Moodle 4.0 Resources for Faculty

In order to use some of the activities within this guide, you must first create groups within your Moodle course. Groups enable instructors and TAs to manage subsets of their students within their Moodle courses. You can create and edit groups of students manually, or use Moodle's automated tools to create groups and assign course members to groups.

To access Groups and Groups settings, first select the Particpants tab from below the course heading.  On the next screen select the drop down arrow next to Enrolled Users, then select the Groups page to access Group settings. 

Create Groups

1. Click the Create group button.
2. Input the title of the group and save changes (the other options can be ignored). You will be taken back to the Groups window.

Delete a Group

1. Select the group you want to delete from the list of groups in the left box.
2. Click the Delete selected group button.
3. Confirm that Yes you do want to delete that group.

Add Students to a Group

1. Select the group you want to add students to from the list of groups in the left box.
2. Click the Add/remove users button below the list of members on the right. This opens a page that displays the group’s current and potential members.
3. Select the name of the student in the right box to add to the group.
   1. To highlight multiple names, hold down “Ctrl” (Windows) or “command” (Apple) and click on each student’s name who should be added. 
4. Click the ◀ Add button between the two boxes and all the highlighted names will move to the left box.
5. After all the designated names are moved into the left-hand box, click Back to groups to return to the group page. 

Remove Students from a Group

1. Select the group you want to remove students from from the list of groups in the left box.
2. Click the Add/remove users button below the list of members on the right. This opens a page that displays the group’s current and potential members.
3. Select the name of the student in the left box to remove from the group.
   1. To highlight multiple names, hold down “Ctrl” (Windows) or “command” (Apple) and click on each student’s name who should be removed. 
4. Click the Remove ▶ button between the two boxes and all the highlighted names will move to the right box.
5. After all the designated names are removed from the group, click Back to groups to return to the group page. 

A grouping is a cluster of related groups. If you have multiple types or sets of groups within the same course, you will need to create groupings to keep them organized and to use them with the correct activities.

For example, some courses use Private Forums to manage their one-on-one conversations with students within Moodle. All of the Private Forum groups are related, as are groups you would create for an assignment. If you don’t create groupings to organize your groups, students would be able to submit their assignment using their Private Forum group or post to their assignment group in the Private Forum. 

Create Groupings

1. Follow the steps in the Accessing Group and Grouping Settings box above to access the Groups page.
2. Click the second tab Groupings
   
3. Click the Create grouping button
4. Enter a Grouping name (e.g., Assignment 1, Private Forum) then click Save changes. 
5. Click the Person icon under Edit for the grouping you want to add or remove groups for.
   
6. Select the name of the group in the right box to add to the grouping.
   1. To highlight multiple groups, hold down “Ctrl” (Windows) or “command” (Apple) and click on each group name that should be added. 
7. Click the ◀ Add button between the two boxes and all the highlighted groups will move to the left box.
8. After all the designated groups are moved into the left-hand box, click Back to groupings to return to the grouping page. 
9. Repeat steps 4-8 for each grouping in your course.

1. In your course with the editing turned on, edit the settings of the activity where you want to use groups. 
   • For an exiting activity, click Edit  to expand the menu then click  Edit settings.
   • For a new activity, click Add an activity or resource in the section where you want to add the activity then select the activity type you want to add.
2. Scroll down and click to expand the Common module settings section. The Group modes drop down will allow you to select how groups will be used in the activity.
   
   • No groups: Groups are not used, everyone is part of one big group. E.g., in a forum, all participants will use the same forum.
   • Separate groups: Groups are used, each group can only see their own group’s work. E.g., in a forum, each group will have its own forum and participants will be unable to view other groups’ forums.
   • Visible groups: Groups are used, each group works in their own group, but can also see other groups’ work. E.g., in a forum, each group will have its own forum and participants will be able to view other groups’ forums
3. Save changes.

Using Groupings for Multiple Group Sets

If you have multiple sets of groups within your course, you will need to create groupings before you can use groups with an activity. See the instructions in the Groupings box above to set up groupings.

1. Return to your course main page. Edit the settings of the activity that uses a group.
2. Scroll down to the Common module settings section and expand it. 
3. Select the Group mode you want to use for the activity (either Visible Groups or Separate Groups). The option to select a Grouping will only appear after you select the group mode.
4. Change the Grouping to the one you created for this activity. Save changes.