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Managing reports and tracking in Blackboard

Role: Lecturers

 The Tracking tool allows you to run reports on various activities within a unit.

Types of reports available
Generate an activity report

Types of reports available

Report Description Refer Graph Value
Summary of Activity Overview of general student activity (e.g. total sessions, average sessin length, average sessions per day, most active hour of the day) Summary of Activity Report None available

Limited
May be of use if interested on how much site is used

Tool Usage Overview of tools used (e.g. Discussions, Assignments) reported as total sessions, average session length, percent tool used (compared to other tools) Tool Usage Report Tool Usage Report Graph Limited
May be of use if interested on how much site is used compared to resources provided
Course Item Usage Overview of individual item usage (e.g. Discussion topic, file, folder, assignment item) reported as numbe rof visits, average time, percentage of time in visit (compared to other items). The information relates to individual file items Course Item Usage Report Course Item Usage Report Graph Useful
Useful to identify items accessed frequently (e.g. which file is mostly used, which file students spend most (or least) amount of time in, which discussion topic is mostly accessed)
Entry Page or Tool Overview of student entry point to your site, shows if they entered via the Course link, or by a direct access using the new item notification tool icon Entry Page or Tool Report Entry Page or Tool Report Graph Useless
Students mostly enter via the Home page, or may enter vis the tool notification icon in the Course List
Exit Page or Tool Overview of student exit point from your site. Indicates what activity a student was doing immediately prior to leaving the site Exit Page or Tool Report Exit Page or Tool Report Graph Incorrectly displays Entry data Useless
Students mostly exit from the Home page, or may exit from a tool or activity
File Usage Overview of files accessed in your site. Provides number of sessions, percentage of total sessions. The information only relates to your content files and only for 11 files File Usage Report File Usage Report Graph Useful (limitations)
Only provides statistics for 11 files and inaccurate when using an extended date range. The report shows number of sessions (visits) and percentage of total sesions. Note: data is incorrect over extended date range. It is recommended to limit the date range (e.g. one week) OR use Course Item Usage
Student Tracking Detailed summary of activities for individual students. Provides sessions, access information and individual student information Student Tracking Report None available Note: you may also find the Student Performance Report useful (obtained from the Grade Book) Very Useful
You can further track an Individual Student Tracking Activity by clicking on the student name, and can then obtain detailed information (e.g. when a student uploaded an assignment file, submitted an assignment, if they used the take-back feature) by clicking on the session ID

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screenshot of Summary of Activity Report

screenshot of Tool Usage report

screenshot of Tool Usage Report graph 

screenshot of Course Item Usage report

screenshot of Course Item Usage report graph

screenshot of Entry page report

screenshot of Entry page report graph

screenshot of Exit page report

screenshot of Exit page report graph
The Exit Page or Tool Report incorrectly displays Entry data

screenshot of File usage report
Note: data in the File Usage Report is incorrect over extended data range. It is recommended to limit the date range (e.g. one week) or use the Course Item Usage Report

screenshot of File usage report graph

screenshot of Student Tracking report

screenshot of Individual Student Tracking report

screenshot of Individual Student Tracking session

screenshot of Individual Student Performance report
Individual Performance Report is obtained from the Grade Book

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Generate an activity report

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Tracking in the Instructor Tools menu.

  1. Select a report type by clicking on the circle next to one of the available reports. For example, Student Tracking.
  2. To select a date range for the report:
  • Enter the start of the range details by clicking on the top Calendar icon  and clicking on a date, then clicking on the Time icon  and clicking on a time.
  • Enter the end of the range details by clicking on the bottom Calendar icon  and clicking on a date, then clicking on the Time icon  and clicking on a time.
  1. Click on Run Report.

screenshot  report types selection

  1. The report will then appear.

Note: If a student has not yet logged on, his/her name will not appear in a student tracking report).

To view the details for an individual student in a student tracking report, click on the student's name. Click OK to view all students' activities again.

Click on any underlined column title to sort items by that column. An arrow will appear next to the title to indicate whether the order is ascending or descending. Clicking on the column title again will change the direction.

  1. If you wish, you can click on the Export button to download the information into a spreadsheet.
  2. Click OK to run another report.

 screenshot   student tracking report

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