As a teacher, we understand that security is a high priority when using Showbie to enhance your classroom experience. These are our recommended security best practices to safeguard your Showbie teacher account and protect your sensitive data. By following these guidelines, you can ensure a safe and secure digital learning environment for your students.

By following these security best practices, you can help to ensure the protection of your Showbie account and your students' data. Remember as well that your school or district may have additional security requirements and guidelines for you to follow in addition to our recommendations.

When you sign up for a Showbie account, it's important to verify your email address. This step confirms your identity and prevents unauthorized access to your account. Check your inbox for a confirmation email from Showbie and follow the instructions to complete the verification process. If you don't receive the email, remember to check your spam or junk folder. Your administrator can also resend your confirmation email from within the Admin Dashboard.

Creating a strong password is your first line of defense against potential security threats. Follow these requirements when choosing a password:

We recommend updating your password periodically to maintain account security. Choose a new password that is unique and not used for any other accounts. Remember, a strong password is an essential step in safeguarding your Showbie account.

For added security and convenience, Showbie supports Single Sign-On (SSO) integration with providers such as Google and Microsoft. SSO allows you to log in to Showbie using your existing educational account credentials, reducing the need for separate usernames and passwords. Implementing SSO strengthens the security of your Showbie account and simplifies the login process for you and your students. You can create your account with SSO, or enable SSO in an existing account.

Showbie provides the convenience of QR code logins for quick and secure access to student accounts, which can be especially helpful for young learners who may not be confident to login with a username and password. When sharing QR code logins with students, it's important to follow these guidelines:

While Showbie has taken steps to ensure student login QR codes are not easily identifiable out of context, remember to be careful about where they are shared or where physical copies are made accessible for your students.

By default, when you create a class or group it will be open for students or other teachers to join. When a class is open to join, students can enter your class code, and right away they will be admitted to your class and can see all the content. After two weeks of being open, the class will automatically change to join by approval. This is done automatically to enhance the security of your classes, though we recommend that you change the class join settings earlier if you are confident that all intended students have already joined the class. This includes changing the class to "closed" so that no new students or teachers can join or request to join.

The same settings apply to groups in that they will be open for two weeks by default, after which they will automatically change to join by approval. These settings, including the closed group setting, are available to be changed at any time. Keep in mind that group join settings will apply to all user types (teachers, parents and students) and can only be changed by teachers who are designated as owners of the group.

To prevent unauthorized access, always remember to log out of your Showbie account when you have finished using it, especially if you are on a shared or public device, and never leave your device unattended while logged into Showbie. Additionally, it is advisable not to leave your account logged in for extended periods, even on personal devices. This practice ensures that your account remains secure, and your sensitive data remains protected.

Once a class is no longer active, such as at the end of a term or a school year, you should be in the habit of archiving the class. Not only will this keep your and your student's class lists tidy with only current classes visible, but it also prevents users from accessing or interacting with sensitive class content when the class is no longer actively being monitored. Should students need ongoing access to any content contained in a class you'd like to archive, you can add that content to their portfolio where it will remain visible to you both. Remember though that deleting a class will also delete any content saved in student portfolios.

When sharing information pertaining to Showbie, such as communicating login credentials to students, sending Parent Codes to parent users, sharing your Class Codes, etc., keep in mind that extra precautions need to be taken to ensure student and other user data accessible via these means will remain protected. Do not write sensitive Showbie information down and leave it accessible in a public space. Avoid accessing Showbie on public Wi-Fi networks, or, if necessary, use a VPN when using a public or unsecured network. Review and configure the privacy settings on devices that you use to access Showbie and do not leave your device logged in and/or unattended. Ensure that you are confident in the identity of individuals whom you are sharing Showbie information with and their need for access to that information. Be cautious of phishing emails and avoid clicking on suspicious links or attachments. If you are ever uncertain about the legitimacy of a communication you have received from Showbie, do not hesitate to contact support@showbie.com to verify the communication before responding. Review your account notification settings as well to limit the dispersion of account data and information to only those notifications that you regularly require.