QuickStart Guide for Assessors (Portfolio website login)

Once you have been provided with your Portfolio (formerly Chalk & Wire) User ID and Password, go to the Portfolio login web page for your institution. If you do not know the correct URL, please visit ep.chalkandwire.com and enter the name of your institution. You will be automatically directed to the correct login page. You should bookmark this URL.

If you have not yet received or have misplaced your Portfolio User ID and Password, please contact your local Portfolio Administrator to inquire about receiving your account information.

Step 1: Log in to Your Portfolio Account

1. Enter your User ID or Email Address associated with your Portfolio account.

2. Enter your Password.

3. Click Login.

Can't Remember your Password?

Click on the Forgot your Password? link on the login screen create a new one. Instructions for using the link can be found here.

Step 2: Access Your Pending Assessments

In addition to the method displayed in this guide, you can also access your pending assessments from the Pending Assessments tab on your dashboard.

1. Click on the Main Menu icon.

2. Click on the Assess option.

Locate the appropriate pending assessment and click anywhere on the row to reveal its options.

3. Select Assess.

Step 3: Review the Assessment Interface

The assessment interface will appear on your screen, displaying student work on the left and the assessment instrument on the right.

Step 4: Select Instrument View

Use the Full Instrument option to view the full instrument (all criteria listed at once) in a full screen view. Use the button again to return to the regular view.

Use the Toggle Instrument option to view the student work in a full screen view. Toggle the instrument back to reveal the assessment interface.

Step 5: Comment on Student Work

Providing feedback to students is an important part of their growth. Various commenting options are available in Portfolio to ensure that you have the necessary tools to provide your students with the best possible feedback.

For instructions on using a specific commenting method, select the method below:

Targeted Text Commenting

Targeted Text Comments are made possible when using the Advanced Commenting feature. Targeted Text Commenting allows you to select any text within the student's work to comment on the content, grammar, and spelling.

Targeted Text commenting is not available on mobile devices. You must use a computer to use this type of commenting.

Step 1: Highlight Text

Step 2: Highlight Text

1. Using your cursor, highlight the text that you would like to comment on.

Step 2: Add and Define Comment

Step 3: Add and Define Comment

The highlighted text will prompt a pop-up window for you to add your comment.

2. Type your comment into the text box.

3. Select the Comment Type to save.

Step 3: View Comment

Step 4: View Comment

Your comment will appear below submission's content, and will offer the options to Edit or Delete.

You may also view the comment by hovering your cursor over the highlighted text within the submission's content.

In-Line Document Annotation

If a student uploads a Word document, Excel file, Powerpoint file, or PDF file to their portfolio or assignment and makes a submission, an Assessor can then view the document within the assessment and make annotations on it. Once the assessment, including annotations, has been completed and released to the student, the student will be able to review the annotations.

Are you using a touch screen?

Please note that Box viewer does not work on mobile devices, and may have limited functionality on computers with touch screens. If you are unable to make a selection using a mouse or trackpad, please try using the touch screen functionality. If the functionality is too severely impacted for your ease of use, please consider using a different computer.

Step 1: View Document in Browser

Step 2: View Document in Browser

1. Locate the document and click on the View button.

The document will open directly on the page.

Step 2: Add Comment to Document

Step 3: Add Comment to Document

2. Click on the Comment icon in the top, right corner.

A message will appear instructing you to click anywhere to add a comment to the document.

Add a Point Comment

3. Click anywhere in the text to add a point comment. A comment box will appear, which you can type in.

4. Click Post to post the comment.

Highlight a Section of Text

While commenting, you can highlight a section of text to specify the section to which your comment applies. Once you have finished highlighting, commenting options will appear:

5. Click on the Highlighter icon to save the highlighted section.

6. Click on the Comment icon to leave a comment on the highlighted section.

Step 3: Close Box Viewer

Once you are satisfied with your annotations,

7. Click on the Close button.

Check Originality using Turnitin™ (Optional)

If your institution is using Turnitin™ to facilitate document plagiarism detection and has enabled the Turnitin™ tool in your Portfolio system, you will be provided with this option when assessing documents submitted to you by Students.

