On this page you will find information about Groups and tools for group work in Blackboard. Norsk versjon - [[Blackboard - Grupper og verktoy for gruppearbeid |Blackboard - Grupper og verktøy for gruppearbeid]] <> [[https://innsida.ntnu.no/en/bb|Topic page about Blackboard]] | [[https://innsida.ntnu.no/wiki/-/wiki/tag/blackboard|Pages labelled Blackboard]] ==Groups in Blackboard== You can create groups of students within your courses. These groups have their own areas in a course to collaborate on coursework. You will find more information about creating groups here: [[Blackboard - Creating and editing group sets|Creating and editing group sets]] ==Group Tools== Your course groups may meet in their group areas to discuss course content or trade files. You might also create assignments that you want students to collaborate on. Students can access all their group assignments on their group homepage. Navigate to **Users and Groups** in the side menu. Click on the groupname. {{1_1_choosegroup.png|Choose group}} {{1_2_grouptools.png|Group Tools}} When you create a group you choose which communication and collaboration tools that are going to be available to the group. Under //Tool Availability// you can see the different tools that are available. You may recognize some from your coursepage, such as //Wiki// and //Discussion Board//. Only the group members and you as an instructor will be able to use the group tools. {{1_3_toolavailability.png|Tool Availability}} As an instructor you can choose to grade //Group blogs//, //Group Journals// and //Group Wikis//. To make this available, choose **Grade** and set Points possible to 1. This will make it possible to grade the tools with //Approved / Not Approved (1= Approved / 0=Not Approved)//. {{1_4_gradingtools.png|Grading Tools}} You can choose to add a Rubric, learn more about Rubrics here: [[Blackboard - Using rubrics|Using rubrics]] When you enable grading for a blog, wiki or journal, a column is created automatically in the Grade Center. NB! It is not possible to change this later on. Following is information about the different tools: ===File Exchange=== With file exhange, you can share files with members of the group, including you as an instructor. It is not possible to create folders in file exchange. Therefore, decide on a naming policy so that the files are easier to locate in a long list. #To add a file to the file exhange, go to Group Tools and click on File Exchange and Add file {{2_1_fileexchange.png|File Exchange}}{{2_2_addfile.png|Add file}} #Add a name for the file you want to upload. Browse for the file on your //computer// or in the //Content Collection//. {{2_3_browseforfile.png|Browse for file}} #Choose the file you want to upload, and click open. The file will now show up as selected file. {{2_4_selectedfile.png|Selected file}} #Now you are ready to submit and upload the file. The file will look like this when submitted: {{2_5_fileadded.png|File added}} ===Group Blog=== Members of a group can add entries and comments to the group blog to share ideas. You as an instructor can use blogs for a assignment or to gather opinions and information without assigning a grade. #To create a //Blog Entry//, go to //Group Tools// and click on **Group Blog**. {{3_groupblog.png|Group Blog}} #Click on the **Create Blog Entry-button** {{3_1_createblogentry.png|Create Blog Entry}} #Choose title and add content using the content editor. For anonymous blog entry, select the check box for **Post entry as Anonymous**. {{3_2_writeblogentry.png|Write Blog Entry}} #Select **Browse My Computer** to upload a file from your computer. You can also attach a file from the **Content Collection**. Select **Post entry** to submit the blog entry or select **Save Entry as Draft** to add the entry later. {{3_3_postentry.pnh|Post entry}} #The blog entry looks like this when submitted {{3_4_blogpost.png|Blog post}} ===Group Journal=== Members of a group can use the journal to share their thoughts with each other and communicate with you. Example: Use the journal to share work-progress in a project, day to day. #To create a Journal entry, go to Group Tools and click on **Group Journal** {{4_1_groupjournal.png|Group Journal}} #Click on **Create Journal Entry** {{4_2_createjournalentry.png|Create journal entry}} #Choose title and add content using the content editor. For anonymous blog entry, select the check box for **Post entry as Anonymous**. {{4_3_journaltext.png|Journal text}} #Select **Browse My Computer** to upload a file from