LMS and Gradebook Sync Setup Guide for Blackboard Learn 1.1

LMS and Gradebook Sync Setup Guide for Blackboard Learn 1.1

Packback is compatible for integration with most Learning Management System (LMS) platforms, including Blackboard, Canvas, D2L, and Moodle. This article lays out how to go about setting up your Learning Management System with Packback and our Gradebook Sync feature.

This article will cover the entire setup flow across the following steps: 

• Adding the Packback Tool/Link To Your Learning Management System
• Connecting Your Learning Management System Course to Packback
• Turning on Gradebook Sync
• Setting Up Gradebook Sync for Blackboard Learn 1.1

Follow along with instructions below to learn how you can go about enabling the Packback integration in Blackboard. 

Step-by-Step Instructions for How to Add Packback to Blackboard

1. To enable Packback in your course on Blackboard, open the module/course in which you’d like to use Packback.
2. Find Customization on the left hand side.
3. Select Tool Availability from the Customization dropdown.
4. If your institution has enabled Packback as a tool that can be displayed in the Tool Availability section, you should see Packback Questions as an available tool in the menu.
1. If you do not see Packback as an available tool, you may need to contact your school’s IT department and ask them to enable the “Tool Availability” placement for Packback in your course. If you need any assistance, please contact our team at help@packback.co
5. Next, select Tools from the menu on the left.
6. Find Packback Questions in the menu of available Tools.

From there, you're ready to connect your Learning Management System course to Packback. Take a look at this section of our article for instructions on how to do that!

 

Connecting Your Learning Management System Course to Packback

From here, you'll now be able to connect your LMS to a Packback community. If you haven’t added Packback as a tool in your Learning Management System quite yet, you’ll need to do that first in order to complete the connection process. 

Already have a Packback community created?

If you’ve already created a Packback community and are just looking to connect your Learning Management System to it, you’ll first need to click on the Packback link that has been added to your Learning Management System.

From there, you’ll be shown a list of Packback communities associated with your account. Click Connect next to the one you’d like to connect your Learning Management System course to. To complete the Learning Management System setup process, simply verify that the connection information is correct and Confirm Connection.

Still need to create a Packback community to connect to?

If you haven’t created a Packback community quite yet, you’re able to do so right from your Learning Management System! 

Click on the Packback link that’s been added to your Learning Management System, first. This will initiate the Learning Management System Setup Wizard. On this page, click Create a New Community and fill out the community details. Make sure to double check the information and finally select Save and Continue at the bottom of the page. 

Congratulations, you’ve successfully created a new community and connected it to your Learning Management System!

Already created a Packback community but don’t see it?

If you’ve already created a Packback community but don’t see it when you click the Packback link in your Learning Management System, it’s possible you created the community under a different email address than is logged into your Learning Management System. 

In this case, please reach out to our Support team for assistance. You can contact us via email at help@packback.co. We’ll be happy to help!

Turning On Gradebook Sync

If you are hoping to have Packback sync to the gradebook built within Blackboard Ultra for LTI 1.1, here are the step-by-step instructions for how to accomplish that!

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

Gradebook Sync is now active and you can proceed to create your assignments!

Step-By-Step Instructions for Setting Up Gradebook Sync

1. Go to the course in Blackboard and click on Content and make sure that Edit mode is on
   
   
2. Click on Build Content and then click Web Link
   
   
3. Fill out the Web Link Information form that will appear on the screen:
• Enter the name of the assignment (this can be whatever you want, such as “Packback Week 1” or “Packback Chapter 5: Supply and Demand”)
• Enter https://lms-api.packback.co/lti/launch in the URL.
• Check the box for This link is to a Tool Provider
• Select Yes for Enable Evaluation
• Enter how many points you want this assignment to be worth
• Click Submit
4. You will now see the assignment link in your Blackboard content. Click the link you just created to open Packback and activate the assignment.
   
   
5. Click on Please choose deadline… and select which Packback deadline should be tied to the assignment you just activated from Blackboard. This tells Packback where to send the grades for each student.
   
   
6. Repeat this process for all other Packback assignments you will have in this class. If you have 10 Packback graded assignments, you will need to do these steps 10 times. You can create all your Blackboard assignments now, or you can create them one-by-one and do these steps as the semester progresses.

Important Note: students will need to click on each specific assignment link within Blackboard to receive a grade from Packback.

Having trouble?

If you are running into issues with the above instructions or just have a question, please reach out to our Support Team at help@packback.co.