Brightspace by D2L Tips: Self-Enroll Groups as Sign Up Sheets

Using self-enroll groups in Brightspace by D2L is a great alternative to using a spreadsheet as a sign up sheet for presentations or office hours. Set the group names to the desired dates/times and students will be able to enroll in a group as well as unenroll if needed. Instructors can also manually enroll or unenroll students. Export the classlist from the grade book with the group membership option checked to download a list of students and the group they chose.

Create Self-Enroll Groups in D2L

1. Go to Communication -> Groups in the navbar.
2. Click New Category and give it a name.
3. Change the Enrollment Type to # of Groups, Capacity of # - Self Enrollment.
4. Enter the maximum number of students who can enroll in a group under Number of Users and enter the total number of desired groups under Number of Groups.
5. Open the Advanced Properties if you need to set an expiration date for when students can no longer self enroll or change to a different group.
6. For presentations, you may also want to set up group assignments so that students can easily submit their presentation file.
7. Click Save and the groups will be created.
8. Click on each group's name to rename it.
9. Add a quicklink to the self-enrollment group in an Announcement or on a Content page, or direct students to Communication -> Groups. If you have the permissions to impersonate a student, you can see what the self enroll process looks like.
10. After students have finished enrolling, go to Assessments -> Grades -> Enter Grades and click Export. Click the box next to Group Membership and choose either Export to CSV or Export to Excel to download the spreadsheet.
11. If you need to manually enroll students in a group or want to clear out the groups to re-use them, click the down arrow by the category name and choose Enroll Users.