your computer. You can also attach a file from the **Content Collection**. Select **Post entry** to submit the journal entry or select **Save Entry as Draft** to add the entry later. {{4_4_journalentries.png|Journal entry}} #The journal entry looks like this when submited: {{4_5_journalentry.png|Journal entry}} ====Grade a Group Blog and/or a Group Journal==== On the group area, you can read all entries for a //Group Blog/Journal// and add one grade (approve/not approved) for all members. To see the grading sidebar, navigate to the //Group Blog/Journal// you want to grade. The grading sidebar will appear on the right side {{4_a_grading.png|Grading Blog/Journal}} When you add a grade for a //Group Blog/Journal//, the grade is automatically given to all group members. You can assign an individual group member a different grade than the group. In the sidebar, select the **pencil icon** to change the group grade for a member. Type a new grade and select the **check mark icon** to save. This grade becomes an override grade. {{4_bgradestudent.png|Grade student}} {{4_b_1gradestudent.png|Grade one student}} You can also choose to edit the grade in the //Grade Center//. Read more about grading in the //Grade Center// here: [[Blackboard - Overview of the grade center|Overview of the grade center]] ===Group Discussion Board=== Members of a group can use the discussion board to communicate as a group, as well as create and manage their own forums. Group discussions boards are separate from the regular course discussion board, only members of the group and you as an instructor have access. Example: {{5_1_discussionboard.png|Discussion Board}} For more information on how to create and use Discussion Board, see [[Blackboard - Creating and using discussion forums|Creating and using discussion forums]] ===Group Wiki=== Use Group Wikis to create a collaborative space for group members to view, contribute and edit content. Group members can edit and view their group wiki. Instructors can view and edit group wikis, and choose to grade (approved/not approved) group wikis. #To create a new wiki page, navigate to **Group Wiki** via //Group tools// {{6_groupwiki.png|Group Wiki}} #First you need to create the //home page// - this is where all other wiki pages are collected. The home page is automatically displayed first when a user visits the wiki. Choose a name for the page, and describe the page using the //text editor//. Click on **submit**. {{6_1_wikihomepage.png|Wiki Homepage}} #Now you can start with creating a new wiki page. Click on create wiki page, write in name and type in your text in the text editor. {{6_2_createwikipage.png|Create wiki page}} {{6_3_writewiki.png|Create wiki}} #When you are finished, click on the submit-button. The page will look like this, and you will find it in the page-list to the right, under the home page: {{6_4_wikicreated.png|Wiki created}} ====Grade Group Wiki==== #Navigate to the wiki that needs grading //(approved/not approved)//. Click on **Participation and Grading//. {{6_a_gradingwiki.png}} #On the //Participation Summary// page, the grading sidebar appears with a list of all group members. {{6_b_participationsummary.png|Participation summary}} #When you add a grade for a //Group Wiki//, the grade is automatically given to all the members of the group and is populated in the corresponding column in the //Grade Center//. To assign an individual group member a different grade, select the **pencil icon** in the grading sidebar {{6_b_wikigrading.png|Grade student}} #Type in the new grade and select the **check mark icon** to save it. This grade becomes an override grade. You can also edit the grade from the //Grade Center//. {{6_c_1_gradeuser.png|Grade user}} ===Send Email=== Group members can send email to individual members or the entire group. #Navigate to //Group Tools// and click on **Send Email**. {{7_1_sendmail.png|Send Mail}} #Select the recipients in the //Available to select box// and select the right-pointing arrow to move them into the Selected box. Choose to send to an indivudal member or the entire group. {{7_2_select.png|Select member}} #Type your //Subject// and //Message//. Select //Attach a File// to browse for files from your computer. Select **Submit**. {{7_3_writeemail.png|Write Email}} #The system will send you a copy of the message. Students recive the email on their student-account. == Contact == [[Orakel Support Services|Orakel Support Services]] can help if you have questions or if you encounter difficulties.