Packback Setup Guide for Instructors

Who is this guide for?

USAHS Instructors setting up Packback in their course sections.

What does this guide cover?

Since Packback is cannot be copied using Blackboard's course copy tool, it must be setup in each section for each term. This means instructors will need to setup the following in every section you will use Packback in:

• Adding a Packback Link to your course.
• Create a Packback Community.
• Setup Assignments and Deadlines within Packback
• Setup Gradebook Sync within Packback
• Create Gradebook Columns and set due date (if needed)

Add a Packback Link to a Course

Only one Packback link in the course is required, but you can add as many as is needed for each unit where Packback is used. Do not place Packback links discussion board assignments. These are not designed to work together and have resulted in negative student feedback.

Create a Packback Community

When accessing Packback via the created link, you may see a list of existing courses, including the one you are in, or you may need to create a new community for the course. Packback communities should only be created by the course instructor.

Setup Assignments and Deadlines

Packback has the ability to automatically sync grades to Blackboard. For the grades to sync, you must be sure to add community posting deadlines and grading requirements. 

Step-by-Step Instructions for Setting Customized Deadlines

The following steps are within Packback

1. Go to your "Instructor Tools" box and select Customize Deadlines.
2. Set the day and time students must submit posts to receive credit. We recommend just a single deadline per week. However, for accelerated classes more than 1 deadline per week may be appropriate due to the condensed nature of the course.
3. You can also opt-out of setting up automated deadlines by checking “I do not want to set up automated reports for this course”.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Setting Posting Requirements

Once deadlines are set within a community, you’ll be able to set the custom posting requirements. Packback will deliver a final point-or-percentage grade every week based on this criteria. This makes uploading grades from Packback into the LMS much easier!

The following steps are within Packback

1. Go to your Professor Tools box and select Set Posting Requirements.
2. Set whether the assignment scores calculate in points or percent.
3. Set the number of required questions and responses per deadline. These requirements will apply to all grading deadlines.
4. Set a Curiosity Score threshold for student posts by checking the “Set a minimum Curiosity Score for Questions” and navigate between the arrows to gauge an introductory, intermediate, or advanced Curiosity Score minimum to set.
5. Once your Posting Requirements are set, click Save and Continue.
6. If you’d prefer to not specify posting requirements for your community, check, “I do not want to set posting requirements” at the bottom of the page.

Setup Gradebook Sync

Step-by-Step Instructions for Turning on Gradebook Sync

The following steps are within Packback

1. Click on "Gradebook Sync" in Packback underneath Professor Tools
2. Confirm your deadlines and posting requirements
3. Turn on Gradebook Sync - steps below:

Automatic Sync

When a deadline passes, Packback pushes the grades from your Packback community gradebook into a new column in your LMS gradebook. 

Manual Sync

For Manual Sync, instructors will need to sync each assignment individually. Here is a guide on how to manually sync grades:

 

Create Gradebook Columns

Packback can create columns for you in using the guide below. This is useful if you want to add a due date to show that the student needs to complete an assignment. 

Add a Due Date to Gradebook Columns

To remove the due date, edit the link again and delete it.

 

Use Collect Offline Instead of Gradebook Sync.

If you require more granularity in grading, and wish to grade manually, use the collect offline column. NOTE: If you add due dates, be sure to log any submissions prior to the due date!

Guide on this type of column can be found here: Add a Gradebook Column using Collect Offline Setting