Creating Groups in D2L

Updated on May 08, 2024

Creating groups in D2L can help to organize student work on projects and assignments, or create special work areas for users.

1. In order to use groups in D2L, navigate to the Tools tab on the home menu, and click on the 'Groups' option.

Image of the Example homepage with the Course Resources tab highlighted and labeled 1, and the Groups option highlighted and labeled 2

2. You will be taken to the 'Manage Groups' page. Click on the 'New Category' button to be taken to the New Category page where you can create a new group.

Image of the Manage Groups page with an arrow labeled 1 pointing to the New Category button

3. The 'New Category' page has different sections where you can add and change conditions/text to create your own POFG Groups. There are different sections like 'Advanced Properties' and 'Additional Options' that might be hidden and require you to open them using the collapsible menus below the main headings, as shown in the below image.

Image with Category Information highlighted and labeled 1. Advanced Properties and Additional Options titles highlighted. An arrow labeled 2 pointing to the Save button at the bottom of the screen

4. Depending on which options you've selected, D2L will either let you customize your groups or add students to different groups. In the example below, the 'Enrollment type' was changed to the 'Groups of #' options, with 2 students in each group. This option is especially useful when you want to randomize the groups in your course.

Screenshot showing the different groups with students assigned to each group by D2L

5. When your groups are created and students have been added to your liking, you can use the check boxes on the 'Manage Groups' page to email or delete the groups as you see fit.

Image of the Group Category table on the Manage Groups page. Table shows the checkboxes to the left of the Group Names check marked and highlighted. The Email and Delete buttons are highlighted for the next explanation

6. Choosing either the Email or Delete option while having one or more groups chosen (having the boxes to the left of the Name of the Groups column) will prompt one of the windows below:

Image of the email and delete pop up windows that appear after clicking on one of the prompts on the Manage Groups web page. The email option has a typical format for sending an email (send to textbox, subject text box, message text box, attatchments section, and a blue 'Send' and grey 'Cancel' button at the bottom). The Delete option has a confirmation asking if you are sure you want to permanantly delete the selected groups with a blue 'Delete Groups' button and a grey 'Cancel' button

7. Finally, you can click on the 'Settings' option in the top right part of the screen to show the 'Group Display Options' and change them however you see fit.

Screenshot of Manage Groups page with an arrow labeled 1 pointing to the Settings button which is highlighted. Another screenshot of the Group Display Options, labeled 2, with the user details highlighted and the Save and Close button labeled 3

Congratulations! You have now learned how to create and optimize groups in D2L for your course!

2 Comments

Katherine Fariss Stewart

Sunday Nov 05 2023 at 07:48 PM

What does POFG stand for?

Kristina Kuykendall

Monday Nov 06 2023 at 06:51 PM

Hello Katherine. POFG stands for PimaOnline Faculty Guide. However, we have found that the title of this article didn't correctly articulate what these steps are for so we have changed the title from POFG Groups in D2L to Creating Groups in D2L.