How to create and manage Blackboard course groups

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Blackboards Group page and video

Create course groups

Go to the Groups page and select New Group Set.

Landing page of the Groups tab, with the New Group Set button highlighted to the right

You can create as many course groups as you want, with any number of students in each group. You can also create new course groups or remove course groups.

From the Group students menu, you can divide your students among groups in these ways:

  • Custom
  • Randomly assign
  • Self-enrollment
  • Reuse groups 

You can also select the plus sign below the graphic to create as many groups as you need and add students.

Group Set page with the purple plus button at the bottom

Create custom groups

You can create one or many custom groups, with any number of students in each group.

A custom group being set up

  1. In the Group students menu, select Custom and enter a name at the top of the page.
  2. Select each student's name one after the other to select them as a group. Select a student's name again to remove the selection.
  3. After you select the students, open the menu next to one of their names and select Create a new group. You can also move multiple students to a group listed in the menu.
  4. Edit the group name if you want to change the default naming by selecting the pencil icon next to the group's name.
  5. Provide an optional group description that will appear to that group's members. You have no limit on the number of characters. 

Create randomly assigned groups

Students are randomly assigned to the number of groups you choose. This option assigns students quickly and without preparation. You need at least four students so the system can randomly assign two students to at least two groups.

Randomly assign groups settings

  1. In the Group students menu, select Randomly assign and enter a name at the top of the page.
  2. In the Number of groups menu, select how many groups to create. You need to create at least two. Students are equally assigned to the number of groups you choose.
  3. To remove all students from the current group set, select Unassign all by hovering over the person icon at the top of the page. The menu option changes to Custom if you move students to different groups after they're grouped and before you save.
  4. Edit each group name if you want to change the default naming.
  5. Provide an optional group description that will appear to that group's members. You have no limit on the number of characters.

Select the plus sign wherever you want to create a group in addition to the groups the system created. When you add or delete groups, the menu option changes to Custom and any affected students aren't redistributed.

Reuse groups

You can reuse an existing course group or group set. If you make changes to a group set you've reused, those changes affect any group assignments and discussions based on that group set. 

Reuse groups settings on the Group set page

  1. In the Group students menu, select a title from the Reuse groups section. Groups with no members also appear in the list.
  2. Provide a name at the top of the page, edit the individual group names, and add optional group descriptions that are shown to group members. You have no limit on the number of characters.

The same students are added to your new group or group set. You may need to add newly enrolled students to your new groups.

Course Groups page

All course groups you've created appear on the Course Groups page, reached by selecting the Groups tab on the Course Content page. Group sets with no members also appear. At the top of the page, the number of group sets and individual groups are listed.

The Course Groups page with the More options menu dropdown shown

There are a number of options at the top of the Course Groups page.

  • Sort your groups or the number of members in ascending or descending order by selecting Group Set.
  • Select the arrow beside a group set’s name to show or hide the groups in a group set.
  • Open a group set's menu to edit or delete the group. D.• View the number of members in each group out of the total number of students in the course.
  • Select Show Members of an individual group to display this group's members on a panel on the right side of the page. This display lists members and indicates which have course accommodations. You can search for members in a group from the search bar in the Show Members panel.

Course groups and conversion

If you have course groups and group sets in your Original Course View that you convert to the Ultra Course View, the group sets appear on the Course Groups page. Groups not part of a group set don't appear on the Course Groups page. 

If you used course group sets to create group assignments in your Original course, those group assignments convert.Activity-level groups are automatically converted to course-level groups during the process of course conversion or course copy.