How do I set up groups to suit their purpose?
Groups are formed for different reasons: a class stays together across several courses, a project team divides up work, an exam group takes an exam together. This page matches 23 typical purposes with the tools in OpenOlat that suit them. This way you find the course elements and modules that support the purpose of your group.
Administrators and group managers create groups. Authors and users with no additional role create groups if the system administration allows it in the Groups module: Administration > Modules > Groups. How to set up a group is described on the page Create Groups.
1. Grades / Classes / Semester
Purpose:
- organizationally based group composition
Characteristics:
- participants stay in the shared group over several courses
- participants stay in the shared group for a longer period of time
- creation of the group by administrators or coaches
- participants do not book the group themselves
Tools in OpenOlat:
- virtual classrooms (BigBlueButton, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, among others)
- Course Planner module
- Organisations module
- group tools
- shared calendars
- common forum
- common wiki
- ...
2. Proficiency groups
Purpose:
- Groups with the same proficiency level (e.g. beginners, advanced)
Characteristics:
- participants usually stay in the shared group only for a certain course (with a certain level)
- creation of the group by administrators or coaches
- possibly participants book the group themselves
Tools in OpenOlat:
- e.g. within courses sections with different levels
- e.g. access regulation via learning path
- e.g. access regulation via exceptions in the learning path
- possibly course element Enrolment
- course element Group task
- course element Practice
- Coaching
- ...
3. Language groups
Purpose:
- groups with the same language
Characteristics:
- assignment to the group possibly automatically by fxSyncher based on the language specification. fxSyncher is the synchronisation service of frentix: it transfers persons and memberships from a source system to OpenOlat.
- or participants choose their group themselves
Tools in OpenOlat:
- multilingual user interface
- language adaptation tool
- own content for language groups (via exceptions in the learning path)
- Course Planner module
- Organisations module
- ...
4. Groups according to regions
Purpose:
- often groups for blended learning (face-to-face + online learning)
Characteristics:
- group members come from the same geographic region
Tools in OpenOlat:
- e.g. message dispatch according to postal code
- assignment to group possibly automatically (specification of language, postal code -> fxSyncher)
- copy function for whole courses (-> creation of language versions)
- Organisations module
- ...
5. Workshop
Purpose:
- practical work on a topic in a small group
Characteristics:
- limited in time
- active cooperation of the participants
Tools in OpenOlat:
- access control to courses (access only in a certain time window)
- collaboration tools: chat, messages, email
- course element Group task
- course element Topic assignment
- course element Document (for joint editing of a document)
- course element Folder for shared files
- moderation by coaches
- course element BigBlueButton with breakout rooms for subgroups
- course element File dialog
- course element Link list
- course element Check list
- ...
6. Project groups (work sharing)
Purpose:
- division of labor to achieve a specific goal
Characteristics:
- deadline for completion
- division into work steps
- scheduling
- scheduling tasks
- coordination
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element Topic assignment
- course element Appointment scheduling
- common calendar
- course element "Participant list"
- folder of the group
- course element Podcast (report on project status)
- ...
7. Planning teams
Purpose:
- joint planning
Characteristics:
- scheduling
- scheduling tasks
- coordination
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element Appointment scheduling
- different calendars
- course element Survey
- course element Link list
- course element Check list
- Projects area
- ...
8. Preparation groups
Purpose:
- committees to prepare an event, a project, etc.
Characteristics:
- mainly coordination tasks
- limited in time
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element Appointment scheduling
- different calendars, also with calendar import
- course element Topic assignment
- collaboration tools: chat, messages, email
- ...
9. Decision-making committees
Purpose:
- discussion, decision and communication of the result
Characteristics:
- preparation phase individual
- joint viewing of documents (basis for decision-making)
- voting
- documentation of decisions
- communication of decisions
Tools in OpenOlat:
- virtual meeting rooms (BigBlueButton with voting function)
- course element "Participant list"
- course element File dialog
- course element Assessment
- collaboration tools: chat, messages, email
- ...
10. Consulting
Purpose:
- consulting by experts
Characteristics:
- often 1:1 meetings
- situation analysis by the consulting person
- accompanied implementation
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element BigBlueButton
- course element Task
- course element Check list
- course element Assessment
- course element Link list
- ...
