About the Group Tool

The Group tool is useful for setting up and organizing groups in your course. The use of groups allows the instructor to restrict access to any/all D2L tools on the basis of enrollment of certain groups. The Manage Groups tool helps you create groups within your course.

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Create Group Categories

Creating a Group Category will be the first step in creating groups for your course. Group categories will allow you to set the parameters regarding your groups. Enroll group member(s) by selecting New Category.

Give your Category Name a title and provide a brief description (if desired-not needed):

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Create Group Category Types

1. Click on the Enrollment Type drop down menu to make a selection, according to your preference. Enrollment Type options include the following:
   • # of Groups - No Auto Enrollments; Choose this option if you want to specify the number of groups for the system to create and assign students to groups manually.
   • Groups of #; Choose this option if you want the system to randomly create groups of a particular size.
   • # of Groups; Choose this option if you want to specify the number of groups for the system to create.
   • Group of # - Self Enrollment; Choose this option if you want to self enroll particular students to specific groups.
   • # of Groups - Self Enrollment; Choose this option if you want to self enroll students into specific groups. 
2. Type in the Number of Groups or Number of Users, depending on your selection of Enrollment Type.



3. Advance Properties is based on the Enrollment Type (Self Enrollment does NOT have these options)and the options are:
   • Auto-Enroll New Users
   • Randomize Students in Groups
4. Additional Options include Setup Discussion Areas, Setup Locker and Setup Dropbox for each group.



5. Select, Create on bottom right corner of category. You can now create restricted Discussion areas.

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Create/Add a Group

In the Manage Groups screen, click the New Category button.

1. Enter title in the  Category Name.
2. Optionally enter a Description for the group.
3. Select the Enrollment Type.
4. Select the Number of Groups.
5. Click the Create button.
6. You can now 'Enroll Users' from this page if you chose No Auto Enrollments under Enrollment Type.
7. Click on the Category List, your new group should appear in the list.

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Enrolling Users into Groups

This area allows you to manage the Group Enrollment of your participants. If you wish to change the enrollment you must click on the Group Name, this brings you to the Edit Category window. You can view enrollment into the group by selecting, Enroll Users.

Select the Enroll Users icon. You can see all students from the classlist and by selecting the box to the right of the student's name you can manually enroll each student into the group of your choosing. Click Save.

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Student Self Enrollment in Groups

1. From the course homepage click on Groups.
2. Click on New Category. 
3. Give your new category a title under Category Name.
4. In the dropdown menu for Enrollment Type choose "# of Groups - Self Enrollment".
5. Enter the number of groups you would like to have in the Number of Groups box.
6. Click Create.
7. Return to the main Groups page and make sure your new Category Name is in the View Categories drop down menu.
8. Select the category you would like to work with from the View Categories drop down menu.
9. Click on each Group Name one at a time and rename them so they have meaningful names.

After this is done your students will need to:

1. Click on Groups in the Blue NavBar
2. Where it says Note: Enroll in a group for 'Group Name' [Choose Group]



3. Click on next the the 'Group Name' you would like to enroll in.
4. Click the circle to the left of the Group Name



5. Click Select in the bottom right corner of the page.

Students  will then be in these self-selected groups.

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View Group Enrollment

View Group Enrollment allows you to see a list of the group members for a specific group category. You can view the list by clicking on the View Enrollment in the Group Category Name.

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Edit Group Category

To edit group categories, click on the group catagory name on the Manage Groups page. Here you can edit the group name and description.

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Discussion Forums and Groups

This allows you to set up a discussion forum that applies to your groups. This means that you have the opportunity to have a forum on a particular subject and/or a topic assigned for each group within the forum.

To read/delete/print or post a new message from Manage Groups, select the group topic. You will be directed to a new page. Here you can read, delete or print messages. To read the posted message, click on the subject. To delete a message, click the box next to the message and click on the trash can icon.

To print a message, click the box next to the message and click on the printer icon. To print all messages, select the top box next to all icons (this will select all messages for you), then click on the printer icon.

NOTE: You must have already created a forum to use this option.

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Student View

If you would like to view what your course or tools look like from a student's perspective, you can do so using the Role Switch tool from the Course Home. By changing your role to "Student" you can navigate your class and see the course as a student would. Please note that under the student role you will be unable to view the gradebook, take quizzes, or view any items with conditional releases. Once you are finished using the student role, you can switch back to your instructor role by going back to the role switch took in the Course Home and selecting "My Default Role".

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