Changing Course-wide Group Settings

By default, Blackboard allows students to create their own groups within their Blackboard courses.  If instructors do not wish for students to create their own groups, they can disable this ability by following the steps in this guide.  Enabling the ability for students to create their own groups allows students to create groups to study independently with other students, but can cause confusion if used in conjunction with groups created or assigned by the instructor.

Accessing the Groups Tool

Image of the Blackboard Control Panel with the following annotations: 1.Click on Users and Groups.2.Then click on Groups.

Log into Blackboard and go to the Control Panel.  

  1. Click on Users and Groups.
  2. Then click on Groups.

Accessing the Groups Page

Image of the Groups page with an arrow pointing to the Group Settings button in the upper right corner, outlined with a red circle, with instructions to click on Group Settings.

You will now be taken to a page labeled Groups.  On this page, click the button labeled Group Settings to modify course-wide group settings.

Modifying Course-wide Group Settings

Image of the Group Settings screen with the following annotations: 1.Permit Students to Create Single Self-Enrolled Groups: Check the checkbox to the left of this option to permit students to create their own course groups. Uncheck this option to prohibit students from creating their own groups.2.Permit students to Edit Student Created Group: Check this box to allow students to edit student-created groups after they have created them. Uncheck this box to prevent students from editing created groups.3.When finished, click the Submit button to save the changes.

You will now see a screen labeled Group Settings that allows you to enable or disable the ability of students to create their own groups:

  1. Permit Students to Create Single Self-Enrolled Groups: Check the checkbox to the left of this option to permit students to create their own course groups.  Uncheck this option to prohibit students from creating their own groups.
  2. Permit students to Edit Student Created Group: Check this box to allow students to edit student-created groups after they have created them.  Uncheck this box to prevent students from editing created groups.
  3. When finished, click the Submit button to save the changes.