How do I create a group?

Group management allows you to create learning groups or entire classes that remain intact across multiple courses. This is particularly useful when the same cohort of students are to be enrolled in different courses, for example, when a cohort moves up together to a new course at the end of an academic year. Instead of enrolling students individually in each new course, the entire group can be added with a single click. Changes to the group (e.g. when a new student joins) are automatically synchronised with all courses in which the group is enrolled. Important: This feature is only available to licence holders, i.e. it cannot be used in test mode. The directory may need to be activated first. If you would like to use this feature, please contact us at info@brian.study.

Click on Directory in the main menu. Here you will see an overview of all groups and users at your institution.

Click on "+ Create group".

Give the group a name (e.g. "Algebra 1, 2025-2028") and set a timeframe for the group. This timeframe defines when the group is considered "active". This will help you keep track of groups and make it possible to filter for active groups.

Add the desired members (both students and teachers) to the group.

Important: A teacher must be a member of a group in order to be able to manage that group and enroll it in their courses.

Go to the desired course and click on "Students". Make sure that at least one course timeframe has been created. Then click on "+ Enrol Students". You can find more information about enrolment options here. Then click on "By directory" in the menu that opens and select "Group".

Select the desired group from the list. With one click, all members of the group will be enrolled in the course.

One of the biggest advantages of groups is their automatic synchronisation. This means that if you remove a member of the group from the directory or add a new one, this change is automatically applied to all courses in which the group is enrolled. This saves you from having to add or remove the person individually in each course. Recognising synchronised members: Students who have been enrolled via a group are marked with a small synchronisation icon in the student list.

In addition to a synchronised group, you can also add individual students to a course. These can be enrolled individually by email, course code, or via the directory. These manually added students do not have a synchronisation icon, and their participation is not affected by changes to the group.

If you would like to automatically import or synchronise existing class lists from another system as groups in Brian, please contact us at info@brian.study.