Setting Up and Using a Facebook Group for Class

To set up a Group on Facebook for course discussion, providing course materials, and creating Events to serve as reminders for due dates, use the questions listed below.

Faculty and students do NOT have to be Facebook Friends to collaborate in a group.

Click the text of the question to reveal its answer.

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Creating a Facebook Group

How do I create a Facebook Group?

  1. On the left side of the Facebook Home page, click on GROUPS:
    Click Groups on the Facebook Home page
  2. Near the top of the Groups page, click the + Create Group button:
    Click Create Group
  3. In the Create Group dialog, there are three different fields to consider:
    Create Group dialog
    • Group Name: Give the group a descriptive name. It's a great idea to include the semester and year.
    • Members: Unfortunately, in order to create a Facebook Group, you MUST include at least one friend in the group. Since you may not be Facebook Friends with any students in the class, you can add a friend to the group to create it and immediately delete him or her once the group is successfully created. To add one or more group members, simply begin typing and using Facebook's autocomplete feature to select friends.
    • Privacy: There are three different privacy settings for a Facebook Group:
      • Closed: Closed is the default. Anyone can see the group and who's in it. Only members see posts.
      • Open: Anyone can see the group, who's in it, and what members post.
      • Secret: Only members see the group, who's in it, and what members post.
  4. After completing the fields in the Create Group dialog, click the Create button.

How can members be added to the Facebook Group?

If the privacy of the group is set to Open or Closed, members can get added to the group using these steps:

  1. Use the Search textbox located at the top of all Facebook pages:
    Search textbox
  2. The group should appear and allow students to select it.

    Group
  3. Users can click the Ask to Join Group in the upper right corner.
  4. Once a student sends the request to join the group, you can approve the request by clicking the Add button.
    Add member

Students can also request that other students who are their friends get added to the group using these steps:

  1. Students who are members of the group can click on the Add Friends to Group link.
    Add friends to group
  2. The student adding members can type the names of Facebook Friends in the Add Friends to Group dialog. He or she should click the Add button when finished adding friends.
    Add Friends
  3. Depending on the group settings, you may have to approve the request(s) to add them to the group.

How can members be deleted from the Facebook Group?

To delete members from the group, follow these steps:

  1. In the right column of the group page, click the See All link next to the Members heading.
    Members heading
  2. Find the member(s) you wish to delete and click the X all the way to the right of his or her name.
    Delete member
  3. Click the Confirm button to delete the member.
    Confirm

How can a Facebook Group be deleted?

To delete a Facebook Group, follow these steps:

  1. In the right column of the group page, click the See All link next to the Members heading.
    Members heading
  2. Begin deleting members by clicking the Xs all the way to the right of each member's name. Confirm as necessary. Do NOT delete  your name until all other members have been deleted.
  3. Delete yourself from the group, and click the Delete Group button to delete the group.
    Delete Group

What other Facebook Group settings can be configured?

To change additional settings for the Facebook Group, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Edit Group link in the right column of the group page:
    Edit Group link
  2. This offers six more options for the Facebook Group settings:

Group Picture

To specify a group picture:

  1. Click the Browse button.
  2. Locate the image to use as a picture and click Open.
  3. Edit the thumbnail if necessary.
    Edit Group Picture
  4. Click the Save button near the bottom of the page.
    Save button

Group Name

To change the name of the group:

  1. Type or modify the name in the Group Name textbox.
    Group Name
  2. Click the Save button near the bottom of the page.
    Save button

Privacy

To set the privacy for the group:

  1. Click the down arrow to select one of the three privacy options.
    Privacy Options
  2. There are three different privacy settings for a Facebook Group:
    • Closed: Closed is the default. Anyone can see the group and who's in it. Only members see posts.
    • Open: Anyone can see the group, who's in it, and what members post.
    • Secret: Only members see the group, who's in it, and what members post.
  3. Click the Save button near the bottom of the page.
    Save button

Membership Approval

To set the membership approval for the group:

  1. If you want it so only administrators (you and any admins you specify) can approve membership to the group, be sure the Membership Approval checkbox is checked:
    Membership Approval
  2. If you want to allow other members to be able to add students, be sure the checkbox is blank.
  3. Click the Save button near the bottom of the page.
    Save button

Email Address

To set up an email address to email all members of the group:

  1. Click the Set Up Group Email button.
    Setup Group Email
  2. Type the alias you wish to use for the group email and click the Create Email button.
    Create Email
  3. Click the Save button near the bottom of the page.
    Save button

Description

To provide a description of the group that students will see when searching for the group:

  1. Type the description of the group in the textarea.
    Description
  2. Click the Save button near the bottom of the page.
    Save button

Creating Events to Serve as Reminders of Due Dates

How can I create a reminder for an upcoming quiz or test?

To create a Facebook Event to serve as a reminder for a quiz or test, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Create Event link in the right column of the Facebook Group page.
    Create Event
  2. The Create an Event page will be similar to what is shown below. You can specify the date and time of a quiz or test, along with other details if you'd like.
    Create an Event
  3. I usually uncheck the options at the bottom, but ensure that the option to invite the members of the host group is selected.
  4. When finished specifying the options, click the Create Event button.
  5. Students in the group will receive a notification of the event. They can click the I'm Attending button to have the event show up on their Facebook Home page.
    I'm Attending button
  6. The event will then show up on the student's Facebook Home page as an Upcoming Event.
    Upcoming Event
  7. If the student clicks the link for the upcoming event, he or she will see something similar to:
    Event

How can I create a reminder for the due date of an assignment?

To create a Facebook Event to serve as a reminder for an assignment, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Create Event link in the right column of the Facebook Group page.
    Create Event
  2. The Create an Event page will be similar to what is shown below. You can specify the due date and time of an assignment, along with other details if you'd like. For the More info? section, you can type or paste instructions for the assignment, or you can paste a link to a Web page that contains instructions.

    Create an Event
  3. I usually uncheck the options at the bottom, but ensure that the option to invite the members of the host group is selected.
  4. When finished specifying the options, click the Create Event button.
  5. Students in the group will receive a notification of the event. They can click the I'm Attending button to have the event show up on their Facebook Home page.
    I'm Attending button
  6. The event will then show up on the student's Facebook Home page as an Upcoming Event.
    Upcoming events
  7. If the student clicks the link for the upcoming event, he or she will see something similar to:
    Assignment Event

Delivering Course Notes and Other Materials

How can I provide class notes to the Facebook Group?

To post class notes on the Facebook Group wall:

  1. Upload a file (like a PowerPoint file) to your faculty Web space.
  2. Write a post on the wall for the group, and paste a link to the file.
    Link to class notes.
  3. If you see weird characters because it tries to show a thumbnail preview of the file, click the X to remove the preview.
    Click the X to remove jibberish
  4. Click the Post button.
    Post
  5. The link to the notes will appear on the wall:
    Wall post
  6. Depending on the students' settings, they will receive a notification and/or an email that the notes were posted.

How can I post a video to the group wall?

To post a video to the group wall:

  1. At the top of the group page, click the Add Photo link.
    Add Photo
  2. Click the Upload Photo or Video link.
    Upload Photo or Video
  3. Type a description of the video and click the Browse button.
    Upload Video
  4. After browsing to the file, click Open.
  5. Click the Post button to begin uploading.
    Post
  6. Depending on the file size of the video, you may see this as the video is uploading.
    Uploading
  7. Click the Close button in this window when the video finishes uploading.
    Click Close
  8. The video and its description will appear on the wall. Depending on the students' settings, they will receive a notification and/or email message that the video was posted.
    Zip and Submit