Setting up And Using Groups

To set up and use Groups in Blackboard first enter your course. Click on Users and Groups in the Control Panel. Then Select Groups. Here you can Create Single Groups or Group Sets. Manual Enrolled Group Sets are the most typically used group. To create this type of Group Set click on Create Group Set – then select Manual Enroll. Name your Group, make sure the Group is Available, then select the Tools you would like your groups to use. You must tell Blackboard how many Groups you would like in this Group Set. Blackboard will add a number to the end of the name you added at the top of this page to differentiate between groups, such as "New Group 1." Then click Submit. Because this is a “manual” enrolled group you will choose which students belong in each group. You can edit the name of each group here as well. To enroll students in groups select their name from the column on the left and click the arrow between the boxes to move it to the box on the right. You can select several adjacent students by clicking on a name and holding down shift and clicking on the final name you want to select. Or you can select multiple non-adjacent students by holding down Control and clicking on their names. If a student is incorrectly added to a group click on their name in the box on the right, then click on the arrow pointing back to the box on the left. If you leave the filter option “Remove Members already in a Group from the Available Members List” checked, students you have already added to groups will no longer appear in the ‘Items to Select’ area. Once your students have been added to their Groups click Submit. From the Groups page you can edit each group individually by clicking on the chevron next to the group name and selecting Edit. To edit the Group Set click on Group Sets then open the chevron next to the group you would like to edit. If you need to edit the enrollments in the groups click Edit Set Enrollments. If you would like to change the Groups’ availability or access to Group Tools click on Edit Set Properties. Groups can be used in multiple ways but Group Assignments are the most common. If you would like to create an Assignment for a Group first enter the area of the course where you would like your students to access the assignment. Click on Assessments and then Assignment. Create the Assignment according to the points and availability you want, then choose “Groups of Students” as the Recipients. Choose which Groups you would like to receive the Assignment by moving them from the left hand box to the right hand box. Then click Submit. Remember – when you create a Group Assignment only one group member will need to turn in the assignment for the entire group. When one group member turns in the assignment it will show up as Needs Grading for each group member and each member will be able to view their submission. The grade you give one group member for that Assignment will also show for the other members of the group. You can also change one group member’s grade at a time by entering grades manually into the Grade Center.