Groups can be used within Blackboard to divide your class into individual groups. A group can be set up so that only the members of that group can view the contents thereof and participate in the activities of the group, such as chats, threaded discussions, sending email and uploading files. The groups in Blackboard can provide an online extension of any class work that requires group interaction.

Potential Uses:

• Can be used a central repository for group documents. If members of a group are doing research and working on a paper, all materials can be stored on Blackboard so they are available to all members of the group, saving members from having to email documents to one another.
• Provides many different communication methods for members of the group, from simply listing members' email addresses to online threaded discussions boards where members can post comments about the work they are doing together. This system can also be used for the lecturer to provide feedback to groups regarding their work.
• Real time voice and text chat can also be used to conduct meetings in the group even if some of the members are not on campus.
• Collaborative tools such as the Wiki can be used for groups to write and edit documents collaboratively online.

Creating Groups:

1. To add groups to your class site in Blackboard go to the control panel. In the section entitled "User Management" click on the link labeled"Manage Groups."

2. This will bring you to a screen where groups will usually be listed. To add a group click on the "Add Group" button:

3. Clicking on the "Add Group" button brings up a screen with the following options:

In the "Group Name" box, enter the name of the group.

In the "Description" you can enter a description for the group.

The next options regard what functions the group will have:

• Checking the box to enable discussion board will create a discussion board in the group. See our section on Threaded Discussions.
• Enabling the "Virtual classroom" function will create a live chat room in the group where users can chat with one another in real time, much like Instant Messaging. See our section on "Virtual Classroom."
• Enabling "File Exchange" will let the users upload and download files to blackboard. This is very useful if the group is working on a project together. This way they can keep all of their files in one central place and have them available to all members of the group at all times.
• Enabling "group email" will set up an email listserv so that any member of the group can email all the other members of the group with one email address.

When you are happy with your settings, click on the submit button.

4. This will create the group, click "OK" to return to the list of groups. You now need to add users to your group. To do this, click on the "modify" button:

5.You have the following options in the modify section:

• "Group Properties" will take you back to the same section we were just in where you can adjust the
  group name, description and functions
• "Add Users to Group" lets you add users
• "List Users" lists the users currently in this group
• "Remove Users" allows you to remove users.

Click on "Add Users to Group"

6. Once in the section for adding users, you can either search for a user by their name or PennKey, or you can list all of the users in the course and select from them by clicking "List All."

7. Once you have located the users you want to add, select them by checking the check box just next to their names:

8. Once you have all of them selected slick "Submit." the users will be added to the group.

9. The process for removing users is much the same. Clicking on the "Remove Users" option will list all of the students currently in the group. Select the ones you want to remove by clicking the check box next to their names and then click "Submit."

10. To access their group pages, students must click on the "Communications" link and the on "Group Pages." This will list all of the groups that they are a part of. They will only be allowed to open group pages that they are members of.