Work in groups
Groups allow for a cooperative learning and working process. A learner can participate in course-related learning groups and additionally create and manage independent working groups. In the following section, both types of groups will be presented and explained from the learners' perspective.
Course-related groups including learning and right groups can only be created by users with appropriate rights. Further information for course authors on the use and administration of learning groups and other group types can be found in the section Groups.
Use of groups: Learners' view
Working groups
Working groups can be created and used by any user independent of any course. They allow group members to collaborate within the group, for example, by exchanging documents or communicating via email or forum. They are an appropriate means of student self-organisation, unlike courses and learning groups, which can only be managed by authors.
Working groups can support project works. Especially in projects where interdisciplinary work is carried out or scientific staff are involved; working groups improve the organisation and coordination by means of CSCW (computer-assisted group work). In addition, the efficiency of the project work is increased by a fast as well as time- and location-independent exchange.
Further information on how to work with working groups:
Learning groups
Learning groups are linked to one or several courses. They can only be created by authors and must depend on a course.
This type of group is, for example, used for enrolments and registrations. It can also be used to configure access or visibility rights to learning resources and course elements. For further information on how to work with learning groups, authors can refer to the section Groups.
To find groups please refer to Find groups.
Leave groups
As a learner, you can leave working groups at any time, however, leaving learning groups depends on the configuration from the course supervisor.
To leave groups, please refer to Leave groups.