Designed to ease the burden of administering assignments, GroupMaker favors responsiveness over accessibility, which is why GroupMaker is an internet application, requiring Microsoft Windows, rather than a web application that depends on a browser. For those without Windows, Microsoft Azure Dev Tools for Teaching includes Windows, which students may download for installation on Macs, provided they are students of an institution that subscribes to the program.
Students register individually into GroupMaker and may be assigned to groups. The instructor sets assignments that are designated either for individuals, groups, or the entire class. Each assignment includes instructions, form, character-number limit, and privacy attribute.
Click here to view a video showing how GroupMaker assists in managing assignments ancillary to cases and games. The original video is about 50 minutes long, but you can cut playback time down to about 33 minutes by clicking the 1x speed selection icon on the bottom right of the screen and selecting 1.5x.
Click here to download and install a demonstration version of GroupMaker. Registration for the demonstration application is optional. To enter the application without registering, on the Login dialog, enter a number from 1 through 9 into the password edit box. Then click the OK button, and the application’s main window will appear.
The number you entered is your fictitious class section for which you are the fictitious instructor. To create assignments for your fictitious students, select: File >> Administration >> Assignment >> Add to Last. Enter an assignment title in the Title edit box, change the default Enable state from Hide to Edit, and then click the Construct & Grade button. OK the query to execute the assignment. Then the Construct & Grade dialog will appear.
Type your assignment instructions in the edit box of the Instructions tab. Click on the edit box of the Form tab and construct the form that you want your students to use for their submissions. The form could be a questionnaire. Click OK when done. You have now created an assignment.
Proceed to open registration, thereby enabling students to register and submit assignments. Close the Set Assignment dialog, and then select the Options button. On the Options dialog, check and OK the open-registration box to enable students to register.
To see how students would complete the assignment, launch another session of GroupMaker, but this time select the Register button, and register yourself with a fictitious name. After entering all edit boxes, click the OK button. The application’s main window will then appear.
To work on an assignment, select: Action >> Assignment, followed by the identification of the assignment you created. With the Submission tab on top, type a few words, then click the OK button. Your fictitious student has now submitted the assignment.
To grade the assignment, return to the first session of GroupMaker and again select: Assignment >> click on the assignment in the list >> Instruct & Grade button. Click on the Comment tab to enter comments on the assignment. Enter the points that you would give the assignment in the Points edit box. The click OK. You have now graded the submission.
Close the Construct & Grade dialog. Students will see their grade and your comments when the Graded date of the assignment has passed.
Feel free to click anywhere in GroupMaker to see what else the application can do. To relaunch GroupMaker, go to Windows Start >> GEO Global Technology >> GroupMaker Demo. When a new version of GroupMaker is available, GroupMaker automatically updates itself when it is launched.