Groups

Groups allow you to divide your learners into smaller teams for collaborative work. Each group can have its own shared tools, such as documents, forums, and a wiki.

Creating Groups

1. Open the Groups tool from the course homepage

2. Click Create groups

3. Configure the group settings:

   • Number of groups — How many groups to create

   • Maximum members per group — The size limit for each group (0 for unlimited)

   • Self-registration — Whether learners can join groups on their own

   • Self-unregistration — Whether learners can leave a group on their own

Group Tools

The groups overview showing available group tools and member counts

Each group can have access to a subset of course tools that are shared only among group members:

• Documents — A shared file space for the group

• Forum — A group-specific discussion forum

• Wiki — A collaborative wiki for the group

• Chat — A chat space for the group

• Agenda — Group-scoped calendar events

• Announcements — Send announcements to group members only

• Assignments — Collect work from the group

For each tool you can choose its access level: Not available, Public (any course member), or Private (group members only). These settings can be applied at the group category level, so multiple groups in the same category share the same tool configuration.

Managing Group Members

You can manage group membership in several ways:

• Manual assignment — Add specific learners to each group

• Fill selected groups — Automatically distribute unsubscribed learners across the selected groups, respecting each group's capacity and the per-user group limit

• Self-registration — Allow learners to choose their own group

• Import from classes — Auto-create groups from the classes already enrolled in the course

To manually manage members, click on a group name, then use the Members section to add or remove learners.

Group Tutors

You can assign tutors to groups. A tutor is typically a learner or assistant who helps manage the group's work. Tutors may have additional permissions within the group, such as moderating the group forum.

Monitoring Group Work

As the course teacher, you can access all groups and their shared tools regardless of membership. This allows you to:

• Review documents uploaded by each group

• Read group forum discussions

• Check wiki contributions

• Assess group collaboration