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1.2       albertel    1: \label{Creating_Groups}
1.1       raeburn     2: 
                      3: Groups within LON-CAPA courses support two main modes of use, described
                      4: below. When a group is first created, members can be assigned, or
                      5: they can be added later. It is also possible to configure a group
                      6: so that when a specified \emph{change} in a user's role and/or section
                      7: occurs, membership of the group is initiated or terminated for that
                      8: user. 
                      9: 
                     10: 
                     11: \paragraph{Modes of use: \emph{(a)} Section-like}
                     12: 
                     13: Groups can be collections of different users, e.g., for whom common
                     14: parameters are to be set, or data for display are to be filtered (e.g.,
                     15: CHRT). An example might be the case where a class has multiple sections,
                     16: some of which meet on Monday, some on Tuesday etc.. Students from
                     17: all Monday sections could be assigned to a group (e.g., named {}``monday'')
                     18: and then open date, due date and answer date parameters could be assigned
                     19: for the group. In the cascading parameter scheme employed in LON-CAPA,
                     20: group settings take precedence over section settings. An individual
                     21: student may be a member of more than one group (unlike a section -
                     22: where students are restricted to a single section, or no section).
                     23: If a particular parameter has been set for an individual student in
                     24: a number of groups, the parameter which takes precedence is the one
                     25: which is most specific (e.g., a resource-based group setting takes
                     26: precedence over a folder-based group setting, which in turn takes
                     27: precedence over a general group setting). For this mode of use, there
                     28: is no need to select any group tools when creating a group, as described
                     29: in (b).
                     30: 
                     31: 
                     32: \paragraph{Modes of use: \emph{(b)} Collaborative teams}
                     33: 
                     34: Groups can also be teams of users requiring access to collaborative
                     35: tools, e.g., to facilitate group project work. To support this mode
                     36: of use, a selection of collaborative tools are available for selection
                     37: when creating a group. Some or all of the tools selected for the group
                     38: can be assigned to group members. Each tool has one or more core privileges.
                     39: Most tools also have optional privileges. Tools currently available
1.3     ! hauer      40: are: Group chat rooms, Group discussion boards, Group portfolio, Group e-mail,
1.1       raeburn    41: Group roster and a Group homepage. 
                     42: 
                     43: When creating a group ... 
                     44: 
                     45: The creator defines the set of tools which are to be available in
                     46: the group. The group can be configured so all members have access
                     47: to this complete set of available tools. Alternatively, different
                     48: members can be assigned access to subsets of this complete toolset.
                     49: 
                     50: The group can be configured so all members receive identical privileges
                     51: for any tools they are assigned. This set of privileges comprises
                     52: the core privileges plus the default set of optional privileges. The
                     53: default set is specified when the course is created.
                     54: 
                     55: Alternatively, individual members can be assigned different privileges
                     56: for the particular tools assigned to them. In this case the privileges
                     57: will be the core privileges plus any specific optional privileges
                     58: granted for the tools assigned to them.
                     59: 
                     60: When group members are added automatically as a result of membership
                     61: triggered by specified role/section changes, those members receive
                     62: access to the complete set of tools available in the group, with the
                     63: corresponding core privileges plus default optional privileges. The
                     64: group access start and end dates members receive are the defaults
                     65: set for the group. If these defaults are changed in a group which
                     66: already has members then the start and end times for existing members
                     67: remain unchanged. However, existing members can be expired from the
                     68: group (if access is active), activated (if access starts in the future),
                     69: re-enabled (if access has already ended), and deleted from the group. 
                     70: 
                     71: If access to certain tools needs to be added or removed for specific
                     72: members, then the group settings for assignment of tools must be set
                     73: to \char`\"{}different members have different tools\char`\"{} before
                     74: attempting to modify user settings. This may require modifying the
                     75: group settings first from the \char`\"{}Modify default group setting\char`\"{}
                     76: menu.
                     77: 
                     78: The same is true if different privileges are to be assigned to different
                     79: members. In this case the \char`\"{}different members have different
                     80: privileges\char`\"{} setting must be modified if not already set,
                     81: before modifying user settings.
                     82: 
                     83: Course Coordinators receive the \char`\"{}Modify/Edit groups\char`\"{}
                     84: course-level privilege. This allows them to create and modify groups
                     85: in the course, and also to access all group tools available in any
                     86: group in the course. 
                     87: 
                     88: Instructors receive the \char`\"{}View course groups\char`\"{} course-level
                     89: privilege. This allows then to access all group tools available in
                     90: any group in the course. This type of access is not currently limited
                     91: by section affiliation, although this could be implemented in the
                     92: future.