Workflow Overview

I hate blackboard. It has a lot of features, but they're too buried or otherwise difficult to use.

Since a good Edumacation tool would benefit me greatly, I'll consider my needs first as I consider the design.

I work as a TA/RA. Here are some of the things I do.
Some of these are best accomplished in a computer sysetem.
Some are best accomplished in person.

• Grade each student's assignments
  Some times it's more convenient to grade by lab and then by student.
  Other times it's more convenient to grade by student and then by lab.
  Occasionally I want to see an overview everything all at once.
  • Retrieve the student's assignment(s)
  • Open the assignment
  • Correct, annotate, and otherwise make comments
  • Calculate the grade
  • Record the grade
  • Communicate with the student
• Broadcast e-mails to students as directed by the professor
• Update course materials as directed by the professor
• Share notes and ideas with the professor

I'm actually grading some papers right now so I'll update the list as I think about things that annoy me about blackboard.