The first step is to setup the Datalink Sidekick on a computer used to scan you multiple choice sheets.  The multiple choice sheets are made of paper and filled out during an in class exam or quiz or used for questionnaires and survey purposes.  The datalink Sidekick can only scan patented DataLink Sidekick sheets.  The one used in this example is #29240-RR.

So once you are ready to scan sheets you will need to setup the software and scanning system.  For directions on how to do this, see the Quick Start Guide (UBC LFS Learning Centre) or go online to apperson.com/go/sidekickvideoscannersetup.

In general the directions are as follows:

1.  Install Datalink software (Windows or Mac).
2. Connect Scanner to computer.
3. Open DataLink Connect application.
4. Calibrate scanner using calibration sheets provided with kit.  (Optional, may not need to do this if scanner used previously with computer.)
5. Scanner should be ready to use!

If you are scoring the sheets, you will need to create an answer key.  In DataLink Connect’s file menu choose File >> Create Key..

Choose Form number: 29240

Add an Instructor Name and then type in your key responses in the table provided.  When done click Save to File.  You can also import from CSV (comma delimited file) an answer key.  Create an answer key in Excel by inputting your answers into one column.  e.g starting with question 1 and you have 10 questions with answers, enter one answer per row beginning at row 1 in your spreadsheet.  When finished save the document as a CSV file.  Then in DataLink choose Import from CSV and the key response table will be auto filled with the imported answers.

When you are finished inputting your answers, press Save to File and then Send to Grid.

You are now ready to scan the sheets.  Scan one sheet at a time with the sheet facing up and feeding from the top end of the page.  Your sheet will be grabbed and scanned and the results will output on the computer screen displaying the correct and incorrect responses and the score for the sheet.

Once you have finished scanning all the sheets you can save the results as an Excel file by pressing the button Excel Export.

Importing Grades into Blackboard Connect Course

To import the results from scanning, a copy of the Gradebook from Grade Center is exported out from your Blackboard course and then a merge needs to be performed, which merges the Gradebook with your scanner results spreadsheet by student ID number.  There are two methods for merging these two tables by Student ID:

1.  Use MS Access.  Import the two spreadsheets into Access as tables.  Include the first row as column headers and import all columns.  You should now have two tables in Access, the scanned results table and the Gradebook table. And each table will have a student ID column field.
2. Create a Query in Access.  Add and show the two tables into the Query.  Join the two tables by Student ID, and the join is specified to include all the records from the Gradebook and only those records from the scanner results table where the Student IDs are equal.
3. For the Query add all the fields in the Grade Book Center and only the score and/or percentage grade fields from the scanner results table.  Run the query and outputted will be a merge of both tables by Student ID including all the rows from Grade Book and only the results from the scanner where Student IDs match.
4. If all looks correct save the Query and export as a CSV file.  Go back into Blackboard Connect and upload your updated Gradebook into the Grade Center.

The second method to merging the Gradebook with the scanned results data is to use Excel.

1. Open Excel and the two documents and copy them into one Excel file with two Excel Sheets.
2. Here is how the Gradebook may look in Excel:
   

   Last Name	First Name	Username	Student ID	Last Access	Availability	Quiz1 [Total Pts: 2.5] |835932
   Smith	Jane	12345678	12345678	20:56.0	Yes
   Doe	John	12345679	12345679	44:06.0	Yes
   White	Sally	12345676	12345676	01:19.0	Yes

3.  And the scanned results from DataLink:
   

   studentid	score
   12345678	60.00%
   12345679	80.00%
   12345676	70.00%

   This spreadsheet is named “Sheet1”.

4. In the Gradebook spreadsheet there is column named Quiz1 and you want to fill column Quiz1 with the scores in “sheet1“.  To do this, you can use the following script formula in the row cells for Quiz1.=IF(ISNA(VLOOKUP(C2,Sheet1!A$2:B$88,2,FALSE))=TRUE,” “,VLOOKUP(C2,Sheet1!A$2:B$88,2,FALSE))
5.  This formula will perform a lookup searching for a match of the student ID in the Gradebook with the Student IDs in Sheet1.  If there is a match, the score value % will be inserted into the cell.  So the Gradebook spreadsheet should now look like this:
   

   Last Name	First Name	Username	Student ID	Last Access	Availability	Quiz1 [Total Pts: 2.5] |835932
   Smith	Jane	12345678	12345678	20:56.0	Yes	0.6
   Doe	John	12345679	12345679	44:06.0	Yes	0.8
   White	Sally	12345676	12345676	01:19.0	Yes	0.7

6.   That’s it.  Then export the spreadsheet as an CSV file and upload the Gradebook back into Grade Center in your Blackboard Connect Course.