Organising Students in Canvas: Groups vs Sections vs Differentiation Tags
This article will compare the features available for organising students into groups vs into sections.
| Groups | Sections | Differentiation Tags | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visible to students |
Yes | Yes | No |
| Take attendance (using Qwicky) using just this grouping of students? | Yes | Yes | No |
| Sort gradebook by | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Assign To feature functions with | No | Yes | Yes |
| Groupwork (1 student submits assignment on behalf of group) | Yes | No | No |
| Discussion boards | Assign discussion boards to specific groups | Discussion boards can be visible only to selected sections using Assign to feature | Discussion boards can be visible only to selected tag grouping using Assign to feature |
| Can be created by uploading a formatted spreadsheet | Yes | Yes* (with assistance from CELT) | Yes |
The intended use for groups is to give students an opportunity to collaborate together in the group space and to submit one assignment on behalf of the entire group.
Groups have their own sub-course within the main Canvas course shell, in which group members can send one another announcements, set up discussion boards and share files. Anyone with a Teacher role can click into these and see student activity if they wish, but will not receive notifications or alerts to the students' activities.
It is also a useful feature for filtering the gradebook, should you wish to assign specific students (or randomly assign them) to groups for any purpose, as in the instance of multiple markers. However, it's important not to apply the 'group assignment' feature to any assignments requiring individual submission, as this is only for filtering, not student submission.
Teacher users can also use the inbox feature in Canvas to message all the students in a group.
Never use groups as a method of having students submit private information, like health certificates. Anything uploaded to a group is visible to any of the students also enrolled in the same group.
Groups cannot be used to:
- send an announcement to only 1 group
- create an individual assignment with different due dates for a specific student, or set of students
- assign or limit access to one or more modules (in the modules section of a course)
Anyone with a Teacher role in the course can set up Group sets and assign students to them - or, alternatively, allow students to self-enroll into the Group sets.
The restriction on manual enrolment of students prevents Teacher users from adding student into sections. In order to request that your students be put into sections, please access this Form and follow all instructions: Form to Request Sections in a Canvas course.
All users in a course are enrolled into the default section, which is the same name as your module. You can find the area for creating additional sections by clicking Settings in your course and then access the Sections tab at the top of the page.
All students must remain enrolled in the default section. Additional sections can be created so that students are enrolled in both the default section and additional sections.
The intended use for sections is to organise students into different categories. If you have a circumstance in which you would like to send announcements to only some students and not others, create assignments for some and not others - or create the same assignment but with different due dates. Teacher users can also filter the gradebook by section.
Some potential uses cases for this would be:
- students with different course instances are enrolled in one module - and they complete different assignments or have different due dates
- students with the same extension for an assignment (e.g. 50% extra time)
- students enrolled in different tutorials that meet at different times - with the same assignments but different dues dates, depending on when they meet
- taking attendance using Qwickly for tutorials, in order to avoid marking students absent who are not expected to attend
- a course that runs in both semester 1 and semester 2
Differentiation tags are a feature launched in summer 2025. Find the option to Tag and Manage Tags in People in any Canvas course you are enrolled in as a Teacher role.
To use Differentiation Tags, click the Tag As button or Manage Tags to create Tag sets. Then, use the tick boxes to assign students to the tags.
You can create subsets of Tags, for example:
LENS Report Students
- Students with 1 day extra time
- Students with 2 days extra time
- Students with 3 days extra time
- Students with 100% extra time on seated exams
Differentiation Tags allow you to 'tag' or group students in a way that is not seen or known to the students. The tags allow one to:
- Filter the gradebook according to tag
- Inbox message according to tag (or group, or section)
- Use the Assign to feature for assignments, pages, discussions, modules - providing different due dates or open/close dates by tag (not compatible with standard Turnitin assignments).
Tags are recommended for:
- assigning markers, when there are multiple markers assigned to specific students (gradebook filtering)
- identifying students with extra time/accommodations
- identifying separate cohorts within the larger module enrollment (e.g. assigning different assignments or deadlines for students grouped within the same course instances, or general nursing students / mental health nursing students / midwifery students all within one module).
- identifying students who missed an exam
- differentiating between a microcredential cohort and a standard student cohort in one module
For more information on Differentiation Tags, find Canvas's guide at this link: FAQs on Differentiation Tags.