Google Groups For Classes
Soon after registration begins for a new term a Google Group is created for each course in Banner. This group is temporary and will be deleted one year after the term ends.
On this page
Understanding Automatic Class Groups
Groups are temporary, and therefore best used as a tool for faculty wishing to give one-way announcements to their class (such as cancellations or assignment updates). All group history will be deleted at the end of the term. However, a copy of the email sent to the group can be found in the sender's Sent mail folder. Faculty wishing to record an online discussion for purposes of tracking course participation are encouraged to use Canvas.
Features of these groups include:
Groups will be visible only to the instructor assigned to the course.
Banner Add/Drops will be automatically updated to the group.
Instructors may delegate management of the group, and add/remove group members.
Note: When the instructor adds group members who are not enrolled in the course, they should change the member's role to Manager. Otherwise the user will be automatically removed from the Google Group at the end of the day.
Send an Email to Your Classlist Using Google Groups
Sign in to your Gmail account at mail.pdx.edu.
Select Compose.
In the To field, start typing the course name, and look for your course from the auto-complete group options. Make sure you verify the section and term you select.
The format for the automatic Google group is: course-[department abbreviation]-[course number]-[course section number]-[course year WITH four digit term code]-group@pdx.edu (for example, “course-ling-470-002-201701-group@pdx.edu”)Compose and send your email as needed.
Further Resources
To find any Google Group, access the groups link located in the top right area of any pdx.edu Google application, like Calendar (cal.pdx.edu). This can be done using any device with internet access.
To learn how to use Google Chat to create Google Spaces for you and your students to converse on course topics, visit our Google Chat Overview article.
Please see Google Groups Help and the Google Groups Learning Center for more information on how to use Google Groups.