2. Activate Group Settings

Group modes can be set at two levels:

• Course level - setting a group mode at the course level sets the selected group mode as the default mode for all activities within your course. This is useful if you are sure that you want to use groups for most or all of your course activities.
• Activity level - each activity that supports groups can also be set to a desired group mode. Please note, if you set "Force group mode" (found in Settings > Groups) to Yes (default in all courses is No), then you will not be able to edit the group mode at the activity level. It is also important to note that some activities handle groups a little differently, so be sure to read the tooltips (identified by the blue question marks) in the different activities to make sure it is the behavior you expect.

There are three group modes:

• No groups - This is the default. There are no subgroups, everyone is part of one big community.
• Separate groups - Each group can only see their own group, others are invisible. (Most typically used)
• Visible groups - Each group works in their own group, but can also see other groups. (The other groups' work is read-only)

To set a group mode:

Course level setting

Click the Settings menu. Under the Groups section, select an option from the Group mode drop-down menu (see above for option explanations).

Activity level setting

Turn editing on in your course, then locate the activity you wish to activate groups for, then click Edit (three dots) > Edit settings. Then under Common module settings select an option from the Group mode drop-down menu (see above for option explanations). Also, be sure to check for additional group settings for the specific activity. For example, in the assignment activity, there are Group submission settings that can additionally be set that allow a group to submit one submission or require all members of a group to submit, etc.