Hi Sherisse
If you require different group dynamics for different activities I suggest you use the Groupings function which needs to be enabled at site level. We use this very successfully to have different groups for different forum discussions. You can alter the group membership but it will affect existing postings - eg. if you have separate groups on a forum and move me from groupA to groupB I won't be able to see my past posts because I'm in a new group.
With Groupings you associate your students to several groups (one for each group required, eg. week1GroupA to D, week2GroupA to D, etc) then create a grouping for each week (Week1, Week2, etc) and assign that grouping to the specific forum. That way the forum knows which groups to use.
I hope this helps
Cheers
Teresa
If you require different group dynamics for different activities I suggest you use the Groupings function which needs to be enabled at site level. We use this very successfully to have different groups for different forum discussions. You can alter the group membership but it will affect existing postings - eg. if you have separate groups on a forum and move me from groupA to groupB I won't be able to see my past posts because I'm in a new group.
With Groupings you associate your students to several groups (one for each group required, eg. week1GroupA to D, week2GroupA to D, etc) then create a grouping for each week (Week1, Week2, etc) and assign that grouping to the specific forum. That way the forum knows which groups to use.
I hope this helps
Cheers
Teresa
Teresa,
What you have outlined is about what I want, but my idea is a little more complicated.
In a course that I will be teaching I will have four sections (2 on Tues and 2 on Thurs). I want to use groups and groupings to separate the students by day of the week and class period. For that I have set up 4 groupings (Tuesday 2, Tuesday 3, Thursday 2, and Thursday 3) and also set up 4 groups (Tues 2nd, Tues 3rd, Thurs 2nd and Thurs 3rd). The reason I have done this is that I want the flexibility to assign different things to different sections depending on their needs, but still have all other information and links shared across the course.
I also want to set up groups within theses groups/groupings for different activities. For example, I could have 40 to 45 students in each section and I want to break them down into groups with 4 or 5 students per group for a speaking activity. They would then record information from that activity in a database or forum, but only for the members in their group. I would probably have the same number of groups every week, but I want the members of the group to change from week to week. Would I have to set up new groups with new names every week or can I keep the same group names (Group 1 -10)? Can I use the auto-group function or would I have to assign the members manually? Is this possible or am I making a lot of work for myself? Any suggestions or pointers to information would be appreciated.
What you have outlined is about what I want, but my idea is a little more complicated.
In a course that I will be teaching I will have four sections (2 on Tues and 2 on Thurs). I want to use groups and groupings to separate the students by day of the week and class period. For that I have set up 4 groupings (Tuesday 2, Tuesday 3, Thursday 2, and Thursday 3) and also set up 4 groups (Tues 2nd, Tues 3rd, Thurs 2nd and Thurs 3rd). The reason I have done this is that I want the flexibility to assign different things to different sections depending on their needs, but still have all other information and links shared across the course.
I also want to set up groups within theses groups/groupings for different activities. For example, I could have 40 to 45 students in each section and I want to break them down into groups with 4 or 5 students per group for a speaking activity. They would then record information from that activity in a database or forum, but only for the members in their group. I would probably have the same number of groups every week, but I want the members of the group to change from week to week. Would I have to set up new groups with new names every week or can I keep the same group names (Group 1 -10)? Can I use the auto-group function or would I have to assign the members manually? Is this possible or am I making a lot of work for myself? Any suggestions or pointers to information would be appreciated.