Groups and Groupings:

Groups:

You can assign different group modes to activities within Moodle which will shape how that activity behaves. For groups to work correctly all students must be assigned to a group.

For example, applying a group mode under Common module settings within Assignments enables different markers to filter the submissions between groups. This means that the lecturer can view and mark the submissions in the group they are responsible for marking.
Within collaborative activities such as Forums or Wikis, the group mode under Common module settings can be used to engage students in group work ( i.e each group has their own collaborative workspace).
The assignment tool also offers an option from Group assignment settings for students to submit one piece of work on behalf of their group and for you to assign the same mark and feedback to the entire group. This is available under
Groups can be used to define which group can access an activity or resource. If you want to restrict an activity or resource to ensure that only students in a group can access it, select Group under Restrict access when setting up the activity. The activity or resource will be visible to all students but only accessible to those in the group. If you want the activity or resource to be hidden completely from students who are not in the relevant group, click the eye next to Group.

Groupings:

Groupings are collections of groups. If a student is in more than one group, or you want a subset of groups to work on an activity, you will need to use Groupings for the Groups to work correctly on the activity.

Groups available on Module

Groups Joe Bloggs belongs to

What are you trying to achieve?

Solution

Result

Tutor Group 1
Tutor Group 2
Project Group A
Project Group B
Project Group C
Project Group D

Tutor Group 1 & Project Group B

I want a collaborative workspace for each Project Group to communicate with their Project Group.

Set up a Grouping called Project Grouping and add the following groups to this grouping

Project Group A

Project Group B

Project Group C

Project Group D

Under Common module settings apply separate group mode and select the Project grouping.

Each Project Group has its own collaborative workspace.

If you had not set up Groupings in this scenario, Moodle would have no way of knowing which groups needed to be attached to the Forum. Joe Bloggs would have had access to two Forums one for Tutor Group 1 and one for Project Group B!

Groups setting in Activities :

Reasons to use Groups

Groups can be used to define how students work or collaborate in activity by choosing different group modes. For example, an assignment can be set up so that each student submits his or her work as an individual or as a group.
Depending on which group mode you choose, activities will behave differently. For example, using groups will allow tutors to filter assignments by groups or in Forums it will enable a group of students to work collaboratively.
Restrict access to a resource or activity.

How to apply Group mode to activities?

Step	How to	Image
Turn editing on and Edit settings	Navigate to the module homepage and Turn editing on. Click on Edit next to the activity that you want to apply groups to. Select Edit Settings from the drop-down menu that appears. Scroll down the settings page and click on Common module settings to reveal the relevant settings.
Group Mode	Choose the appropriate Group mode from the drop-down list. The options are No groups where everyone is part of one big community, Separate groups where students can only see their own group and Visible groups where students can see other groups, but not participate. Click Save and return to module. Notice the group icon after the item will display the type of group mode selected.
Select groups within activity	To review your groups, click into the relevant activity. On the page that appears there will be a drop-down menu. The menu will give the following options; All participants Each group will be listed one after the other. To display the activity for a specific group select the group from the drop-down list. You can add content to an individual group’s activity this way. i.e. you can add an individual message to one group of students within a module without posting to the other groups.

How to restrict access to an activity or resource?

Step	How to	Image
Turn editing on and Edit settings	Navigate to module homepage and Turn editing on. Click on the Edit next to the resource/activity that you want to apply groups to. Select Edit Settings from the drop-down menu that appears.
Add and manage your restrictions	Scroll down the settings page to the Restrict access settings. Click Add restriction and select the Group option. Amend the restriction type if required. The default must match the following, but this can be changed to must not which would allow access to all students not in the specified grouping to access the resource/activity. Click the drop-down arrow next to group and select the relevant group who should (or should not) have access to the resource/activity. The activity or resource will be visible to all students but only accessible to those in the Group. If you want the activity or resource to be hidden completely from students who are not in the group, click the eye next to Group or Grouping.
Save your settings	Scroll to the end of the page and click Save and return to course.

IT Helpdesk