Discussion Forums
Activating Groups in a Discussion Forum
Once student groups are created in a course, you can enable group functionality within activities such as the Forum. Within this activity type, a group setting can be activated to limit the ability of students to see or interact with students in other groups. The faculty role always has full access to all threads and responses in the course regardless of group membership.
There are two different group settings that can be activated in a Forum. This setting needs to be activated separately in each Open Forum activity in the course.
Separate Groups- Each group member can only see their own group, others are invisible.
Visible Groups-Each group member works in their own group, but can also see other groups.
Important Note: If you are using the small group functionality in a Q & A forum, review the steps for creating a post for a Q & A forum using groups to ensure all groups have access to the Q & A forum type.
Option 1: Enabling Group Functionality in the Edit Settings Screen
To enable group functionality in a Moodle activity, student groups must first be created in your course.
Step 1: Click Turn editing on.
Step 2: Click on the Forum.
Note: For a general guide about Forum setup, refer to this guide.
Step 3: From the Forum header, Click Settings, Scroll down, and click on the Common module settings section.
Step 4: Click on the Group Mode field and select the desired option.
Separate Groups- Each group member can only see their own group, others are invisible.Visible Groups-Each group member works in their own group, but can also see other groups.
Once a Group Mode other than No groups is selected, a Groupings option will appear.
Step 5: If using Groupings, in the course click on the Groupings field and select the name that should be applied to the forum.
Step 6: Click Save and return to course when finished.
When group functionality is enabled in a forum, the Groups filter gives faculty the option to filter threads and responses by group.
Option 2: Enabling Forum Groups on the Course page
Important note: If using Groupings in the course, follow the process under Option 1 for the initial setup
Step 1: Click Turn editing on.
Step 2: Navigate to the activity in the course, and then click the group mode icon until it displays the desired setting.
Note: Clicking group mode icon repeatedly will cycle through the three setting options.
When group functionality is enabled in a forum, the Groups filter gives faculty the option to filter threads and responses by group.