11. Discussion groups
Purpose:
- learning effect through joint discussion
Characteristics:
- mostly live -> online meetings
- equal, active group members
- possibly with blog
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element BigBlueButton
- course element Microsoft Teams
- course element Zoom
- course element Forum
- course element Blog
- Chat
- possibly course element Enrolment
- ...
12. Exchange of experience
Purpose:
- learning effect through participation
Characteristics:
- communication of experiences made
- possibility for discussion
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element Forum
- course element Blog
- course element BigBlueButton
- course element Survey
- ...
13. Feedback groups
Purpose:
- Learning effect due to organized feedback
Characteristics:
- jointly observed
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element Check list
- course element Survey
- course element File dialog
- ...
14. Partner work
Purpose:
- 1:1 work has higher level of activation than in groups
Characteristics:
- more spontaneity e.g. in feedback during joint learning / joint work
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element Document
- course element Group task
- course element Portfolio task
- ...
15. Spontaneous temporary learning groups
Purpose:
- deepening through change of methods within a live event
Characteristics:
- Group formation during online meetings
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element BigBlueButton with breakout rooms (within a teaching unit or session)
- ...
16. Learning groups for activation
Purpose:
- dividing into groups to learn more effectively than in the large group
Characteristics:
- division of a large group
- mostly presentation of the different group results in the plenum
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element Enrolment
- course element Topic assignment
- course element Group task
- course element Check list
- course element Wiki (wiki entry per group)
- folder of the group
- group coaches
- collaboration tools: chat, messages, email
- ...
17. Learning groups for the staging of reality
Purpose:
- methodical enrichment of lessons by staging
Characteristics:
- representation of real scenes (entry, implementation phase)
Tools in OpenOlat:
- virtual classrooms (BigBlueButton, Microsoft Teams, among others)
- audio/video recording
- collaboration tools: chat, messages, email
- course element Video task
- ...
18. Group formation as a learning objective
Purpose:
- social learning, e.g. group processes in projects
Characteristics:
- reflection of a group formation
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element Enrolment
- course element Topic assignment
- ...
19. Role-playing game
Purpose:
- trying out and practicing new roles
- reflecting, reviewing and correcting existing roles
Characteristics:
- interaction in given situations of 2 or more persons
- observation by the other group members
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element BigBlueButton and other video conferencing tools
- audio/video recording at different places in OpenOlat
- course element Form for recording observations
- course element Video task (assessment of a pre-recorded video)
- course element Forum
- ...
20. Management game
Purpose:
- practicing behavior in complex processes and situations without danger
Characteristics:
- in contrast to role play, usually several contact phases (with interruptions), in between completion of tasks by the individuals or in small groups
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element Group task
- course element Video (e.g. for presentation of game situations)
- collaboration tools: chat, messages, email
- course element Forum
- course element Check list
- folder of the group
- ...
21. Internship groups
Purpose:
- Group with possibility to gain practical experience
- occasional exchange, rather for organizational questions; the main work takes place at the different internship places
Characteristics:
- group members have similar experience in a particular field
- at the beginning all group members have little experience in the learning field of the internship
- group members are in the same situation, but mostly work at different places
Tools in OpenOlat:
- course element Document (for info sheets)
- course element Forum
- course element Blog (for internship report)
- ...
22. Exam groups
Purpose:
- joint participation in an examination
Characteristics:
- processing of tasks without outside help in a limited amount of time
- examination can take place at the same time or with a time delay
- evidences/proofs, certificates as goal
Tools in OpenOlat:
- question bank
- 16 different question types
- special exam courses
- assessment mode
- use of the Safe Exam Browser
- creation of exams from OpenOlat questions, execution on paper with individualized documents (export as Word)
- automatic evaluation with manual review possibility
- disadvantage compensation
- certificates
- documentation, archiving
- ...
23. Interest groups
Purpose:
- exchange on common interests
Characteristics:
- group created by users
- usually cross-course
- high demand for communication elements
Tools in OpenOlat:
- Chat
- course element Blog
- course element Forum
- courses that participants book themselves
- ...
Further information
Module Groups >
Create Groups >
Test question types >
Groups >
Using Group Tools >
Course Element "Enrolment" >