What is a Group?

The "group" is an ILIAS object and belongs to the container objects on ILIAS just like the "course" and the "category". Like the course, the group can also contain members and digital material (files, video material etc.) can be provided in the group. Using the group offers the possibility to display independent areas for team and group work within an ILIAS course.

What can the Group be used for?

A group can be used for different courses. For example, whenever specific learning groups or working groups are to be formed, the "group object" offers the possibility to also present them virtually.
Another advantage of groups within a course room is that you can assign different "design rights" within a group. This way, students who are part of certain workgroups are able to become group administrators and can thus work independently with the existing possibilities of ILIAS (file upload, authoring tools, collaborative tools).

Example: Working groups for in-depth seminar topics

In many seminars at the university, part of the students' assessments consists in working on a topic in depth with other students (i.e. in a group). Some of these groups should also present their results later, this depends on the didactic concept of the seminar.

Teachers now have the possibility to set up "groups" in their ILIAS course on the different topics to be worked on. Students can then choose a desired topic by joining the corresponding group in the ILIAS course room. Similar to a course, you can now upload specific literature and work instructions in the different groups as well as collaborative tools for group work (e.g. forum, folder as upload area, Etherpad).

Tip: The number of group members can be limited if you want to initiate an even distribution of students among the different topics.

Methodical-didactical Hints

The course rooms on ILIAS can be designed and structured using different editors and ILIAS objects. The ILIAS object "group" offers useful options for this purpose.

Designing course rooms on ILIAS - Recording "Virtual lecture series of the HND BW“ (in German)