Using Excel with the WebCT Gradebook

Downloading the WebCT Gradebook to a tab-delimited text file

1. From the left navigation bar, select Manage Course. Then click Manage Students.
2. Select the Download button.
3. Choose Tab as your field or record separator, and then click Download.
4. Save the file to a folder on your computer, and remember the location of that folder. When you name the file, do not use any spaces in the file name.

Opening the tab-delimited text file in Excel:

1. In Excel, select File,Open.
2. Navigate to the folder where you saved the file.
3. In the Files of type blank, select All Files.
4. Double-click the file name.

Suggestions for Working in Excel:

1. Do not add any blank rows or special formatting to your spreadsheet if you plan to send the data back to WebCT. This could compromise the accuracy of the data.
2. You can add new columns to your spreadsheet. Click a column letter, and select Insert,Columns. The new column will be inserted to the left of the column you selected.
3. You can resize columns, if you like, for printing. Point to the border  between two column letters. When the pointer becomes a double arrow, drag left to make the column smaller or right to make it bigger. You can also double-click on the line between columns to automatically size the column to the left to accommodate the data.This will not affect the data's appearance in WebCT.
4. Use formulas to manipulate your data. If you return the data to WebCT, the formula results  will display in the Gradebook, but the formula will not update automatically in WebCT.
5. Do create a new column for claculating data from automatically graded quiz results if you plan to return the data to WebCT. If you try to use the same column where the data were automatically stored, WebCT will not overwrite the automatically graded results. If you create a new column with a new name, WebCT will store the new data.
6. Choose File, Save As. To upload the data back to the WebCT Gradebook, save as a comma-delimited text file (.csv). For more editing in Excel before uploading the data to WebCT, save the file as an Excel spreadsheet (.xls). Make a note of where you have saved the file.

Uploading the Excel file to WebCT:

1. In WebCT, from the left navigation bar, select Manage Course.
2. Under Manage Students, select Import Student Data.
3. Next to Filename, select the Browse button. A new window will open.
4. Near the top of the new window, select Upload.
5. Next to Filename, select the Browse button. Next to
6. Files of type, select All Files. Locate your .csv file and double-click.
7.  Click the Upload button at the bottom of the screen.
8. Click the radio button (the small circle) next to your filename. Choose Pick at the top of the screen.
9. Choose comma as the field separator, and then click Import.
10. If you created new columns in Excel, WebCT will ask you if you would like to add those columns. The screen called New Column Resolution will display with several options. Next to Select, choose Create New. Repeat for each new column.
11. Once the field names are resolved, select Continue. This will bring up the Final Confirmation Screen. WebCT will then ask you if the data for each of your new columns are numeric or alphanumeric. Select the appropriate choices for your data. Scroll down and click Continue. This completes the process.
12. Important: If you have added columns, check to see whether the columns have been released to your students. Go to the Manage Students screen; select Modify Columns from the Advanced Options. Find the label for the column you need to release. You may have to scroll to the right to see your column label. Under the column label, check to see if your column is released. If the released field says No, click the box above the label name. On the right side of the screen, select Released, Yes, and then select Update.