Using Groups in Canvas

The "Groups" feature in Canvas allows you to easily organize your students into groups, whether it be for a specific assignment, discussion, or long-term project. Once the student groups are created, you can use them simply as a space for students to be able to collaborate and/or create "group" assignments.

Creating Groups

You can create and access your course groups via the "People" tab.

To create a new set of groups, click "+ Group Set". You can create as many group sets as you would like.

You will be prompted to name the group set and set some parameters:

• Choose whether to allow self-sign up. If you select this option, you can set a limit on the number of students for each group and students will choose which group to join.

• For group structure, choose the number of groups you would like. Choose whether to manually or randomly sort students into groups (unless you have chosen self-sign up, in which case this option no longer exists).

• You can also choose whether to allow for group leadership. Assigning a "Group Leader" gives that student the ability to edit the group name and members.

If you chose to create a certain number of groups, you should now see them listed. Canvas will automatically name the groups with the name of the group set and a number. You can change the name of the group by clicking on the gear icon and selecting "Edit".

Clicking on a group's name will show the students that are in the group [1]. If you opted to manually create groups, you can do so by clicking "+ Group" [2] and manually dragging students from the left side into a group. [3]

Viewing Student Groups

Groups you've created will be visible under the "People" tab (in tabs alongside the list of course participants, or by clicking "View User Groups").From this tab you can view and manage group membership.

Each student group in Canvas is given their own private Canvas page, on which they are able to create announcements, discussions, and pages, as well as share files, collaborate on google docs, and run video conferences. To view these group pages, click the gear icon next to a group's name and click "Visit Group Homepage".

You can easily jump between group homepages within a group set by clicking on the arrow icon in the upper left hand corner above the group's navigation menu.

More Resources

For more information about using groups in Canvas, see the Canvas Instructor Guide > Groups.

• How do I create a group assignment?

• How do I create a group discussion?

• How can I send a message to students in a group?

#canvas #collaboration