Faculty User Management

Advanced Group Management

The Manage Groups tool lets you create groups within courses. Members in groups can access their own private Discussion Board, Virtual Classroom, Group File Exchange, and Group Email tools.

Click to learn more about FERPA: Student Privacy and this tool.

Note: After you have chosen to provide the group a Discussion Board, you must go into the Discussion Board and create a Forum. Once you have created the Forum, then the group members can add their own threads (allow new threads) to communicate to each other.

Adding a Group

From the Control Panel:

1. Click on the Advanced Group Management link in the Course Tools section.
2. Click on the Add Group button.
3. Type the name of the group in the Group Name field.
4. Type a description of the group in the Description field.
5. Choose the Group Tools on the right.
6. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the Submit button.

Group Tools:

• Enable Group Discussion Board Function – Enable this option to use the Discussion Board function.
• Enable Group Virtual Classroom Function – Enable this option want to use the Virtual Classroom function.
• Enable Group File Exchange Function – Enable this option to share files with your group.
• Enable Group E-mail Function – Enable this option to send emails within the group.
• Make group visible now – Enable this option to make this group accessible.

Modifying Group Properties

From the Control Panel:

1. Click on the Advanced Group Management link in the Course Tools section.
2. Click on the check box next to the group name.
3. Click on the Modify Group button.
4. Type information in the appropriate fields.
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the Submit button.

Adding Users to the Group

From the Control Panel:

1. Click on the Advanced Group Management link in the Course Tools section.
2. Click on the check box next to the group name.
3. Click on the View/Assign Users button.
4. Click on the Modify button.
5. Click on the check box next to the users you wish to add.
6. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the Submit button.

Listing Users in the Group

From the Course Menu:

1. Click on the Communications / Group Pages link in the User Management section.
2. Click on the Group Name link.

Removing Users from the Group

From the Control Panel:

1. Click on the Advanced Group Management link in the Course Tools section.
2. Click on the check box next to the group name.
3. Click on the View/Assign Users button.
4. Click on the Modify button.
5. Click on the deselect the check box next to the users you wish to remove.
6. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on the Submit button.

Removing a Group

From the Control Panel:

1. Click on the Advanced Group Management link in the Course Tools section.
2. Click on the check box next to the group name.
3. Click on the Remove Group button.

More Information

Q: Why would I use this tool?
A: This is a great tool to let your students work in groups. With the Blackboard group tools, your students can share files, communicate with discussion boards, send email, and access collaboration sessions that only members of the group can participate in.

Q: Once I add students to a group, can I move them to another
A: No, you cannot move students. You will need to remove the students and then add them to the correct group.
Note: If you remove students who have participated in any of the tools (discussion, chat, or file exchange), you will lose all the information connected to those students.

Q: I’ve enabled the group discussion board, but my students complain that they are unable to use it. What’s going on?
A: Students will not be able to use the discussion board, even if it is enabled, until you create an initial forum in the discussion board for them to post in.

From the Course Menu (Student View):

1. Click on the Communications / Group Pages link in the User Management section.
2. Click on the Group Name link.
3. Click on the Group Discussion Board link.
4. Click on the Add Forum button.
5. Go to the Discussion tutorial to create a Group Forum.