How can activities be restricted so that only group members can access them?

When launching an activity,  there are two key settings to check:
Assigning the activity to a Group, and
Setting how Participants access the activity.
 
Assigning the activity to a Group determines how the results from the activity will be organised.  If the activity is not set to a Group, then later analysis by group (eg by class or by course) would be impossible.  Generally we recommend that this setting be set by default to force the selection of a Group for every activity when it is run.  
 
Setting how the activity is to be accessed  by participants, determines how rigorously you identify who is accessing the activity.  There are several options:
- "Alias only" - this is the least secure method.  As there is no specified ID, participants who use alias to access activities  cannot be individually tracked across sessions; 
- "ID only" - this performs all the required tracking by participant.  However, anyone with a valid ID can enter even if not part of the group.  This is often desirable eg when students in a university have not yet enrolled in a course but still require participation during the first few weeks of course;
- "ID or Alias" -  This allows participants to choose to use an alias instead of an ID eg if they are guests and do not have an ID, or if they wish to remain anonymous;
- "Selected Group Only": this locks the session access to only members of that group.  Other ID holders cannot gain entry to the activity.  This is frequently required, and in some institutions is the default access method.  Be aware however that any participants not "enrolled" into the course, cannot access the activity!
 
It is possible to set your groups up such that self-enrollment by participants is permitted.  In this case, group-only access is the preferred access method.

Categories: Xorro-Q, Facilitators.