Jill then checks the Discussion area for new comments from her students. She reads the new comments and then posts some responses to facilitate a deeper group discussion. After reading the Discussions, Jill checks her gradebook. She sees that a few students have submitted assignments. Jill grades the students' work and records the grade in the Desire2Learn gradebook. The gradebook automatically recalculates the students' averages. When her students log into class, they will be able to go to their private Grades area and read Jill's comments. The grades are posted every two-weeks, so students are not surprised at the end of the semester; thus, students modify their performance if they are doing poorly.

She's impressed with one student's work in particular, so she sends an e-mail to VHS to nominate the work for inclusion in the VHS Spotlights. She is worried about another student who hasn't posted anything in a week, so she checks the Course Statistics to see if the student has been to class recently. She creates a private message for him in the Private Threads area, and she also sends an e-mail off to him and his local Site Coordinator, who is a faculty member at the student’s school who monitors students’ performance and any problems that may arise.

The Gradebook

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