Group Administration

Configuring Tools of Groups

Having created a group you can now provide it with collaborative tools in the tab "Tools." If you want to modify your configurations later on (e.g. deactivate some tools) you have to do this via the tab "Groups." Click on that group's title and open the menu item "Administration." In the tab "Tools" you can now activate or deactivate collaborative tools.

The following tools are available for group use. Once a tool is activated, its corresponding icon will be visible in the group menu.

	Information	If the tool "Information" is activated and saved you will be able to edit the information meant for your group members right beneath the list containing all tools.
	Calendar	You can put a calendar at the disposal of your group to record joint events. Furthermore you can determine the calendar's write access, that is, who will have the right to record data. If the calendar is not listed among the tools, it was disabled by a system administrator. Further information on calendar functions can be found in the calendar chapter.
	Course	A table overview of all linked courses is available here. Clicking on a course name opens the corresponding course in a new tab.
	Members	Here you will see a list containing all group participants and/or its owners. Depending on the settings, the waiting list might be visible too.
	E-Mail	If the tool "E-mail" is activated, non-members of a group are able to use the mail function and contact group coaches and/or participants.
	Folder	You enable members of your group to exchange files by using a folder. The available storage capacity is 10 MB. Furthermore you can determine the folder's write access, that is, who will have the right to record files.
	Forum	You provide your group with a forum for discussions. As coach of a group you have the right to edit and delete contributions as well as to write new ones. Participants of a group can write contributions, however, they are not allowed to neither edit nor delete contributions of others.
	Chat	You can provide this group with a private chat room. You will see who else is present in the group chat. Enter the chat room to communicate with others in real time.
	Wiki	You can put a Wiki at the disposal of your group to jointly create learning content. If the wiki is not listed among the tools, it was disabled by a system administrator.
	Portfolio	You can provide this group with an ePortfolio. Use a portfolio to jointly create a binder or add artefacts.
	OpenMeetings	If you activated and saved OpenMeetings, a virtual classroom is at the group's disposal. OpenMeetings must be activated and configured in the administration tab in order to be available for use.

Managing Members of Groups

If you create a new group, you are automatically one of the coaches of this group. Coaches of this group will see the link "Administration" in the menu. They can then administer this group, appoint other users as owners and delete the group. They can then administer that group and appoint other OLAT users as coaches.

In the tab "Members" you determine which user groups are allowed to view the members and waiting list of a group, whether all members, no members, or merely course coaches, participants or the waiting list are displayed. Depending on your selection, the list of members is visible to group members or to all users. If visibility is deselected, the entry "Members" will disappear from navigation.

The option "Users can download the list of members" additionally allows participants to download the list of members as excel file.

You can also add more group Members.

There are two different ways to allocate members to a group:

1. OpenOLAT users enroll on their own.
2. The course owner or group coach allocates members to groups.

To enable users to enroll themselves, the group must either be published, or accessible through the course element "Enrolment". Public groups are suited for projects or course independent trainings. The first option is suitable for groups with many participants, for participants you do not know yet or for participants who should decide on their own in which group or topic they want to register (e.g. when assigning tasks to be performed in groups). When configuring the course element, please determine in which group(s) your participants should be able to register. For more information about publishing groups, please refer to the section "Access Control".

The second option is suitable for participants you already know in which groups they belong and if you want to make sure that only those will be able to register who qualify for your group.

Participants are added in the lower section of the "Members" tab in the group administration. Participants can use collaborative tools and see each other in the OpenOLAT chat. In order to add members, open the group either from the members management in the course or via the main navigation item "Groups". In the course members management, click on "Groups" in the left navigation, and enter the group by clicking on the "Edit" link next to the group name. In the group, open the tab "Members" and add group members as either coach or participant:

Coach: Appoints or deletes members as well as provides groups with collaborative tools. In addition, a coach has access to the assessment tool, if one or more courses are linked to the group. Coaches also have the rights to delete a group.

Participant: Uses the collaborative tools of a group.

When clicking on the icon "Download table" (underneath the button "Add users") an Excel file containing all owners or participants of a group will be generated.

Link Courses

A group can be linked to several courses, and a a course may have several embedded groups. OpenOLAT does not restrict the number of embedded courses.

Groups are often used in courses for controlled enrollment, for the assignment of papers or to register for field trips. Groups and courses can be linked in two ways:

• In the group, under the tab "Courses" in the group administration. Here you can determine whether a group is connected to one or multiple courses. Clicking on "Add course" allows you to link as many courses you are owner of with the group. Just click on the course name or the checkmark under "Select" to the right of the course name. A click on the icon provides you with further information on the course, such as author, language or the description. Use the button "Add course" at the end of the table in order to embed several courses at once.
  
  
  
• In the course members management as well as in the editor view of individual course elements: You can either use the button "Create Group" to create a new linked group, or add an already existing group you own via the button "Add group". If you are in the editor view on course element level, you can also create new groups under the access and visibility tabs. The same goes for learning areas.

Once the group has been associated with at least one course, the entry "Course" appears in the navigation. There, access to all linked courses is provided, while all embedded groups can be accessed in the members management in the course.

Access Control

In the tab "Publishing and booking configuration" you configure the access control for that specific group. You can specify when and under which conditions users can book a project group. Booking can be understood as a synonym of register, enroll or buying. A booking method allows access to all users based on the access restrictions defined in the booking method. If no booking method is selected, only those users defined in the "Members" tab gain access to the group. This means, only members of this group are actually allowed to see the group.

To make a group visible to all users you have to select one or multiple of the following booking methods:

• Access code: Select the access code booking methods if the booking shall be restricted to people in possession of the access code. An access code is manually set by the coach of the group, who then passes the code on to authorized users. Only users who can provide this access code will be able to book the resource. In order to open the group, this code must be entered when opening the group for the first time.
• Freely available: Select the free booking method if no other restrictions shall apply. All users can book the resource. Using this booking method adds users as participants to the group.
• PayPal and Credit card (only available if unlocked by an administrator): Selecting the PayPal/Credit card payment method requires a financial payment to access the resource. When using this booking method you can define an amount of money required to be payed in the currency defined in the system configuration. This amount can then be payed by either a PayPal account or by using a credit card (Visa/Mastercard). The waiting list cannot be combined with this booking method. The options "waiting list" respectively "PayPal and Credit Card" will not appear in the group administration if the respective other is selected.

Once a booking method is configured, the group will be listed in the "Published groups" and can thus be searched and booked by users.

You can also configure multiple booking methods. These methods serve as different options the users can choose from. Optionally you can configure a start and end date in order to add a validity period date to each booking method. In that case the booking method is only available during this period. It is also possible to specify just a start or just an end time. If you don't want to restrict the booking method to a specified period just leave the fields empty.

You can delete configured booking methods at any time. The already booked orders will not be affected by this.