Audience: Franklin University instructors teaching courses in Canvas.
Disclaimer: The results and functionality of the following article only apply to the audience listed above.
Topics
- Overview of Group Assignments
- Creating Groups
- Help with Groups
- Sharing Documents in Groups
- Navigating from a Group to the Course Homepage
- Student Resources
Overview of Group Assignments
You can create groups of students within your course to facilitate communication and collaboration in group/team assignments.
Creating groups within a Canvas course essentially creates a small version of a course for a specified group of students to use for collaboration. The group in Canvas provides a space for the group/team to:
- Collaborate on documents for their group assignments
- Create group discussions
- Participate in group meetings
It may be helpful to view this introductory video: Instructor Groups Overview
Creating Groups
Create the groups in your course. There are more specific instructions in the links in the following section, but generally, you will create a ‘group set’ and then create the ‘groups’ within it:
1. Create a Group Set and name it.
2. Within the Group Set, create groups.
3. Assign students to groups and assign group leaders if you wish.
Each group will now have a group homepage which includes spaces for announcements, pages, discussions, and other Canvas functions.
Help with Groups
View this introductory video: Instructor Groups Overview
- How do I add a group set in a course?
- How do I manually create groups in a group set?
- How do I manually assign students to groups?
- How do I assign a student leader to a group?
- How do I view all groups in a course as an instructor?
- How do I view content and student activity within a group as an instructor?
- How do I assign an assignment to a course group?
- How do I edit a group set in a course?
- How do I manage group assignment settings?
- General Guidance on Groups
Sharing Documents in Groups
You can set up a space within each group for students to create and edit shared documents.
1. In your Franklin University OneDrive, create a folder for each group and share access to it with the students in that group.
2. Within each group, view the group homepage and create a ‘page.’
3. Copy the link to your OneDrive folder and paste the link onto the page in the associated Canvas group.
Navigating from a Group to the Course Homepage
When you are on the homepage of a group in Canvas and want to return to the full course, click the course name in the thread at the top left of your screen.
Example: Returning to the main course page for INTE-495 from Team A’s home page:
Student Resources
You can provide your students with these resources to help them navigate Groups.
- Student Groups Overview
- How do I view all groups in a course as a student?
- How do I create a discussion in a group?
- How do I manage groups as a student group leader?
- How do I submit an assignment on behalf of a group?