This article explains the relevant differences between groups and sections for instructors, and answers some frequently asked questions.
What are Sections?
Sections are used to group students, instructors, and content, which is useful for course organization and administration.
Grouping students:
Sections in Brightspace are used to divide courses into different groups of students. It is usually used when one course has multiple parallel sessions with different instructors or at different locations. Each section usually has its own set of students and instructors, and they can be managed separately. Sections can be used, for example, in the case of the same course being taught in different time slots or at different locations.
Content management:
Sections can also be used to organize content and make specific teaching materials available to specific groups of students. For example, instructors can make certain documents, assignments or discussions only available for a specific section.
Access control:
Sections allow instructors to restrict access to content based on the section a student is assigned to. This can be useful if there is content that is only intended for a specific group of students or if certain deadlines or tests are different for different sections.
Communication:
Sections can also be used for communication within a course. Instructors can target announcements, discussion forums or emails specifically to a particular section, so that the communication is relevant to the group of students in question.
In general, sections in Brightspace provide a way to structure courses, group students, and manage access to content based on specific groups. This helps instructors organize and manage their course materials and communications, better tailoring the learning experience to the needs of different groups of students.
What is the difference between Groups and Sections?
Groups in Brightspace are used to organize and collaborate students based on specific criteria. Groups allow instructors to divide students into smaller units to collaborate on assignments, projects, or discussions. Teachers can create groups based on various criteria, such as random allocations, self-selection, or manual allocation. Groups can also have specific tools and features, such as a group calendar, group discussion forum, or group work submission.
Sections in Brightspace are used to split courses into different groups of students. It is usually used when one course has multiple parallel sessions with different instructors or in different locations. Each section typically has its own set of students and instructors, and they can be managed separately. For example, sections can be used in the case of the same course being taught in different time slots or in different locations.
In a nutshell, groups are used to organize students within a course and allow them to collaborate, while sections are used to split courses into several parallel groups of students and instructors.
How do I create sections?
In the future, the creation of sections will be automatic through an integration with OSIRIS (the replacement for BISON). Until then, you can request sections from your academy's Brightspace contact person.
How do I create section specific Groups?
If Sections are enabled, the Create Group Category menu will show an option Restrict Enrollments To. This option allows instructors to create group categories for all users, or only for users in a Section.