Each month we will share some of our timely frequently asked questions around educational technology.
Q: How do I allow students to choose which group they will join for group work purposes in FLO?
In FLO, the Group selection activity allows students to select a group in the topic that they want to be members of. Before students can sign up to join a group, you must first create empty groups and add the groups to a grouping for them to choose from. Next, add the Group selection activity to the desired module.
Note: students can’t remove themselves from groups within the Group selection activity. Only staff can remove students from groups.
Q: Can I send an announcement to a specific group of students? For example, I coordinate a shared topic in FLO which has both internal and external students and I would like to send an announcement just to the external students.
Yes, you can apply a grouping to the Announcements forum which will allow you to filter and choose which group to send the announcement to. To do this:
- Click on the Announcements forum. Next click on the Administration menu, then Edit settings.
- Expand the Common module settings section.
- Set the group mode to Visible groups.
- Change the grouping to the relevant grouping. (For the example described in the question, choose Child topics as the grouping)
When you go back to the Announcements forum and create a new post, you’ll see a new menu that allows you to choose from the groups within the grouping you have selected.
Written by Jason Chan
eLearning & Media Support Officer – CILT