Step 1: Check Originality

Step 2: View Document in Browser

1. Click the Check Originality button next to the document.

Step 2: Launch Document Viewer

Step 2: Launch Document Viewer

The Turnitin™ Originality Report may take a few moments to load. Once it has, a notice will appear in green.

2. Click the "Launch Turnitin™ Document Viewer in a New Window" button.

Step 3: View Originality Report

Step 4: View Originality Report

The Turnitin™ Originality Report will appear in a new browser window. Use the Turnitin™ tools to review it.

If you have any questions regarding the report, please visit Turnitin's Help Center and enter the search term "Originality Report".

Offline Document Annotation

If a student uploads a document file to their ePortfolio and makes a submission, their Assessor can then download the document and make annotations on it offline. Once the annotations have been made, the updated document can be uploaded to Portfolio for review by the student.

Step 1: Download Document

Step 1: Download Document

1. Locate the document, and click on its name to download it.

Step 2: Open Document & Locate Content

Step 2: Open Document & Locate Content

Once the file has downloaded to your computer, locate and open it.

2. Highlight the text that you wish to comment on.

3. Use the Insert menu to select Comment.

Step 3: Enter Comment

Step 3: Enter Comment

4. Add your comment in the provided text-entry field.

Step 4: Save Document

Step 4: Save Document

Save the document as a new file, naming it and locating it somewhere memorable.

Step 5: Attach Annotated File

Step 6: Attach Annotated File

Return to the assessment screen in your Portfolio account:

6. Click the Paperclip icon to attach your annotated file.

7. Click on the Choose File button to search for annotated file.

8. Locate and select the file on your local hard drive.

9. Click Choose.

10. Click Upload.

Video-Based Commenting

Video commenting enables Assessors to comment on videos provided by the student via submission. Assessors can leave text or voice comments on videos, targeting specific sections of the video or as a whole.

Step 1: Watch Video

Step 1: Watch Video

1. Watch the video in the submission, and click the Add Comment button.

Step 2: Add Comment to Video

Step 2: Add Comment to Video

2. Use the slider bars to set the Start Time and End Time for the comment, if it is specific to a certain section of the video.

3. Enter your comment in the text field.

4. Click the Save Comment button.

Step 3: (Optional) Add Audio Comment

Step 3: (Optional) Add Audio Comment

5. To leave an audio comment, click the Record Audio Comment button.

Record Comment

Record Comment

7. Click the Record button to begin your recording.

8. Click the Stop button when finished recording.  

9. Click the Save button to save your audio comment.

Select Video Section, and Save Comment

Select Video Section, and Save Comment

10. Use the slider bars to set the Start Time and End Time for the comment, if it is specific to a certain section of the video.

11. (Optional) Enter a text based comment, in addition to the audio comment, in the text field.

12. Click the Save Audio Comment button.

Step 4: Review Comments

Step 5: Review Comments

To review the comments on the video, click the Show All (#) button beneath the video. Once comments are visible, the button will read Hide All (#).

Audio Commenting

The Audio Commenting feature allows assessors to verbally record comments, rather than typing text comments.

If you are using a Mac computer, we recommend that you use either Safari or Firefox as your internet browser when recording audio comments. Chrome has a known issue with sound quality which may affect the audio that is recorded.

Audio commenting is only available for two types of student-submitting content:

- Text added directly to the page

- Media files (audio or video)

Step 1: Highlight Text to Comment on

Step 1: Highlight Text to Comment on

1. Highlight the text that you would like to comment on.

Step 2: Select Type of Comment

Step 2: Select Type of Comment

2. When the comment pop-up windows appears, select the Record Audio Comment option.

Record Comment
Record Comment

3. Click the Record button to begin your recording.

4. Click the Stop button when finished recording.  

5. Click the Save button to save your audio comment.

Step 5: Save Audio Comment

Step 6: Save Audio Comment

6. (Optional) Enter a text based comment, in addition to the audio comment, in the text field.

