Are you interested in creating student groups in your course, but you’re unsure where to start? Group work can be a great way to encourage student interaction and enhance learning. Creating and managing groups in Blackboard can seem daunting, so in this article, I will go over the basics and prepare you to try implementing groups in your courses.
The first thing you will want to do is create a link to the Groups tool in your Course Menu. This tool will allow students to access their group’s workspace. To create the tool, follow these steps:
- Hover the mouse pointer over the Add Menu Item button (Å) at the top of the Course Menu (the dark gray area) and select Tool Link from the pop-up menu.
- In the Name text box, type Groups.
- Click on the drop-down menu and select Groups.
- Click the Available to Users checkbox to make the Groups tool available to students.
- Click Submit.
You should now have a menu item called Groups at the bottom of the main course menu. Next, you will create your groups and enroll students in the groups. The method for creating groups and enrolling students varies depending on the type of groups you would like to create. There are two ways to create groups and three ways to enroll students. You create groups by opening the Groups tool and selecting the Create menu in the upper left corner.
The first way to create a group is to create a Single Group. You can create as many groups as you would like, but you will set them up one at a time. When you create a Single Group, you have two options for enrolling students in the groups: Self-Enroll and Manual Enroll. Self-enroll allows students to select the group they would like to join. Manual Enroll allows the instructor to assign students to groups. The second way to create groups is to create a Group Set. Creating a set will enable you to set up all your groups at once and give you a third enrollment option, Random Enrollment. Random Enrollment allows you to select the number of groups you would like to have, and Blackboard will randomly distribute the students throughout the groups.
The basic setup is the same for all types of groups:
- Open the Groups tool.
- Hover the mouse pointer over the Create drop-down menu in the upper left corner and select the type of Group or Group Set you would like to create.
- In the Name text box, type the name of the group/set.
- Enter a description of the group/set in the Description text box (optional).
- Set group/set visibility (I recommend leaving it at the default of yes).
- Select the course tools you would like the group to have access to (the types of work you would like them to do).
- Decide if you would like the group/set to be able to personalize their group module.
- For Self-Enroll groups:
- Enter a name for the sign-up sheet.
- Enter instructions for the sign-up sheet.
- Enter the maximum number of group members.
- Decide if you would like the names of students who have already enrolled to be displayed in the sign-up sheet.
- Decide if you would like the sign-up sheet to be displayed on the group listing page.
- If you are creating a group set, enter the number of groups you would like to create.
- Decide if you would like to create a Smart View for each group in Grade Center.
- Click Submit.
- For Manual Enroll groups:
- If creating a single group:
- Decide if you would like to create a Smart View for the group in Grade Center.
- Click the Add Users button.
- Select the students you would like to add to the group.
- Click Submit (on the student selection page).
- Click Submit (on the main page).
- If creating a group set:
- Enter the number of groups you would like to create.
- Decide if you would like to create a Smart View for each group in Grade Center.
- Click Submit.
- For each group:
- Rename the group (optional).
- Click the Add Users button.
- Select the students you would like to assign to the group.
- Click Submit (on the student selection page).
- When all students have been assigned, click Submit (on the enrollment page).
- For Random Enrollment groups:
- Decide if you would like to create a Smart View for each group in Grade Center.
- Decide if you would like to determine the number of groups by:
- The number of students per group (enter the number of students).
- The number of groups (enter the number of groups).
- Decide how you would like any remaining students to be distributed through the groups:
- Randomly distribute the remaining students.
- Create a new group for the remaining students.
- Manually add them to existing groups.
- Click Submit.
Once you have created your groups, you can edit the groups and add new groups as needed to accommodate changes in enrollment or similar issues. For more information about creating or managing groups, please visit Blackboard's help pages, beginning with the Groups introduction page.
If you are interested in using Groups in your course but have questions on how to use them or what types of group activities you can incorporate into your course, please consult your designated Instructional Designer.
