Note: You can use SPARK's Selective Release options to hide unfinished items or control student access to tools or to other course materials...
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From the Assignments Dropbox tool, you can create a printable view of submissions for viewing, printing, saving, or downloading. You can complie all assignments, or a selected assignment, and you can choose to do this from the Submitted, Graded, Published, or All tabs.
Under the Teach tab, in...
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Posting a Microsoft Office document on a Web site requires your audience to download the file, then launch a desktop application that can open the file. Unless you need to deliver an editable version of a document (for example a spreadsheet that includes formulas), you should consider posting a...
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Learn how to create, set up and edit Grading Forms (or grading rubrics) in SPARK. Download our handout (at right) to learn how to
Associate a Grading Form with an Assignment or Discussion
Grade an Assignment or Discussion using a Grading Form
Use Grading Forms in the SPARK Grade Book
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You can post messages in a threaded discussion topic you have created. Posting an initial message will serve to start the discussion. Once the discussion has started, you and your students can reply to messages as part of the threaded discussion.
Create the First Message in a Thread
On...
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In order to create Assessments, you must add the Assessments tool to your course. See our Add Tools to Your SPARK Course page for instructions.
Assessment Types
SPARK lets you create three kinds of assessments:
Quizzes: these are online tests which are graded according to criteria you...
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Add the Discussions Tool
If you do not see the Discussions tool in the Course Tools menu, you may need to add it to your course. See Add & Remove Course Tools for instructions on adding tools to your course.
Discussion Types
There are three kinds of discussions:
Threaded: A...
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Why Build A Template?
There are two ways to build a course in SPARK:
Sections: If you enter SPARK and go into one of the courses listed on the My Blackboard screen, you are building in a section. A section is a single instance of the course that exists for one semester and includes all of the...
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Add the Assignment Tool to Your Course
If you do not see the Assignments tool in the Course Tools menu, you may need to add it to your course. See Add & Remove Course Tools for details.
Create and Set Up an Assignment
To create assignments for your SPARK course, you must work on...
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