7. Click the Save Audio Comment button.

Step 6: Assess and Comment on Criteria

1. Select which criterion you would like to assess by using the Select Specific Criteria drop-down menu, or the PREV and NEXT buttons.

Hover your cursor over the performance levels for the criterion to view their descriptions. Once you have decided which performance level will be selected,

2. Click on the Performance Level to select it. Once selected, it will appear in green.

3. Enter a Criterion-Specific comment.

4. Alternatively, use the Comment Suggestions feature. This feature will provide you with previous comments left on this criterion when the same performance level was selected, as well as your most frequent comments across all criteria and instruments.

If you are using the Comment Suggestions feature,

5. Select whether you would like to view Criterion Comments OR Frequent Comments.

6. Use the Arrows to move through the available comments.

7. When you see the comment that you would like to apply, click on it.

The assessment for the criterion is complete when you have selected a performance level and left a criterion-specific comment. In order to move on to the next criterion,

8. Click on the NEXT button.

Repeat Step 6: Assess and Comment on Criteria until all criteria have been assessed and commented on.

Step 7: Leave an Overall Comment

Ensuring that the Overall Comments tab is selected,

1. Enter an Overall Comment for the assessment.

Step 8: Set Notify & Release Options

Administrators have the ability to lock their own selections in place, disabling Assessors from making changes to the Notify & Release Options. You will still see which options are selected, but will not be able to make different selections.

Ensuring that the Notify & Release Options tag is selected,

1. Select the Notify options:

  • Yes: If you choose to notify the student, an email will be sent to alert them of the completed assessment. If you have also chosen to release the results, the student will be able to view the completed assessment from the My Results screen.
  • No: You can also choose not to notify the student, which means they will not receive an email when the assessment is completed.
  • Notify only When Results Released: This option should be selected if you do not want to notify the student that the assessment is completed until you decide to release the results. In this case, you would be selecting to hold the results of the assessment as well. Only when the results are released will the student be notified of the completed assessment.
  • Notify after Final Escalation Level Complete: This option should be select if the student's work will be sent through escalation, and you would not like for them to see their score until all assessments in the escalation process have been completed.

2. Select the Release options:

  • Immediately: If this option is selected, clicking the Save button, will trigger the release of the completed assessment results. Students will be able to access their results from the My Results screen immediately.
  • Never: This option will prevent students from ever seeing the results of the assessment .
  • Held until released: This option will prevent the results of the completed assessment from being released when completed and will hold the results on your Unreleased Assessments screen until you decide to release them.
  • After final escalation level complete: This option will release the results when the final level of escalation for the instrument has been completed.

Step 9: Save Assessment

1. Click on the green Save button to save the assessment.

If you have not finished the assessment but would like to save your progress, use the Save as Draft option, instead.

A message will appear in green to indicate that the assessment has been saved, and provide you with the final score.

Step 10: Optionally Save Grade to LMS

If the assessment was created by a submission via LMS integration, you will have the option to save a Final Grade %. This is the grade that will be pushed back to the LMS gradebook.

System Administrators can enable a feature that will auto-populate the Final Grade % field. If this occurs, the grade will be based on the performance level selections in Portfolio but may be edited if you think a different grade should be entered.

Assessors can confirm that the submission is correctly aligned with their LMS assignment and adjust the selection if the student did not submit the assignment via the correct LTI link.

A dropdown displays all possible LMS assignment options, with a highlighted "green" option suggesting the most likely match. Assessors can choose this suggestion or select another option based on their knowledge.

  • If a submission isn't aligned correctly, assessors will see a dropdown menu displaying all possible LMS assignment options. They will also be presented with a message letting them know that a match for this submission could not be located and a choice is required.
  • If a submission is aligned correctly, assessors will see a list with only the assignments that match.  A green highlighted option suggests the most likely match, based on the submission details. The correct LMS assignment option will be selected automatically. Assessors can choose the green suggestion or select another option that fits their knowledge.  
  • Assessors also have the option to choose "None. Don't Send Grade." if they do not want to send the grade to the LMS but would like to still save the LMS grade in Portfolio.

1. Enter the Final Grade % by typing in the text-entry box.

2. Click Save.