Blackboard Ultra – Create Groups from timetable information

Contents

Staff guide: How to locate timetable information and import this as a group in Blackboard.

To import timetable information into Blackboard Original Groups please follow the first two steps; Locate timetable information and Create a list of usernames from the student email addresses, and then see the Blackboard Help Guide of Import and Export Groups.

Locate the timetable information

Visit the timetable webpages and locate a session from your personal timetable, or look up a module using the By Module tab.
Select the session and select More Information.
You should now see a list of all the students registered to this session.
Select Copy Student Email Addresses.

Create a list of usernames from the student email addresses

If you have a large list of students to import into the group, you may want to follow this guide to refine the list you have just copied:

Open Excel and paste the student email addresses into A1. This may paste as one long list.
Select cell A1.
Select the Data tab.
Select Text to Columns.
Select Delimited and then next.
Select Semicolon as the delimiter.

An Excel worksheet shows several email addresses separated by semicolons in one cell. Red numbered callouts point to the Data tab, Text to Columns option in the menu above the table, and the Delimited option in the wizard modal.

Select next until you can finish.
Highlight row 1 and copy.
Select Cell A2.
Select the Home tab and then Paste Special (using the little down arrow below the Paste button).

An Excel worksheet shows the email addresses in individual cells on row 1. Cell A2 is selected as the starting point for the now separated email addresses

Excel’s Paste menu is open, with Paste Special highlighted.

Select Transpose.

The Excel Paste Special dialog is open. The Transpose option is checked, with the OK button below.

Now you can delete the duplicate data in Row 1.

The original semicolon-separated email list is shown in row 1, marked with a red X. The addresses appear individually in cells A2 to A4.

You can now remove the “soton.ac.uk” to refine the list to usernames.
Select CTRL+F to bring up the Find and replace menu.
Select Replace.
In Find What:@soton.ac.uk.
Leave Replace with blank.
Select Replace All.

Excel’s Find and Replace dialog is set to find soton.ac.uk and replace it with nothing. Replace All is highlighted.

You now have a list of usernames you can paste into your Group Members import file. Save this for later.

An Excel column lists the email prefixes (with @soton.ac.uk removed), one per row.

Create and import the Group Set file

Create the template groups you would like to add the students to.

Go to the relevant Blackboard course site.
Select Groups.
Select Import Group Sets.
Select Download Group Sets template.

Blackboard Ultra’s Import Group Sets panel shows an upload area and a Download Group Sets template link, which is highlighted.

Open the file in Excel. Change the Title to your individual group names. Add and remove rows to add and remove groups.
Change the Group Sets for all Groups to something like Seminars.
When adding new groups, ensure they have a unique Group Code (column A) but the same Group Set (column D) as the other groups.
Set Self Enroll to N to change this to No.
Save the file.

A spreadsheet shows example columns for Group Code, Title, Description, Group Set, and Self Enroll, with three sample rows

Return to Blackboard (If you have closed the page return to Course > Groups > Import Group Set).
Upload the file and select Import.
You may need to wait a few moments and then refresh the page. You should see something like the image below:

Blackboard Ultra displays a list of group sets, including seminar and group-preparation examples. The names match the title from the previous excel spreadsheet image

Create and import the Group Members file

Select the group name or three dots to edit the group.
Select Import Groups or Members from the icons towards top right.

Two toolbar icons are shown: an upload symbol (arrow pointing up from a tray) and a download symbol (arrow pointing down into a tray).

Select Assign members.

Blackboard Ultra’s Import Groups or Members panel is open with Assign members selected. It shows a CSV upload area and a Download members template link.

Select Download members template.
Open the file in Excel. You can delete columns C, D, E and F.
You will need to Group Code information from the Group Set import file. Add this to column A.
Paste username details into column B.
Save the file.

A spreadsheet shows the required columns Group Code* and User Name*. Example rows assign aback and bblack to Seminars_1, and cblack to Seminars_2.

Return to Blackboard (If you have closed the page return to Course > Groups > Import Group Set)
Upload the file and select Import.
You may need to wait a few moments and then refresh the page. You should see something like the image below:

Blackboard Ultra shows two groups. “Jessie’s Group Tue 1pm” contains Charlie Blackboard; “Pat’s Group Mon 1am” contains Barry Blackboard and Arthur Blackboard. Each group also shows its description and member count.

Troubleshooting

I made my group set rather than importing it. How do I find out the group godes so that I can import members?

You can try exporting your group members to use this as a template file. You may need to add at least one student to each group for the export file to generate.

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