Creating a student self-enroll group

Canvas Groups allow instructors to divide students into smaller groups for discussion and collaborations. Self-enroll groups allow students to choose which group they want to participate in. Students will join their desired group in Canvas.

Enable People in your Canvas course navigation menu

You and your students will need to be able to access People. Make sure you have enabled it for your students to access.

1. Log in to your Canvas course.
2. On the navigation menu, select Settings.
3. On the Navigation tab in the list of options displayed locate the People item.
4. Drag the People item to the top panel.
5. At the bottom of the page, select Save.

Creating a Self Sign-up Group

1. Select the People link in the Canvas course navigation (see Fig. 1).
   
   Figure 1: People link in Canvas course navigation
2. Select, Add Group Set button (see Fig. 2).
   
   Figure 2: Add Group Set Button
3. Complete each field for the Create Group Set options (see Fig. 3).
   
   Figure 3: Example Create Group Set box filled out to allow self sign-up for two groups, no group member limit, and no student group leader
4. Create a name in the Group Set Name text field (see Fig. 3).
5. Select the Allow self sign-up check box.
   Note: If desired, select the check box next to Require group members to be in the same section (see Fig. 3).
6. Next to the Group Structure heading, enter the number of groups you would like to create; more groups can be added later. You can also limit the number of members in each group to keep the groups balanced. Leave this field blank if you do not want to limit the group size (see Fig. 3).
7. Next to the Leadership heading you can choose to assign a student leader; this can be done automatically. Group leaders are able to change the group name and manage group membership regardless of self sign-up (see Fig. 3).
8. Select Save (see Fig. 3).

View and Manage Groups

1. Under the group title(s), verify Self sign-up is enabled for these groups is listed (see Fig. 4).
   
   Figure 4: View the new groups in group set
2. To manage an individual group, select the three vertical dots next to the group's name to view the group options menu (see Figs. 4 and 5).
   
   Figure 5: Group options menu
3. From the group options menu, three options can be selected (see Fig. 5).
   • Visit Group Homepage allows the instructor to view the groups activity.
   • Edit  allows the instructor the edit the group name.
   • Delete allows the instructor to delete the group.

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