Restricting Student Class Joins
Showbie allows teachers the flexibility to co-teach and cross-teach within their districts. However, sometimes schools may prefer a more secure and focussed learning environment. We have added Student Permissions to help Admins control the classes their students can join.
Visit the School Settings section in the Admin Dashboard to manage Student Permissions:
As an Admin, choose whether to allow or prevent your students from joining classes external to your school. This will apply to all students found on your Students list in the Admin Dashboard.
We recommend reviewing this permission to determine what best fits your school's needs.
Allow External Class Joins
Toggle ON (green)
This is a great option if you share teachers within a district
Your students can request to join any class by class code, but will still need to be approved by a teacher
Prevent External Class Joins
Toggle OFF (gray, recommended) - more secure
Your students can only join classes that include an approved teacher at your school
Prevents students from accidentally joining classes led by teachers from other institutions or by unaffiliated teachers
💡 For instances where you would like to use the more secure setting, but also need to accommodate cross-school teaching (e.g., a music teacher shared amongst schools at your district), you can simply add a co-teacher from the relevant school to the class. This will allow students to join the class because it now includes an approved teacher from their school.
FAQ
Who do "Student Permissions" apply to?
Student Permissions apply to all students found on your Students list in the Admin Dashboard.
What happens when students try to join an external class (and "Allow Students to Join External Classes" is off)?
When a student tries to join a class which does not include at least one approved teacher at your school, they will get the error message "Class Unavailable."
But the class belongs to a legitimate teacher at my school! How do I correct this?
Simply invite the teacher to your school from the Admin Dashboard and have them accept the invitation via email in order for them to be added as an approved member of your school in Showbie. Approved teachers will appear in your Teachers list in the Admin Dashboard.
Does "Allow Students to Join External Classes" affect current class memberships?
No, current class memberships remain as they are. If you toggle this setting off (more secure), it will only affect your students' ability to join classes in the future.