Security groups

Last modified by Carina Enke on 15.01.2024

Security groups enable the assignment of specific administrative rights for a course. They are created and managed by a course tutor. Per security group, it is possible to assign selected individual rights for specific parts of the course administration. This allows additional users to support the course supervision without having full administrative rights.

The following rights can be configured individually for a security group:

Group management
Course editor
Data archiving
Assessment tool
Glossary tool
Statistics

Open rights management

To open the rights management, proceed as follows:

1	Open the course.
2	Use the upper function menu to switch to the rights management of the course.

Create new security group

To create a security group, proceed as follows:

1	Open the course and use the upper function menu to switch to the rights management of the course.
2	Select the New security group function from the rights management toolbox.
3	Assign a name for the new security group. You can choose any name. All special characters and numbers are allowed. The group's name will appear in the overview of the security group and the security group area in the course navigation.
4	Optionally, you can also enter a detailed description for the security group. This description will be displayed on the summary page when you have opened the security group.
5	Save your entries with Finish.

Manage the members of a security group

Add or remove users to/from a security group as follows:

1	Open the course and select the rights management entry from the navigation. Click here directly on the name of the security group you wish to edit.
2	Then switch to the Members tab.
3	Here you can determine whether the security group members should be able to see all or no other members.
4	You can use the Import user list or Add participant button to add more members to the security group. Security group members do not have the right to administer this security group. Users with the external user role can be found in the user search but cannot be added to groups. These are often users who have self-registered themselves in the system and have not yet been assigned to any institution. They do not have full user rights and can therefore only use the platform's functions to a limited extent until a user administrator of an institution has confirmed them. For an overview of all user roles and rights available in the system, see the Roles and rights help page. If the Get consent for membership from users option has been activated for this group, added users will directly be assigned to the Invited list. As soon as they accept the invitation to join the group, they will automatically be moved to the Member list.

Manage the rights of a security group

1	Open the course and select the rights management entry from the navigation. Click here directly on the name of the security group you wish to edit.
2	Switch to the Rights tab. Here you can assign the right to access and use the following course tools: Group management Course editor Archive tool Assessment tool Glossary tool Statistics

Configure group tools

The following group tools are available for security groups:

Each group can be provided with a range of group tools via the group management to support communication and collaboration between the group members or tutors of the respective group. These tools are similar in function to the corresponding course elements. Your own posts can be collected in a group internal ePortfolio.

Tool types

The following tools are available for groups:

	Information	In this area, content created by the tutor is displayed.
	Calendar	The calendar can be used to jointly schedule appointments. If the Visible to everyone in the course option is activated, group appointments can also be displayed in the course calendar.
	Folder	Depending on the settings configured by the tutor, learners can download, upload, and create files in this group tool.
	Email	Via the email form, group participants can communicate with other participants as well as with their tutors. Selectable recipients ... Regardless of whether you wish to send an email to tutors or participants, you can generally choose between the All and Select individually option to select the recipients of the email. However, the display of these two options is linked to the group settings for displaying member names. For example, if the Members can see members option is disabled in the group configuration, group participants will only be able to see and select the Email to participants entry in the group mailing section of the course view. In other words, they will only be able to send emails to all members of the group but not to individual recipients. The latter will only be possible if the Members can see members option is enabled in the group configuration. These settings do not apply to course supervisors and group tutors, as these user roles can always select individual participants as recipients. When communicating with several recipients, you can use the placeholders $firstname and $lastname in the subject or message to address an individual user. The possible total size of the attachment and the remaining storage space are also displayed in the form. In contrast to course supervisors and group tutors, group participants cannot use this tool to send emails to users who are still on the waiting list. Independently of the email group tool, group tutors can also use a group email address to contact participants or tutors collectively by email. For more information, see the Use group email addresses help page.
	Forum	In the forum, participants can exchange information, discuss important matters, and address questions to the tutors.
	Wiki	With a wiki, articles and content can be easily created and collaboratively edited with other users.
	Blog	A blog is an electronic diary whose individual entries are displayed in chronological order, starting with the most current one. Entries may contain information, images and videos. Using the blog group tool, you can integrate a shared blog into a group. Depending on the tutor's settings, learners will have the right to read, write or moderate in the group blog.
	ePortfolio	You can add your own posts (artefacts) to the collaborative folder.

Add or remove group tools

To add tools to your group or to remove them, proceed as follows:

1	Open the group in the editing mode.
2	In the section Group-Tools, you can see all available tool types.
3	To add a new tool, select the checkbox in front of the desired tool. Configure additional settings for individual tools.
4	To remove an existing tool, click on an already selected checkbox. The checkmark will then be removed.
5	Confirm your settings with Save at the bottom of the page. In the case of some group tools, you can assign individual rights to the group members.

Each tool can be assigned only once per group.

Edit security group

1	Open the course and select the rights management entry from the navigation. Click here directly on the name of the security group you wish to edit.
2	The group overview of this group will open in the middle of the page. Click on Edit to switch to the edit view of this group.
3	Make the desired changes in each area. What you can do in the individual tabs: Description: customise the name and description or add a picture to the group Tools: configure collaborative group tools for the members of this group to support communication within the group Rights: configure the course areas for which the group members should receive rights Configuration: define group membership settings Members: assign or remove users to/from the group

Notes on available functions per course tool

Course tool	Notes
Course editor	The right to access the course editor includes all functions within the editor, but not the option to copy the course or configure further course settings.