Using Groups to Allow or Restrict Access to Areas of a Course in iLearn
You can use the group enrollment throughout the course, if needed, to set restrictions on content and assessments that are only viewable to those who need it.
Releasing Content | Group Discussions | Group Assignments
Using Groups for Releasing Content and Information
When in any area of the course where Release Conditions can be applied (most tools have this option), you can use a condition based on the group enrollment. Once you create a release condition for the group, you can reuse it throughout the course.
- Go to the tool and look for the Release Conditions option
- Select to Create or Create and Attach option
- Select Group Enrollment under the Classlist heading
- Choose the Group or Group Category that should have access
- Click Create
- If you choose more than one condition to apply, make sure to select whether someone needs to meet all or just any of the conditions.
NOTE: Once you setup a Release Condition, if you go to a new area to setup another Condition and would like to reuse this condition, select Attach Existing instead of Create. Then choose this condition to attach to the area you would like.
Setting up Group Discussions
If you don’t set this up when setting up the group, you can still do it manually in the Discussion area.
Setup One Topic for All Student Groups
- Go to the Discussions
- Select New - New Topic
- Select the Forum
- Choose Group or section topic, everyone can access this topic but students only see threads from their own groups or section.
- Select the Group Category that should have access.
- Enter the rest of the information for the Topic that is needed (Title, Description, and other options), click Save and Close
Setup a Topic for Each Student Group
- Go to the Discussions
- Select New - New Topic
- Select One topic, everyone can access this topic and its contents.
- Go to the Restrictions
- Scroll down and under Group and Section Restrictions, choose Restrict this topic to the following group and sections.
- Select the Add Groups and Sections button
- Select the Group or Section Category
- Scroll down and select the Group that should have access.
- Repeat for each group topic that is needed.
Setting up Group Assignments
- Go to Assignments
- Select New Assignment
- Enter the appropriate information needed (Name, Instructions, Score out of, Due date)
- Select Submission & Completion to the right.
- Choose Group Assignment
- Choose the Group Category from the drop-down list.
- Finish entering all other options needed, click Save and Close.
NOTE: When grading through the iLearn Assignment tool, it will assign the grade to all members of the group. If you feel that you need to adjust an individual’s grade, you can do so in the Grades area.
Sections work similarly to Groups. Sections are setup automatically when a course is created. If you combine sections, you can restrict access by the enrolled section just like you can with groups. This is helpful for undergraduate/graduate combined classes or classes with Honors sections.
