Annotations and page notes in Marking 2.0

This is available for Planners and Graders.

You can post Annotations and Page notes (general comments) to planners, graders, candidates, co-graders, and administration (planners). The purpose is to improve the user experience and make it more efficient to provide feedback. 

The annotation tool provides several options:

• Post general comments (page notes) on questions. 
• Post comments to Planners, graders and candidates.
• Reply to comments from co-graders.
• Include mathematical notations in comments (LaTeX).
• Make draft comments (Post to Only me).
• Search comments and use text formatting tools. 
• The commenting tool can be used on all Inspera Assessment question types, but for the Upload Assignment question type, PDF is the only supported format for annotations. 

In Marking 2.0, you can use the commenting tool on the workspaces Marking, Results (for grader only) and Explanations. 

Table of contents

• How to use the commenting tool
• Rich text and LaTex
• Overview of the different tabs
  • Question tab
  • Candidate tab
• Candidate experience

How to use the commenting tool

The commenting tool is available in both the Marking and Explanations workspace.

1. Start by selecting the candidate and question that you want to comment on.

• It is recommended to view the question in full-screen mode. Click Expand in the upper right corner to expand, and click Minimize to minimize and return. 

2. To write Annotations, click the left mouse button and hold it down as you move the mouse across the text you want highlighted. Click Annotate.

3. To Highlight, click the left mouse button and hold it down as you move the mouse across the text you want highlighted. Click Highlight.

• Use Highlight for private purposes, such as setting yourself a reminder. Highlighted text will not be shared with the candidate.

4. To select who the comment will be shared with, click the selector at the top of the panel (Candidate by default). Click Save.

• Once the comment has been saved to a group, it can not be changed to another, but it can be deleted after it has been saved. To make the comment private, click the arrow next to the save button and select "Only me".

5. You can edit, delete or respond to comments at any time. To do this, use the buttons in the lower right corner of the comment box. 

6. To write a general comment that is not associated with a specific point in the question, click Page note.

• The Page Notes tab will then appear automatically to the right of the comment box. Any general comments will be displayed in the question to which they were added. You can add general comments to all of the questions in a test.

7. All annotations and comments that have been written on a question will be indicated by a speech bubble and the number of annotations and / or comments that have been written. 

Rich text and LaTex

Rich text options are available as well as support for LaTex within Annotations. Basic syntax is used to represent rich text; for instance, bold text is represented by two asterisks. To preview how your rich text, you can click Preview before saving.

Tip: When adding formatted links, add the link text inside the brackets [] and the link inside the parenthesis (). A properly formatted link will look like this:
[My link text](https://support.inspera.com) 
Once saved, the link will appear like this:
My link text
Don't leave the brackets [] empty - if there is no link text it will appear as if there is no link.

Overview of the different tabs

Question tab

The Question tab will vary in the audience from the candidate's answer tab. Annotations that are made within the Question tab can be displayed to a wider audience to make general announcements. Annotations made to candidates will be available to view within the Candidate Report. 

Choose the audience (Planners):

• All planners, graders and candidates: The comment is shown to all the planners, graders and candidates.
• All candidates: The comment is shown to all candidates. Co-graders and planners can also see these comments. 
• All graders: The comment is shown to all graders.
• All candidates in committee: The comment is shown to all candidates within the specific committee the grader is assigned to. 
• All planners and graders: The comment is shown to all planners and graders. 
•  

Choose the audience (Graders): 

• All candidates: The comment is shown to all candidates. Co-graders and planners can also see these comments. 
• All graders: The comment is shown to all graders.
• All candidates in committee: The comment is shown to all candidates within the specific committee the grader is assigned to. 
• All planners and graders: The comment is shown to all planners and graders. 

Options

• • Toggle between hide/show highlights : Make highlights in the text visible / non-visible.  
  • New page note : Creates a general comment where the grader or the planner can post a comment that is not related to a specific point in the question. 
  • Show annotations: The number indicates how many annotations the current text area includes. This also applies to highlights. 
  • Filter the annotation list : Search for a specific annotation or comment.
  • Sort by location : Sorts the annotations and comments in chronological order or text placement. 

Comments and annotations made under the tab Question will be attached to the question for all candidates. Here, graders can also write comments and annotations to all graders and planner(s) by selecting "All planners and graders". 

Candidate tab

The only difference between the Annotations menu between the Candidate tab and the Questions tab is the audience. Planners / Graders can only address the individual candidate, as each answer is unique. Annotations made to candidates will be available to view within the Candidate Report. 

1. Choose the audience: 
   • Candidate: The comment is shown to the candidate that submitted the response. 

Candidate experience

The comments will be shared with the candidates when the marking is completed, provided that the planner has chosen the setting to share comments (see Test settings - After test for planners). 

To find the comments, the candidate can log in, find the test in their archive, and click on the test. If there are comments, there will be a link to the question(s) which have been commented on. 

The candidates will have a view to that of the marker the grader has, but the important difference is that the candidate cannot add or reply to the comment(s).

Questions and answers

Question: Can I add comments after the grading is finished?

Answer: Yes, new comments can be added and even shared with Candidates after the grading is finished, but the candidates will however not be notified of new comments.
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Question: For how long will the comments be available?

Answer: Candidate submissions will as a general rule be saved for two years. After two years the submission may permanently be removed from the system - along with any comments.
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Question: My candidate has uploaded a Word file, can I still comment the same way?

Answer: No, for the question type Upload Assignment, the only supported format is PDF. You can still add general comments (page notes) to the assignment. 

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Question: Can I add comments on a PDF with sketches and hand written text?

Answer: No, but you can make comments on the question title or add Page Notes.