This lesson will demonstrate how to set up multiple groups within Blackboard. To set up a single group, refer to the instructions on how to set up a single self-enrolled or manual-enrolled group. There are three enrollment methods for group sets.
- Self-Enroll (Students select which group they wish to enroll in)
- Manual Enroll (Instructor assigns students to groups)
- Random Enroll (Students are randomly placed into groups by Blackboard)
This lesson will demonstrate how to create manually-enrolled group sets, in which the instructor selects students to be enrolled into each group.
Accessing the Groups Tool
Log into Blackboard and go to the Control Panel.
- Click on Users and Groups.
- Then click on Groups.
Creating Group Sets with Manual Enrollments
You will now see a screen labeled Groups that lists all the groups created within the course.
The manual enroll feature allows instructors to select which students are included in each group. To create a group set with instructor-selected students, click on the Create button and select Manual Enroll from the menu in the Group Set column.
Setting up the Group Set Information
You will now see a screen labeled Create Group Set. The section labeled Group Information allows instructors to enter the group set name and description.
- Name: Enter a name for the group set under the space marked Name. Blackboard will automatically append each group within the group set with a number
- Description: Enter a description for the group set here.
- Group is visible to students: Select Yes to make the group set available to students.
Setting up Group Tool Availability and Settings
Tool Availability allows you to enable and disable individual tools for student use within the groups. To enable a tool, check the checkbox next to the tool name. To disable a tool, uncheck the checkbox next to the tool name.
- Blogs: Check the checkbox here to enable the Blogs tool. Additionally, grading options can be enabled by selecting Grade.
- Collaboration: Chick this checkbox to allow students to create live chat and virtual classroom sessions for the group.
- Discussion Board: Check this checkbox to enable the group discussion board. Additionally, instructors can choose to permit students to create their own forums in the group, or instructors can choose to prevent students from creating their own forums.
- Email: Check this checkbox to allow students to send emails to each other within the group.
- File Exchange: Check this box to allow students to share files with each other within the group.
- Journals: Check this box to enable the Journal tool within the group. Additionally, grading options can be enabled by selecting Grade.
- Tasks: Check this box to allow students to create tasks for group members.
- Wikis: Check this box to enable the Wiki tool in the group environment. Additionally, grading options can be enabled by selecting Grade.
- Commercial Content Tools: Check this box to enable tools provided by an external tool provider.
Setting up Module Personalization Settings
Section 3: Module Personalization Settings allows instructors to permit students to personalize the appearance of the group home page. To allow students to personalize the group home page, check the box labeled Allow Personalization.
Modifying the Group Set Options
Group Set Options allows instructors to specify the number of groups to create, as well as the option to create a smart view for each group.
- Number of Groups: Enter the number of groups you wish to create here.
- Create smart view for each group in set: Check this option to create a smart view in the grade center that allows instructors to view the group members within the Grade Center.
- When finished setting up the group settings, click the Submit button at the bottom of the page. You will then be taken to another screen where you can edit the group set enrollments.
Managing Group Set Enrollments
You will now see a screen labeled Edit Group Set Enrollments that will allow you to add members to each group within the set.
- Filter Available Members: Hide members already in another group in this set: Check the box here to hide members that have already been added to another group within the current set.
- Click the Randomize Enrollments button to randomly enroll students into each group.
- Name: The name of each group can be modified by changing the value in the Name field.
- To add members to a group, click the Add Users button. A new screen will pop up where you can select users. See the next step for further details. Repeat this step for each group.
- If you do not need a group within the group set, click the Delete Group button to remove the group.
- If you need to add an additional group, click the Add Group button at the bottom.
- When finished with setting up the group enrollments, click the Submit button and the groups will be created.
Selecting Students
You will now see a screen labeled Add Users:
- Search: Use the search bar and the criterion selectors to search for a specific user to add and click Go to search.
- Show all Users Regardless of Role: Check this option to list users with roles other than student.
- The list of course users will appear here.
- Check the checkboxes to select the users you wish to add.
- Use the page navigation buttons to navigate between multiple pages.
- Click the Show All button to show all users on one page.
- Click the Edit Paging button to manage how many users are listed per page (maximum: 200 per page)
- When finished, click the Submit button to add the users to the group.
After clicking Submit, you will then be returned to the Edit Group Screen, and the students will have been added to the list of group members.