Blackboard Assignment or Turnitin? - Staff Guide
This guide highlights key differences between Blackboard and Turnitin to help staff choose which submission tool best serves their needs.
Below are comparison tables relating to:
Assessment settings and administration
Turnitin similarity reports are not available in all configurations of Blackboard Assignment. See the * in the table below for information on the Blackboard Assignment Turnitin integration.
| Feature | Blackboard Assignment | Turnitin |
|---|---|---|
| Group submission | Yes *Turnitin similarity report not available for Group submission (planned early 2025) | No |
| Similarity report generation (when submitting supported file types) | Yes but not available for all types. Currently not available for: group assignments, peer review or parallel grading. *Turnitin must be enabled on the assignment for the similarity report to be generated. | Yes |
| No points rubric | No | Yes |
| Allows for multiple attempts | Yes (default is set to 1 attempt - but this could be set to unlimited) *if Turnitin similarity report is enabled, you will get a report for all attempts. All attempts and reports are preserved. | No (Turnitin can be set up to allow the user to submit multiple attempts – however only the last attempt is preserved.) |
| Delegated marking | Yes. Allows you to divide submissions amongst instructors. | No - workaround is to use Groups filter but this can sometimes cause issues as filter not maintained throughout interface. |
| Anonymous marking | Yes. There is complete anonymity until grades are returned to students (then all names are revealed). There is a workaround to make grades hidden from students after names are revealed if needed. It is not possible to reveal any names for papers during the marking process. | Yes. There is complete anonymity until grades are returned to students (then all names are revealed). There is a workaround to make grades hidden from students after names are revealed if needed. Student names for specific papers can be revealed during the marking process. |
| Allows for different due dates to be set for those with extension for example | Yes. Through Gradebook, you can set an exemption for a user. Note that for Anonymous Assignments, all grades must be posted (returned to students) together. If not anonymous, grades can be posted individually. | No. |
| Submitting multiple files | Yes - students can submit more than one file. *where Turnitin is enabled, there is a similarity report for each file submission. | No. |
| File size limit | No file size limit (although it is not suitable for video files). *In order to get a similarity report, a user should not upload more than 100MB. | No more than 100MB. |
| Submit on behalf of the student | No. | Yes. |
| Peer-marking | Yes *Turnitin similarity report not available. | Yes, through creating a Peermark assignment. |
Marking tools
Turnitin assessments are typically marked using Turnitin's inline marking product: Feedback Studio. Blackboard Assignments are marked using Annotate (the Blackboard inline marking tool) and Minerva grading functionality.
| Features | Annotate (Blackboard Assignment) | Feedback Studio (Turnitin) |
|---|---|---|
| Comment boxes | Click comment icon on toolbar then click anywhere on paper to add, or highlight text (in yellow) and click comment icon to add. | Click anywhere on paper to add, or highlight text (with choice of colours) and click comment icon to add. |
| Appearance of comments | The presence of comments is indicated by speech bubble icons on paper. Comments themselves sit in the right margin (similar to comments in Word/Google docs). Lengthy comments display first few lines with “Show more” option. Note that, currently, comments show timestamps and the name of the author. | Comments appear as speech bubble icons on paper. Icons can be clicked to view/edit text in a pop-up box. Comments do not show timestamps or author names. |
| Formatting comments | Formatting options: Text colour, background colour, bold, italics, underline, add link. May add further comments to existing comments. | Formatting options: Bold, italics, underline, add link. Can also convert comments to QuickMarks, or assign them to Rubric criteria. |
| Editing comments | Can be edited or deleted. | Can be edited or deleted. |
| Moving comment boxes | Only comment icons that are not attached to a specific section of highlighted text can be moved. | All comment icons can be moved. If a comment is associated with a specific section of highlighted text, a line between them will be retained to visually indicate their connection. |
| Free text comments (added directly to paper - not in a comment box) | Choice of font colour, background colour, opacity (of both text and background), font (twelve options), font size, text alignment (vertical + horizontal). Text can be moved, edited, duplicated. Shape of 'area' in which text sits can be manipulated (but note that changing the area size can affect the text size, and vice versa). | Blue italicised text only. Text can be moved / deleted. No direct control over the 'area' in which text sits - it automatically extends from top left corner of text's current location on page to right margin and then wraps to a new line. |
| Re-usable comments | No pre-defined comments available. Can save comments for re-use and sort them under categories (making them functionally similar to Turnitin's QM sets). Saved comments are searchable. Comments cannot be exported to share with colleagues. | Multiple sets of pre-defined comments (known as "QuickMarks" (QM)) available. Can create new sets and/or new QMs within sets. Any comment can easily be converted into a QM. QMs are searchable. QMs can be exported to share with colleagues. |
| Options for highlighting student's text | Strikethrough (red), underline (black), underline with 'squiggle' (red). | Strikethrough (red). |
| Stamps | 'Stamps' are mostly coloured boxes containing pre-defined text such as "Approved" / "Draft" / "Void", etc., along with a range of shapes - eg, ticks and crosses. Can be added, resized, moved. Can create custom stamps. | N/A |
| Drawing | Can draw on paper using pen, brush and eraser tools. Can adjust thickness, colour, opacity and apply various other effects. | N/A |
| Shapes | Can add various lines/shapes. Can adjust thickness, colour, opacity, style, and add various 'nodes' to lines. | N/A |
| Additional feedback | There is an Overall Feedback box in the right-hand side panel with the usual array of formatting options that appear in Minerva's text editor boxes. | There is a Text Comments box in the Feedback Summary side panel. Formatting options: bold, italics, underline, add link. |
| Attaching feedback files | The Overall Feedback box allows files to be attached (via local drive, OneDrive, etc). | N/A |
| Recorded feedback | There is a recording option in the Overall Feedback box. Can record audio on its own, or audio + webcam. Maximum 5-minute time limit on a single recording. However, an unlimited number of recordings can be attached. | There is a recording function in the Feedback Summary side panel. Can record audio only. Maximum 3-minute time limit on recordings. |
| Document navigation | Navigation via expandable left-hand column. Can navigate document by clicking Thumbnails (to select pages), Outline (which detects heading styles in doc), or Annotations (which lists every annotation – inc. comments, shapes, images, etc). Can search text of student paper. | Navigation via expandable left-hand column. Thumbnails of pages used to navigate. No search function. |
| Document appearance | Zoom function available. When zoomed in, pan tool can be used to click, hold and drag paper left/right (no scroll bar). Best fit / fit width / fit page options. | Zoom function available. Horizontal scroll bar appears when zoomed in. Can toggle high resolution display on/off. |
| Option to download paper? | Yes. | Yes. |
| Option to print paper built in (ie, not using browser print function)? | Yes. | No. |
| Undo function | Undo and Redo buttons are always present in toolbar and will cycle through multiple actions. | Delete actions are followed by Undo prompts - but these prompts are lost if you don't act on them immediately (ie, taking any other action closes the prompt). |
| Similarity detection | Not currently, but Blackboard and Turnitin are working together to integrate Turnitin's Similarity Reporting tool into the Blackboard Assignment interface. This integration is expected to become available during the academic year 2023/24. | Yes. |
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