I’m using two monitors to grade assignments

Posted Thursday, 15 November 2007, 15:43 HST @030

As the semester moves along, the assignments get longer. I avoid printing the assignments whenever possible. It makes little sense, as I would have to scan each graded hard copy before returning the assignment to my online students.

It’s easy for me to grade an assignment in TurnItIn.com’s GradeMark feature, if the document is under 10 pages in length.

Longer documents take more time to load in my GradeMark editing window, depending upon my bandwidth and TurnItIn.com’s server load.

Fortunately, I have attached an LCD monitor to my office desk, by using an after-market monitor arm that can pivot and rotate the panel. The extra monitor is connected to the video out port on my MacBook Pro.

When I am grading a long paper, I open the GradeMark window in the top monitor.

I open a read-only copy of the paper in Word or Acrobat, depending upon the file format that the student submitted. I display that document on the MacBook Pro’s display.

This lets me read the original document while I’m marking it up in GradeMark.

Unfortunately, GradeMark does not have a bookmark feature. That’s a problem when I’m grading a long document.

Sometimes I need to look at a different section of the document while I’m writing a comment. This section might be a reference list or an appendix. I’ll use the bottom read-only window to display that section, so I don’t lose my place in GradeMark.