Crocodoc Inline Grading Feature End of Life (EOL)
Update - Blackboard Inline Grading Available Again with Spring 2021 Semester:
For the upcoming Spring 2021 semester, UHV faculty will be able to use the Blackboard inline grading feature. After the UH Main Campus updates the Blackboard system in late December 2020, the new inline grading feature, referred to as Blackboard Annotate, will be available in the UHV Blackboard environment. Additional information is made available below:
The Blackboard vendor will retire New Box View (the feature that replaced the original Crocodoc inline grading technology) this year (2020). Blackboard will replace New Box View with a new inline grading feature called Blackboard Annotate. Additional information about Blackboard Annotate can be found on the Blackboard vendor’s website.
- Blackboard Annotate Help Website for Faculty/Instructors
- Blackboard Annotate Help Website for Students
Effective Monday, January 15, 2018, the vendor "Box" will retire the old Crocodoc Inline Grading feature used by UHV faculty when grading UHV student assignments in Blackboard. The inline grading interface appears to faculty and adjuncts when they access an assignment attempt for a student form the Blackboard Grade Center (see below).
Box will replace the Crocodoc Inline Grading feature with the new Box View API. Additional information is made available by the Box vendor.
- Before January 15, 2018, the UH Main Campus plans to upgrade the UHV Blackboard system to a release that includes the new Box View API
- The user interface between the old Crocodoc Inline Grading feature and the new Box View API will change (we won't be able to provide details about what looks different and how differently the features work until the UH Main Campus installs the Blackboard upgrade to the UHV Blackboard QA/Test environment)
- Sometime before January 15, 2018, students will not be able to submit assignments in Blackboard and faculty will not be able to use the Crocodoc Inline Grading feature in Blackboard (UHV will receive more details from the UH Main Campus and the information will be updated on this website)
- On or before January 15, 2018, faculty will use the new Box View API to provide inline feedback to UHV student assignments that have been submitted in Blackboard
- All of the commenting features available in the old Crocodoc Inline Grading feature will be available in the new Box View API feature. The new Box View API feature includes improvements like streamlined buttons and options, and it also allows more submission file types than the old Crocodoc feature.
We will continue to provide important details on this website as additional information is made available. At this point, we believe the upgrade process will occur as follows (notice that the information below may not cover all aspects of transitioning from the old Crocodoc inline grading technology to the New Box View technology and is subject to change without notice; you may want to visit this site in the future for new or updated information):
- The UH Main Campus programmers will install a cumulative update (CU) or service pack (SP) upgrade that includes the New Box View interface that replaces the old Crocodoc technology for inline grading. In October 2017, Blackboard will release the "CU" and "SP" that includes the New Box View interface. However, the UH Main Campus needs to schedule a specific date and time to install either the "CU" or "SP" and this will be done at a later time than the October 2017 release date from the Blackboard vendor (pending date confirmation from UH Main Campus). The Blackboard system will be unavailable to all users while the "CU" or "SP" is installed.
- The UH Main Campus programmers will configure the Building Block (B2) for the inline grading technology making the New Box View interface available. The Blackboard system will be tested and then made available to all users.
- For approximately 3 to 4 hours, students will not be able to submit assignments and faculty will not be able to use the inline grading technology to review or provide grading comments on those assignments while the old Crocodoc documents are transitioned to the New Box View interface. After the 3 to 4 hour timeframe, the inline grading feature will be available again to all users.
The Blackboard vendor has released the following knowledgebase articles about the end of life (EOL) interface for the Crocodoc inline grading feature:
- KB Article No. 000045988 - FAQ: Inline Grading and the Transition from Crocodoc to the New Box View API (published May 16, 2017)
- KB Article No. 000047322 - Crocodoc to Box View FAQ (published August 11, 2017)
There is no flexibility on the EOL with the original Crocodoc inline grading feature and replacement with the New Box View API; this is outside of UHV's control.