1. From the Course Admin panel, select Groups.
2. To set up your groups, select the New Category button.
3. Give the Category a meaningful name, type in a description if needed, and select "Enrollment Type # of Groups - No Auto Enrollments". Enter the number of groups needed. You will manually add members to the groups after the groups are created. Keep "No Restrictions" selected.
4. Under Additional Options, select "Set up Discussion Areas". This is to give students a private discussion area for their groups. Discussions are a great way for them to plan, communicate, and share ideas within their groups. Group discussions are only available to group members and the instructor.
5. Select "New Forum" to create a new discussion forum for each group (Brightspace requires that all discussion topics must belong to a forum.) In the pop-up window that opens, give the forum a name and select SAVE. Keep "Create new Topic" selected to create a new discussion topic for each group. Then select SAVE.
6. Select "Create one topic with threads separated by group". This selection allows the instructor to manage all activity from one topic while students only see threads from their own group. Select Create and Next. Then select DONE and SAVE. *If you would like to manage each group's discussion topic separately, select the first option, "Create one topic per group".
7. Add Students to the Groups. Go to Course Admin/Groups. Select the drop down arrow to the right of the group name and select Enroll Users.
9. Select students for each group and select SAVE.
10. To view each group's discussion threads, select the link in the Discussions column for each group.
