Working in Excel To Grade Can Be Time Efficient
Using Excel has saved me countless hours of time. I can use the excel spreadsheet to be more efficient with my time because it allows me the tools to grade effectively and with a standard that I set for each class. What I mean is that I can have standard grading policies from one class to another and maintain a great resource through Excel to compare how students have done at the end of a grading period without having to calculate free hand notes and free hand math to calculate a final grade. This is all done in Excel for me making my time use more effective.
I have to agree, Byron. Excel is my choice for creating my rubrics for each class. The ability to just plug in the numbers and have it auto calculate the overall score is a time saver. Not only that, I can personalize my comments section for an individual student and then cut/paste it into the online gradebook.
It's time consuming setting it up the first time, but WOW once it's completed it saves me precious time and enables me to be in the online discussion threads more!
My Best,
Kelli
Agreed, many of the prepackaged grading programs are great. No need to invent your own system when educational companies have already come up with solutions for us.
Excel is nice if you have the skills, but many instructors are just as uncomfortable with computers as anyone. A prepackaged gradebook is a nice option for those without Excel skills.
We use a program called Gradekeeper (http://www.gradekeeper.com/) that the school provided for us. Another is ClassRoom Windows Gradebook (http://www.classroomwindows.com/). There is a version of that one for free. To unlock all the features it costs about $20.
I agree with you, Byron. Many people have complained about excel but I found it very easy to maneuver. We now use Easy Grade Pro and I am proficient on it but I still prefer Excel.
