Adding Alt Names Column, like English for Chinese Names
There’s no built-in variant names columns in Bb Learn, but…
There is a way to get alternate names (for example, Chinese names, or English names for Chinese students in Lanzhou U or other Chinese universities) to appear in a column.
The only way to do this is the following. But this will work, and it's honestly not as long or as complicated as it looks.
You basically download the user info as a CSV spreadsheet from the course sections, copy in the English names, check that the English and Chines names align (or normal names and alternatives names), re-upload the CSV file. And spot check.
Here are the instructions in more detail:
- Use “Create Column” in “Full Grade Center” to make a column called “English Names” (or what you will), set “Primary Display” to “Text” (not “Letter”, use “Text”), set “Points Possible” to 0, say “No” to “Include in Grade Center Calculations,” say “No” to “Show this column to students,” and click “Submit.”
- Then, again in “Full Grade Center,” click “Manage” > “Column Organization.” Column appear as rows, but this is actually a helpful view for various reason. Click the up-down arrow icon on the right at the top of the table. Re-order the columns so that your “English Names” column (or what you named it) is now at the top of the “Not in a Grading Period” table. If you cannot re-order, try a different web browser. Click “Submit.”
- Then, again in “Full Grade Center” again, click “Work Offline,” click “Download,” select “User Information Only,” select “Comma,” select “No” next to “Include Hidden Information, and click “Submit.” Click “Download.” Download the CSV file to your computer. Open it in Excel or a spreadsheet program. Copy/paste in the alternative names (English version of Chinese, for example) on the spreadsheet. Check that they match up row for row with the correct corresponding Chinese or original name. You may want to get a native speaker involved if there are foreign language names. Save changes in the CSV spreadsheet.
- Finally, again in “Full Grade Center,” click “Work Offline,” but this time click “Upload.” Select the CSV file. Delimiter of “Auto” or “Comma” should be fine. On the “Upload Grades Confirmation” screen, make sure there’s a green check in the row of the data being added. Click “Submit” to upload. You should see some sort of green check mark confirmation or success message.
- Enter “Full Grade Center,” and spot-check. Especially look at a couple people with the same surname or last name.
- Even more especially, look at any 2 students whose full name is the same.
- Manually update the English or alternative names to fix any errors. Click in each cell to do that.