Site User Segments vs Course Groups
OVERVIEW
User segments and groups are two helpful ways of grouping users at the site and course levels, respectively. This enables targeted communication and streamlined enrollment processes.
Use Case Example:
Suppose you are a training manager in a large organization and you are conducting a mandatory compliance training program for its employees. The organization has multiple departments, including HR, Finance, IT, and Operations and you want to separate each training program group effectively within the LMS.
By creating user segments and course groups the training manager can, for example, send department-specific announcements or quickly enroll all members of a particular department in a relevant course. This allows the training manager to tailor course content, assignments, and discussions to each specific group.
It also enables the gradebook to be organized and analyzed on a per-group basis, providing valuable insights into individual team performance.
USER SEGMENTS
A user segments is a collection of users at site-wide level, e.g., a department of an organization. The purpose of user segments is to enable mass actions, e.g., easily enrolling all members of a specific user segment into a course, or communicating with the members of a specific user segment.
GROUPS
A group is a collection of users at course level, e.g., a team working together within a specific course. Creating groups within your courses will allow you to separate course content and user information. The gradebook can also be split by group.
Visually: