Groups

Last modified by Carina Enke on 23.01.2024

gui_group.pngYour learning platform works with three different group formats that support collaborative learning and working, as well as the creation and management of digital learning resources. Depending on the application, course-related or independent groups can be created.

 

Group types

The system provides three different types of groups:

Learning groups / learning areas

Learning groups are linked to one or several courses. They are used for enrolment and registration purposes and can only be created by authors or other users with extended rights. They are always created within or depending on a course resource.

They can be used to configure access or visibility rights to both learning resources and course elements and are crucial for awarding certificates and assessments. Only users who are enrolled in a learning group can receive certificates.

Several learning groups of a course can be summarised into learning areas. Learning areas can also be used to control access to learning resources or course elements.

Learning groups and learning areas are created and managed in the group management of a course. The section Group Management within the course describes how to create, configure and edit learning groups in the course to fit your scenarios.

Cross-curricular groups are learning groups that are shared among several courses and can only be created by group administrators.

With the automatic enrolment, users can be enrolled in a learning group directly after opening the course and do not need a course element of the type enrolment. For detailed instructions on how to configure this function of the course editor, see the help page Edit course.

Working groups

Working groups can be created and used independently of courses. They enable collaboration between group members, exchange of documents, and communication via email or forum within the said working group.

They are an appropriate means of student self-organisation, compared to other resources and groups (e. g. learning groups), which can only be managed by authors. For further general information on how to use working groups, see the help page Create and delete working groups.

Right groups

Right groups allow the assignment of specific author rights for a particular course. They are created and managed by course owners. Course owners can, for example, assign the right to edit or assess a course or to manage groups within the course to other users without having to declare them as owners and thus as fully equal administrators of their learning resource.

Find and open groups

Groups can be found in various ways. To open a group in the group view, click on the group's title. Depending on the context, the group will either open in a new tab or directly in the course. You can find groups, for example, using 

  • the advanced search
  • the portlet My groups
  • the area Teach & Learn> My groups or
  • the area Groups in the course.

More information on how to find groups can be found at Find groups.

Further information

The following sections explain how to create, manage and configure groups: