Blackboard Learn: Creating and using Groups
Office of Distance Education & Educational Technology
College of Human Sciences, Iowa State University
October, 2012
[ See more tips at http://www.hs.iastate.edu/tips/ ]
The Blackboard course Instructor can put students into groups. Each
group can be made available for student work use or kept unavailable
to students. If a student is in a work group, the group name displays in
a menu labeled “My Groups,” below the regular class menu.
Unavailable groups are used for administrative purposes, such as
controlling which students can see a link.
Work groups can be assigned tools for the members to use. A file
exchange area, group discussion board, and group wiki are the most
commonly provided tools. Only a group’s members and the Instructor
can see the contents of the group’s tools.
There are several ways to create Groups. The method chosen depends
on whether all students are being divided into a group (e.g., divide
class into 3 teams), or if the group is for a subset of students (e.g. ,
sign-up sheet to attend a special event).
Creating Groups
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Click the Course Panel > Users and Groups > Groups.

Click either “Create a Single Group” or “Create Group Set”
A Group Set is a collection of groups for the same activity. Typically a student will only be a member of
one of the groups in the set. For example, you can divide your entire class into 8 project teams.
A Single Group is a subset of your class, grouped together either for an administrative reason (e.g., the
students who will be allowed to submit a test late), or for an activity that not all students will be
participating in.
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Next you indicate how members will be added to the group. Group Sets allow for random
assignment, Single Groups do not. Both allow for student self enrollment and manual enrollment.

Self - Enroll = The Instructor specifies how many students can join each group and whether
students can see who has already joined each group. Each student has the option to join the
group. A student can only sign up for one group in the Group Set.

Manual Enroll = The Instructor assigns students to each group.

Random Enroll = The Instructor specifies either how many groups the students should be
divided into or how many students should be placed together. Blackboard then randomly
places students into Groups. The Instructor can move students after the initial placement.
You will now specify the settings for your Group(s).
Part 1: Group Information
 Enter a name for the Group or Group Set.
 Type in a description (optional).
 If the group is for Instructor use only, set Group Availability = No.
If the group is for students to work together, set Group Availability = Yes.
The other option is to create a sign-up sheet, set Group Availability = Sign-Up Sheet Only.
Part 2: Tool Availability – This is only completed if Group Availability = Yes. Select which tools are
available to group members. **Group tool functionality is not identical to Class tools with the same
name. Be careful to explore how each works by reading the online help and by using a demo student
account.
Part 3: Module Personalization - This is only completed if Group Availability = Yes. Checking this
box allows work groups to change the color settings for their group work space.
Part 4: Membership - This section of the form varies depending on the enrollment option selected.
You indicate either how many people can sign up for the group (self enroll), how many groups you
want (group set-manual enroll), or how many students should be randomly assigned per group
(group set-random enroll).
If you are creating a sign-up sheet, there is a place to write directions for students, a spot to enter
the maximum number of students that can join each group, and a spot to indicate whether students
will be able to see who has already joined the group before they decide to sign-up.
Make sure to provide a link within the course for students to access the sign-up tool. For example,
go to the area in the course where you want the link displayed. Click on Tools > Groups > Link to a
Group or Group Set > select the sign-up group (by name) > Next.
When a student goes to the
course page, they will see the link
that lets them self enroll.
After creating groups, the Instructor can edit them.
This might be done to:
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change the name of each group in a Group Set
change the availability status of a Group
remove or add students to a Group
change the tools available to the Group
Tips & Traps:

After groups are created, late adding students
are not automatically added to groups.

When manually adding students to groups, it is
most efficient to group them alphabetically (e.g.,
the first 5 students go in group one, the next 5
students go in group two). Create a column in
the Grade Center and record which group a
student is in. You can then sort the Grade Center
by Group and see who is not in a Group.

Add your demo student, or your Instructor account, to each group so you can monitor what’s going
on in each group from a member’s perspective.

Students can see which Groups they are in by looking at the “My Groups” menu. This appears below
the regular Course Menu. The “Groups” link that comes with a new Blackboard course shell is
unnecessary and may cause confusion – consider deleting it.

Some Group tools work differently, or have different known bugs, than the similarly named Class
tools. Instructors must check the functionality of Group tools each semester from a student’s view.
Some know issues:
o The time release tool is not currently working on Group discussion forums. If you do not
want students to see a Group discussion forum, you need to mark it “unavailable”.
o Group members can create new Group forums. The instructor cannot prevent this.
o Group members can start their own Group discussion threads even if the Instructor selects
the setting “don’t allow students to create their own threads.”
Frequently Asked Questions:
I have a large class and want my students to discuss and answer questions I pose using the Group
Discussion board. What’s the best way to do this?
Manually enroll or randomly enroll students in groups. Make sure to be specific with your
instructions for the Group Discussion board (e.g., Should students start their own discussion threads
or do you want to make the first post and have students reply)? If students make their own
discussion forums this can will messy in a hurry! Set up a grading policy about which posts will be
reviewed and graded. You can make a discussion forum “unavailable” if you do not want students to
see it. The forum date release criteria tool is broken.
Can people not in a Group view the Group’s discussion board or blog?
No, only members of a Group can view the tools and content of the Group.
Should I create Groups on the first day of the semester?
It may be best to wait until the 10th day of class (when enrollment settles) before creating Groups. If
a student joins after groups have been created, you must manually add the student to a Group.
How can I assign gradable discussion activities to each Group?
The Instructor can provide a Group Discussion Board to any work Group. When the Instructor
creates a Group Discussion Forum, it can be set up as a graded activity, worth a specific number of
points. This automatically generates an associated Grade Center column. Make sure to label the
forum with the group name as well as the activity name, e.g. “Group1-Week 1” to reduce Instructor
confusion when looking at the full Grade Center.
At this time, there is no way to restrict Group members from posting outside the designated Group
Discussion forum other than by making the other forums unavailable. Adding a date as part of the
forum name or description encourages posting in the proper spot.