New: BIG Improvements to Group Discussions

Are you ready for something that will make your life easier with grading group discussions?

A new way to create group discussions is available. Instead of creating multiple topics, instructors can create one group restricted topic. You can create one topic with threads separated by group.



In Discussions:



When you are creating a new topic, on the Properties tab, the topic type defaults to Open topic. Instructors can select the new Group or section topic option instead. Once you create and save the topic, you cannot change the topic type. (If you selected the topic type as open, you can access the original Group Restrictions area on the Restrictions tab.)

In Groups:


To create a new group topic the original way, select the Create one topic per group radio button. To create group categories the new way, select the Create one topic with threads separated by group radio button.

If you create one topic with threads separated by group :
One discussion topic is created for an entire group category and threads within it are associated with specific groups. As a result, instructors observe less scrolling on the discussion list. Instructors can use the new All Groups filter on the topic to view all posts or to only view posts for a specific group. Inside a discussion thread, users can see which group the thread belongs to.

If you create one topic with threads separated by group :
Only one grade item is required. This makes assessing discussion topics faster as instructors do not have to navigate in and out of topics to complete an assessment.


If you create one topic with threads separated by group :
Now, when instructors copy groups to new courses, the group setup (grade item, assessment option, etc.) is also copied over.


Also, and importantly: There is no change in workflow for students as they can only see one discussion topic and the posts within it that are associated with their group, as expected.

New: Single user member specific groups

There is a new group enrollment type called Single user, member specific groups.


Have you ever wanted to make a specific item available to a student exclusively, or wanted to have discussions between yourself and only one student to reflect on learning or carry on a semester long project?


You can now use Single user, member specific groups to do just that.


Using this group category creates a group with a single user where the first name and last name of the student is the name of the group. When a new student is enrolled in the course a new group is automatically created for them. Instructors no longer need to rename groups of one.

New in BOLT: Include Group & Section in Gradebook Export

You can now include group and section membership for each student in gradebook exports.

When exporting grades from the gradebook, under User Details there is a new option to include group and section membership information for each user. This allows for more detailed analysis of grades outside of BOLT.

To include group or section membership in grade exports,

1. Click Coursework.

2. Select Grades.

3. Click Enter Grades.

4. Click the Export button.

5. Select the data you want to export- select section or group membership under the User Details header if you want to include this information in your export.

New Section and Group Membership options

6. Select the grade items you want to export.

7. Click either Export to CSV or Export to Excel to export the gradebook.

Whenever you make changes to Grades, it is a good idea to export your gradebook before you make any changes. This way if something goes awry, you can revert back to your gradebook prior to the changes you made!