Create and manage Groups in D2L Brightspace

Create a group category

To create a new set of groups, you create the category. For example, you could have a different category for Assignments, Seminars, and Projects.

1. Navigate to the Groups tool.
2. Click New Category.
3. Enter a Category Name.
4. Select an Enrollment Type from the menu.
5. Depending on the Enrollment Type, enter the Number of Groups to create, the Number of Users per group, both, or neither.
   • Depending on the Enrollment Type, select Auto-Enroll New Users to automatically enroll students to groups. If you do not choose this option, you must manually enroll students into the groups.
   • Depending on the Enrollment Type, select Randomize users in groups to randomly place students in groups. If you do not choose this option, students are placed alphabetically based on the Classlist.
6. To set up discussion areas and assignments for the group:
   • Select the Set up discussion areas checkbox and select a discussion forum and topic to create group specific discussions for students to share ideas and materials in their group. Learn more in articles about Creating group discussions.
   • Select the Set up assignments checkbox and select an assignment type to create group specific assignments for students to submit, where other members can review the submissions. Learn more in the article Create Assignments.
7. Click Save to return to the Manage Groups page.

Self Enrollment groups

Self enrollment allows students to enroll in groups on their own. Use this option when you want students to have the freedom to choose their own group members, or to be a part of a group on a topic that interests them. Students sign up until the individual groups are full. Once a group is full, you can manually enroll students to a group that is capped to override it.

Students can self-enroll in groups by clicking the Join Group link beside the category name. By default, students cannot self-enroll in more than one group in a category. If a group is full, the Members column displays the total number of group members in red with “(Full)” beside it.

Learn more about how a student self-enrolls in a group in the student article Access your class Groups in my D2L Brightspace.

What happens if I move a student to a different group

Important: Even though the student is removed from the original group, they can still access the original group’s restricted course materials.  The student was a member of a group that was permitted to access to group-restricted course materials, such as a discussion topic.

• Discussion posts remain in the old group and do not count towards a student’s grade if the topic is associated with a grade item. The student must satisfy the discussion post requirements in the new group.
• Assignment submissions submitted for the old group remain with the old group. The student receives the grade achieved by the new group on any group assignments.
• Group restricted course materials remain accessible for the student.
• Conditional release based on a group Release Condition must be deleted and re-created in order for it be reset as a restriction on the item.  If a student is added to the group, they get access without re-creating the condition, but they don’t automatically lose access to the original group restriction.

What happens if I delete a group or category

After deleting a group

• If you have selected Auto-Enroll New Users, students are automatically distributed in the remaining groups.
• If groups are set up for manual enrollment, you must add students to the remaining groups using the Enroll Users page.
• Group discussions remain available for reference. You can delete them in the Discussions tool.
• Group assignment folders and the files they contain are deleted.

After deleting an entire group category

• Students are no longer enrolled in groups, because they do not exist.
• Group discussions remain available for reference. You can delete them in the Discussions tool.
• Group assignment submission folders and the files they contain are deleted.