Before Your Course Begins
13 Groups: Creating, Reviewing and Modifying Enrolment
In Avenue to Learn, “Groups” is a tool that allows instructors and instructional designers to create subsets of learners for collaborative activities using special work areas, such as discussions and assignments.
Learners can belong to multiple groups within the same course. Each group can have its own discussion forum, assignment, or locker work area. Additionally, group members can be graded individually or as a team.
Reviewing Groups and Enrolment
To review groups, group settings and enrolment, follow the steps outlined below:
- Select Communication in the navbar, and then Groups. You are now in the Manage Groups window.
- Use the View Categories drop-down list to select each category, checking that all groups are present in the table for each category
- Select the category name (e.g., Discussion 1 Groups)
- From the “Edit Category – [Name of Category]” window, review the category information, setup, advanced properties, additional options, and the existing workspace.
Note: Check if you have self-enrolment groups, as you will need to update the expiry date (see below). - Select Save to keep any changes, or Cancel to exit without saving
- Confirm students are sorted into groups as desired.
For more information about group enrolment options, view the video below and check out Best practices for group enrolment.
View Video
Self-Enrolment Groups and Updating Expiry Dates:
If you have self-enrolment groups and need to update the self-enrolment expiry date, complete the following steps:
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- Select Communication in the navbar, and then Groups
- Select the category title, or select Edit Category using the drop-down arrow next to the group category title.
- Scroll down to the Advanced Properties area and enter the new date
- Select Save.
Modifying Group Enrolment
To change which learners are working together in working areas by removing a learner from one group and adding them to another, follow the steps outlined below and as demonstrated in the video:
- Select Communication in the navbar, and then Groups. You are now in the Manage Groups window.
- Use the View Categories drop-down list and select the category you want to modify
- Select the drop-down arrow next to the category name and select Enroll Users
- In the group table, select or clear the check boxes associated with learners to modify their enrolment in a group
- Select a new check box following a learners name to add them to a different group
- When finished, select Save.
View Video
Deleting a Group or Category
Delete groups to distribute learners amongst fewer groups, or delete categories to remove a group set from your course.
After deleting a group, the following will occur:
- If you’ve selected the Auto-enroll new users option, users are automatically distributed in the remaining groups.
- If groups are set up for manual enrollment, you must add users to the remaining groups using the Enroll Users page.
- Group discussion forums remain available for reference. You can delete them in the Discussions tool.
- Group locker areas and the files they contain are deleted.
- Group assignments and the files they contain are deleted.
After deleting a category, the following will occur:
- Users are no longer enrolled in groups because they do not exist.
- Group discussion forums remain available for reference. You can delete them in the Discussions tool.
- Group Locker areas and the files they contain are deleted.
- Group assignments and the files they contain are deleted.
To delete a group or category, follow the steps outlined in the video below:
View Video
Creating a Group
To create a special work area where learners can discuss, share, and submit work as a group, follow the steps outlined in the video below:
View Video
References
Brightspace Tutorials. (2017a, June 1). Groups – create a group – instructor. YouTube. https://youtu.be/_Gr4nZTrxn0
Brightspace Tutorials. (2017b, June 1). Groups – delete a group or category – instructor. YouTube. https://youtu.be/i8PXtCsVr7w
Brightspace Tutorials. (2017, July 6). Groups – group enrollment options – instructor. YouTube. https://youtu.be/bjCtWLYEUfM
Brightspace Tutorials. (2018, June 7). Groups – modify group enrollment – instructor. YouTube. https://youtu.be/LK3sgc2KYvY
D2L Knowledge. (2023, July 7). Create categories and groups. Brightspace. https://community.d2l.com/brightspace/kb/articles/3483-create-categories-and-groups