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Creating and managing groups in Blackboard

Quick guide for Instructors

The Group Manager tool enables you to group members of a section. Groups can then be assigned private group discussions and assignments.

Create custom groups
Create multiple groups
Create groups with sign-up sheets
Create extra groups with sign-up sheets
Create discussion topics for groups
Add or remove members

Create custom groups

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Group Manager in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click Create Groups.
  4. Select Create custom group and click Continue.
  5. Type in a Group name and description.
  6. Under Membership Information, click the Add Members button.
  7. Click on the box next to the names of the members you wish to add and then click the Add Selected button at the bottom of the window.
  8. Click Save.

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Create multiple groups

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Group Manager in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click Create Groups.
  4. Select Create multiple groups and click Continue.
  5. Type in the Word or phrase all group names start with and a description.
  6. Under How Should the Groups Be Created? click on the relevant circles to specify how you wish to create the groups.
  7. Click Continue. You will then be taken to the Confirm Created Groups window where you can edit the group names and descriptions and move members between the groups.
  1. Click Save.

Note: If a group contains more than 10 members, to view all group members, click View All Members.

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Create groups with sign-up sheets

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Group Manager in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click Create Groups.
  4. Select Create groups with sign-up sheets and click Continue.
  5. Type in the Number of groups that will appear on the sign-up sheet.
  6. Type in the Word or phrase all group names start with, and a description.
  7. Type a number in the Maximum students per group field.
  8. If you wish students who have not yet signed up for a group to see the names of group members on the sign-up sheet, click the box next to Allow students who have not yet joined a group to see the names of group members on the sign-up sheet.
  9. Type in the Sign-up sheet title and instructions.
  10. From the Place the sign-up sheet link on: drop-down list, select the folder or Home Page where you wish to place the sign-up sheet.
  11. Click Continue.
  12. Click Save.

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Create extra groups with sign-up sheets

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Group Manager in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click on the ActionLinks icon for the relevant group. (Any of the groups, for which you would like to create extra groups with sign-up sheets, will do.)
  4. Click on Edit Sign-Up Sheet .
  5. Click on the Create Additional Groups button towards the bottom of the window.
  6. Type in the Number of additional groups you would like to create and complete the required fields to match the previously created groups.
  7. Click Continue.
  8. If required, edit the names of the groups.
  9. Click Save towards the bottom of the Confirm Created Groups window.
  10. Click Save towards the bottom of the Edit Sign-Up Sheet window.

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Create discussion topics for groups

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Group Manager in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click on the box next to the group for which you wish to create a discussion topic.
  4. From the Create Group Activity drop-down list at the bottom of the window, select Discussion topic and click the Go button.
  5. You will then be taken to the Discussions tool where you can create a discussion topic for the group. For further information, refer to the Discussions guides.

Note: You can also make an existing topic a private group discussion area by using the Selective Release tool . For further information, refer to the Selective Release guides.

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Add or remove members

  1. Click on the Teach tab.
  2. Click on Group Manager in the Instructor Tools menu.
  3. Click on the ActionLinks icon for the relevant group.
  4. Click Edit Group .
  • To add members, under Membership Information, click on Add Members, click on the box next to each member you wish to add and then click Add Selected.
  • To remove members, click on the box next to each member to be removed and click Remove Selected .
  1. Click Save.

Important: If you remove students from a group for a collaborative assignment and the assignment has not been submitted, the students will no longer have access to the assignment.