You can use the manual Brightspace grading workflow if you’re not on a school plan or if your Brightspace integration isn’t active yet.
This process lets you download student submissions directly from Brightspace, upload them into CoGrader for grading, and then return the feedback manually.
1. How to Manually Add Assignments from Brightspace to CoGrader
Step 1: Download Student Submissions from Brightspace
In Brightspace, open your course and go to the Assignments tab.
Click the assignment you want to grade (for example, Causes of World War 2).
On the submissions page, click Download All Files at the bottom.
Brightspace will create and download a
.zipfile containing all student submissions.Extract the
.zipfile on your computer:Windows: Right-click the file and select Extract All…
Mac: Double-click the
.zipfile to open it
You now have all student submissions saved locally and ready to upload into CoGrader.
Step 2: Upload Submissions to CoGrader
Open CoGrader.
Click Grade → Create Manually.
Enter the assignment name and prompt (you can copy this from your Brightspace assignment).
Select or create a rubric, and add Grading Parameters or Advanced Rules if desired.
Click Upload Files and select the extracted student submissions from your computer.
CoGrader will automatically process the files and prepare them for grading.
2. Review and Approve Grading
Once CoGrader finishes grading:
Open each submission in CoGrader.
Review the feedback and scores.
Make any necessary edits or refinements.
Click Approve when you’re satisfied.
3. Export Feedback from CoGrader
Return to your assignment dashboard in CoGrader.
Click Export Feedback.
Choose Download as PDF.
CoGrader will generate a
.zipfile containing all student feedback reports.
4. Upload Feedback Back to Brightspace
Once you’ve exported your feedback PDFs from CoGrader, you can upload them back into Brightspace so that students can view their feedback directly from their assignment page.
Step-by-step:
Go back to your assignment in Brightspace.
Open the Submissions page for the assignment.
Click Go to Evaluation next to a student’s name.
In the evaluation window, look for the Add a File (paperclip icon) at the bottom right of the feedback section.
Click My Computer.
Select the student’s individual feedback PDF from the CoGrader export zip.
Once the file uploads, you’ll see it appear under the Overall Feedback section.
Click Update to make the feedback visible to the student.
Students will now be able to open their assignment, view the attached feedback file, and read the detailed CoGrader-generated comments and rubric insights.