This lesson provides overview, direction and guidance on using Illuminate's Lightning Grader scanning tools! These are general questions and information to get users started on scanning with Lightning Grader. Watch the video to get a quick introduction on our scanning tools.
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General
Users will see additional functionality, which includes constructed response question types. Lightning Grader also captures images of student work that can be reviewed online.
Lightning Grader supports camera grading in Chrome and Edge and only supports UVC-compliant cameras.
Technology & Cameras
Most companies follow the computer hardware industry USB Video Compliance (UVC) standards. Similar standards exist for printers, monitors, mice, etc. However, some manufacturers do not and choose to work only with their proprietary software.
All cameras marketed with the description "web cam" adhere to UVC standards and are viewable in Lightning Grader to date. Note that some low-budget or older models have low-quality (grainy, blurry, low light intolerant) images. Many newer (2013 or later) document cameras are UVC compliant and will work with Lightning Grader.
There are a variety of document cameras that are compatible. In particular, Lightning Grader will work with any Elmo cameras that are UVC compliant such as the TT-12i and TT-12iD models. Older non-UVC compliant Elmo cameras will not work with Lightning Grader due to the proprietary software required.
Grade with Camera works with the below browsers:
- Windows: Chrome and Firefox
- Mac: Chrome and Firefox
Most companies follow the computer hardware industry USB Video Compliance (UVC) standards. Similar standards exist for printers, monitors, mice, etc. However, some manufacturers do not and choose to work only with their proprietary software.
We do not currently support mobile scanning via phone or tablet.
Some users may receive the following message: "Module Failed to Load: unable to initialize video"
To resolve, open another tab with Google Meet or another site that will access the camera on the computer. Then, attempt to launch Lightning Graders again.
Another option is to use an Incognito Window in Google Chrome.
Sheet Designer & Printing Answer Sheets
Any sheets printed before the district site moved to Lightning Grader will not grade with Lightning Grader. Users will have to re-print any assessments they're currently have to administer them in Lightning Grader.
No, any scanner/copier that can scan and save to a file will work.
The question limit is set at 999 questions.
We support up to 9 versions.
We support up to 9 answer bubbles.
We support most characters inside of our bubbles. If planning to include anything out of the ordinary, please print a test sheet to ensure it works properly.
We have two bubble sizes for assessments, the smaller will fit 109 multiple choice questions (small bubble size). The larger size will fit 55 multiple choice questions. If using constructed response questions in an assessment, then the number of questions will vary based on the question types included.
Yes, Lightning Grader sheets can be laminated and used multiple times. See here for more information on creating a generic Lightning Grader Sheet.
Scanning & Scoring
Grade from Scanner is another way to grade the answer sheets via a file upload. User can use any scanner/copier to scan assessments and save them to a file. The file can then be uploaded and Lightning Grader will grade 100+ pages/minute.
When using Grade from Scanner we accept .PDF, .TIF, .TIFF, .PNG, .JPEG, .JPG, .BMP. We recommend using pdfs as the files are much smaller and faster. Lightning Grader will not work with compressed or locked files. If users have a compressed file, please export it to an uncompressed PDF.
We do not require any special settings to use our Grade from Scanner feature. Just be sure the file type is supported.
The rubric question can appear as bubbles or constructed response text boxes on the sheet as determined in the Sheet Designer. Users can also customize the answer sheet to include lines, grids or blank space. Learn how to customize the answer sheets here.
Rubric questions will not change. They will still be created in the Answer Key process. However, in Sheet Designer, users now have the ability to change the rubric questions to print constructed response text boxes.
Lightning Grader currently offers 7 different question types. Multiple Choice, Number Grid, Rubric, Sentence, Short Answer, Extended Response, and Essay. Depending on the question type will determine the size of the student's response in addition to applying one of four available sizes. Learn more here.
Lightning Grader allows the user to view the student's work in the browser. To enable this feature users must be using the most recent version of the Enter/Edit page. Select ‘Try it Out' at the top of the Enter/Edit page. (If users would like to switch back, they can always return to the previous version.)
Once in the Enter/Edit page, users can review by “Student” or “Question.” The image of the student's work will appear on the right-hand side of the page and can input scores in the table on the left.
No, users must review the answers in the browser and allocate points accordingly.
We have two sizes of assessment landscape templates. The smaller assessment will fit 55 multiple choice questions. The larger size will fit 109 multiple choice questions. Any assessment over 55 questions will produce a larger template. An assessment with constructed response questions will always use the larger template.
Next Steps
Ready to get started? Take a look at Getting Scanning Ready for Teachers.