Securly Classroom is ISD’s new classroom computer management system that allows teachers to monitor, interact with students, control web access and offers some powerful instructional tools such as screen share and screen lock. It replaces DyKnow and we think key new features will make it a tool that supports engaging instruction when using student laptops.
Read on to learn about Classroom and how to get started.
Logging In
Use this link to log into Securly Classroom and then choose Sign-in with Microsoft Azure AD. This will prompt you to enter your ISD microsoft 365 credentials (your ISD email address and the same password you log into your comptuer with).
Once logged in, the browser will likely retain your credentials and allow you to click through on future visits.
Class Settings
Once logged in you will tiles for each of your classes. You can access the class settings by clicking on the three dots and choosing class settings from the menu. This is where you will see all of your students, class session options (such as close all tabs on start!) and schedule setting.
When you first get in, take a moment to give a nickname to your class that will make it easier for you to identify the correct course.
We also encourage you to set a class schedule for each class. Doing so will enable Classroom to start a monitoring session automatically, even if you are not logged into and running Classroom. This is a great implementation of set it and forget it! Be sure to differentitiate each day of the week by selecting different schedule so that you can account for the varied schedules and class lengths.
Running a Session
When you are back on your dashboard you can launch a session for any of your courses by clicking the play button to launch a session. It is important to note here that this doesn’t actually start the monitoring instead takes you to a window to review settings and students that will be monitored. Review and then launch
Once launched you will see student thumbnails like in DyKnow. One cool difference though is you can switch from a thumbnail view to a tab view that shows a student list with all their open tabs and apps listed next to their names.
At the top of your screen you will six buttons that give you quick access to some really useful features.
Screen Lock
Screen Lock allows you to replace the student’s entire screen and prevents them from using other windows and apps on the computer. You can lock an entire class or individual students. To unlock, click the releaase button at the far right (looks like an open lock.)
Site Lock
Site Lock allows the you to keep students on single web site or a group of sites. Again you can site lock an entire class or individual students.
Push URL
Push URL allows you to send a website or a group of websites out to your student devices, and it will automatically open them in new tabs on their computer. Like Screen Lock and Site Lock, you have the option to send to the entire class or individual students.
Share Your Screen
One cool upgrade is the share your screen button which allows you to share your screen out to student devices, and lock them into following you if you want. This feature works a lot like other screen share tools (Zoom and Teams) and you will be prompted to choose what screen or window you’d like to share. The icon will get a slash through it will screen sharing. Click on this to end your screen share.
Resources
There is a lot more to share about Securly Classroom and we will be doing so here at The BNP but also look for more info from your TOSA and Ed Tech Lead. In the meantime here are some excellent resources.
Back To School Tech Day Slide Deck (Thank You EK!)
Securly Classroom – Running a Class