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Learning & Teaching Innovation

Crowdmark help guide

Crowdmark is an assessment platform for creating, administering and grading online and paper-based assessments. Integrated with Brightspace, it synchronizes class lists, supports grading workflows and enables grades directly to the Brightspace gradebook.

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for using Crowdmark’s main features from setting up assessments to grading and returning results to students.

Getting started

Crowdmark is integrated into Brightspace. Follow steps below to access using SSO:

  1. Log in to your Brightspace
  2. In Brightspace go to Course Tools > Crowdmark
  3. To log into Crowdmark, search for the University of Victoria from the drop-down window
  4. Select Sign in with Brightspace

  1. Once in Crowdmark, select Import a Course
  2. Choose your course from the dropdown menu
  3. Click Import Course

To enrol your students, you have two options:
  1. Upload a csv file or
  2. Sync your course with Brightspace (recommended in most cases)

When syncing with Brightspace, map your data to match Crowdmark’s structure. The required fields are student name, email address, and student ID. The email address is the primary identifier.

To update the student roster in Crowdmark: 

  1. Go to the Course Students tab
  2. Select Sync with Brightspace

Note: When syncing with Brightspace, map your data to match Crowdmark’s structure. The required fields are student name, email address, and student ID. When creating an assessment, you can assign either all students or a selected subset of students from the course roster.

  1. Select Course Team and select Add by email
  2. Add their email addresses separated by commas or spaces
  3. Select their role, and hit Add team members
  4. They will be notified by email right away
For further details, see documentation on managing team members (Crowdmark)


To assign and manage team members for specific assessments:

  1. Go to your assessment of interest, select Team and then Customize Team
  2. You are also able to remove or adjust their role

Creating and managing assessments

There are two main assessment types: Assigned and Administered.

Assigned (Online)
Assigned assessments are completed and submitted online, making them ideal for online courses and remote assessments.

Supported question types include:

  • Image/PDF upload
  • Text response
  • Multiple choice

Assigned assessments can be set up for either individual or group submissions.

Administered (In-Person)
Administered assessments are designed for paper-based, in-person exams. Crowdmark supports several booklet formats, including QR-coded booklets, which provide the most secure, reliable, and streamlined workflow for distributing, collecting, and grading exams.

  1. Click on the “Assessments” sidebar, then on the Create assessment button
  2. Identify your assessment details including exam title, type (online or in-person), and booklet format
  3. For the booklet formats, there are two options:
    • Crowdmark booklets: This support auto booklet matching and multiple-choice bubble sheets
    • Ready to grade: Such booklets are prepared without using Crowdmark
  4. Follow the instructional videos that match the assessment type you want to create:

Two booklet formats are available for paper-based assessments: QR-coded booklets and non-QR-coded booklets. Both formats support automatic booklet matching and multiple-choice bubble sheet questions.

QR-Coded booklets (recommended)

QR-coded booklets are the recommended option for instructors who are new to Crowdmark or teaching large classes. They provide a secure, reliable and efficient workflow for scanning and grading paper-based exams while reducing the risk of upload or scanning errors.

Crowdmark generates a unique QR-coded booklet for each student based on the uploaded template and cover page. Because each booklet is unique to an individual student, booklets must be printed individually and cannot be photocopied or reused.

Non-QR-Coded booklets

Non-QR-coded booklets can be photocopied and allow additional pages to be added after printing. However, they require more careful handling during scanning and uploading, as pages must be kept in the correct order for successful processing.

  1. Open the assessment and select Schedule and Distribute
  2. Configure the assessment settings, including:
    • Release date and time
    • Time limit
    • Late penalty (if applicable)
  3. Choose whether to: release the assessment immediately, or schedule it for a future date and time
  4. Select whether the assessment will be synchronous or asynchronous
Note: Students must be added to the assessment roster before the assessment can be scheduled. See detailed instructions from Crowdmark

Set up the Assessment Roster

  1. Open the Roster tab
  2. Under Students, choose who can take the assessment: all enrolled students, or a selected group of students
  3. Under Team, add any graders or other team members who will help manage the assessment

Note: The instructor is included in the assessment team by default.

Over the interested assessment, click on the ellipsis (3 vertical dots):
  • Duplicate: You can copy the same assessment to the current or another course
  • Lock assessment: This makes the assessment “read-only”
  • Delete: To delete an assessment, you need to re-confirm by typing the file name

Student submissions

When you post a new assessment, students will get an email notification that there is a new assessment

To complete the assessment, students should:

  1. Select Go to assignment in the email notification
  2. Select Start the assessment now
  3. Complete the questions and/or upload their work (supported file formats: .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg, or .png)
  4. Select Submit for evaluation when finished
Note: For timed assessments, a countdown clock appears in the bottom-right corner, showing the remaining time. Students have the option to edit and resubmit their work before the due dat