Student Management

Determine How Students Will Sign In

When you set up a CS First class, you will need to decide how you would like your students to sign in. The options for signing in to CS First as a student are:

  1. With a CS First issued student account.

  2. With a Google Workspace for Education account.

Important considerations to keep in mind when determining how students sign in:

  • All students in a class must use the same sign in method, either with Google accounts or CS First accounts.

  • No matter what sign in method a student uses, they must sign in to CS First in order to create and turn in their projects, and for a teacher to track their progress and view their projects.

  • It's a good idea to document your students and their account info outside of your CS First dashboard.

    • If you batch create CS First accounts, you will automatically receive a file download of your roster in CSV format. There you can add student names as you assign accounts to your students.

    • You may also consider encouraging students to write down their username and password in a secure location. There is space for students to write down their usernames and passwords on the back of the student certificates.

 

CS First Student Accounts

About

CS First student accounts are randomly assigned and are not associated with students’ names. Students can create their own CS First student accounts using the unique class URL or class code shared by their teacher (instructions here). Teachers can also batch create CS First student accounts and assign them to students. Passwords are not stored on the CS First website, so teachers and students are encouraged to document passwords separately and securely. Once student accounts are created, teachers can manually add students' names to their CS First roster.
 

Adding Students with CS First Student Accounts

You have two options to add students using CS First issued student accounts:

  1. Share your class URL and let students create their own accounts.

  2. Batch create all the accounts all at once.

Option 1: Invite students to your CS First class via class URL

Teacher Instructions

  1. Visit your CS First teacher dashboard.
  2. Click on the class you need the url for.
  3. Click on the share icon (to the right of your class code) in your class header. The class URL will look something like this: csfirst.withgoogle.com/signin/afk6pb.

Student Instructions

  1. Visit the unique class URL that the teacher has shared. It will look something like this: csfirst.withgoogle.com/signin/afk6pb.
  2. If the teacher already provided students with a username and password, they should enter it at the Sign in screen and then proceed to Step 4. If the teacher did NOT pre-assign students usernames and passwords, students should click Create an account at the bottom of the sign-in screen and proceed to Step 3.
  3. Follow the prompts (i.e., write down their new username and password and share it with their teacher).
  4. Click Sign in and students should be automatically directed to their dashboard that shows the classes they are in. 

Option 2: Add students in a batch to a class

Teacher Instructions

  1. Sign in to your Teacher Account in CS First.
  2. Click on the class card for the class you want to add students.
  3. Click on the People tab (to the right of Units).
  4. Click Add students.
  5. Select the number of students you would like to add to your class. You can also add student names during this step, or wait to add them manually (see Step 8 below).
  6. Click Create accounts & download roster.
  7. The roster will be automatically downloaded to your device with the file name: CS First Roster - [Class name] (class code).csv. For example: CS First Roster - Coding Camp Spring 2021 (afk6pb).csv.
  8. You can manually add students’ names to your roster by hovering over the name area next to each student until the pencil icon appears, then click to add the name for that student. Note: Student names added to your roster will only appear on the computer and browser that you enter them on. If you sign in to CS First on a different computer or browser, the names will not appear.

Google Workspace for Education Accounts

Note that all students must have a Google Workspace for Education Account in order to follow these instructions. 

Adding Students with Google Workspace for Education Accounts

  1. Share your class url with your students then have them choose the Sign in with Google option when signing in.
  2.  If you use Google Classroom, you can choose to import your Google Classroom roster and students will automatically receive an invite upon signing in.

Note: If you or your students have trouble accessing CS First with Google Workspace for Education accounts, please contact your domain administrator to receive an overview of your organization’s Google services. You can find information about how to identify your domain administrator here. In order to access CS First with a Google Workspace for Education account, your domain administrator will need to enable CS First as an additional service (more info).

Option 1: Invite students to your CS First class via class URL

If you are not using Google Classroom, you can invite students who have Google Workspace for Education accounts to your CS First class by sending your class URL. 

Teacher Instructions

  1. Visit your CS First teacher dashboard.
  2. Click on the class you need the url for.

Click on the share icon (to the right of your class code) in your class header. The class URL will look something like this: csfirst.withgoogle.com/signin/afk6pb.

Student Instructions

  1. Visit the unique class URL that the teacher has shared. It will look something like this: csfirst.withgoogle.com/signin/afk6pb.
  2. Sign in with their Google Workspace for Education account.
  3. Accept the invitation (click Join Class) when prompted after signing in.

Option 2: Import your class roster from Google Classroom

Teacher Instructions

  1. From your dashboard, click Create class.
  2. Choose classes from Google Classroom to import.
  3. Click Import.

Important steps to ensure a successful import from Google Classroom to CS First:

  • Ensure you have set up a class in Google Classroom.
  • Ensure you have added students to your class in Google Classroom.
  • Ensure your students have joined the class in Google Classroom (with their Google Workspace for Education student accounts, not personal accounts).
  • Sign in to CS First (with your Google Workspace for Education account).
  • If you haven't already connected your CS First account with Google Classroom, follow the steps to Connect your CS First account with Google Classroom. If you've already connected your two accounts, proceed to Step 6.
  • From your CS First dashboard, click Create class.
  • Select the Google Classroom class you would like to import and click Import.
  • Have your students sign in to CS First (using their Google Workspace for Education accounts) and they will be directed to their dashboard where they can access their class. They do not need a special code or invitation.

Students Instructions

  1. Visit the CS First website.
  2. Click Sign in.
  3. Click I am a student.
  4. Select Sign in with Google and log in with their Google Workspace for Education account. Students will be directed to their CS First dashboard where their Classroom class is visible and available to access.

Please note: When you import a class from Google Classroom, all students and co-teachers are automatically added to your CS First class as long as they have accepted your initial invitation to join your Google Classroom class and are also using a Google Workspace for Education account. Students will not receive an email or a class code directing them to a class.

CS First will provide messaging if you have students or co-teacher accounts that didn't properly sync.

Here are two reasons why a student account from Classroom might not sync with CS First:

  1. The student is using a personal gmail account with Classroom. CS First will not work if students are using a personal gmail account. They must use a Google Workspace for Education student account.
  2. The student (or co-teacher) never accepted the initial invitation to join your Classroom class. If this is the case, students will not appear in CS First at all. They need to accept their initial invitation to Classroom first.

CS First Class Limits

To ensure the best experience for all of our users, CS First classes are limited in the following ways:
  • Max # of GCIP (CSF) student accounts: 250
  • Max # of GWFE student accounts: No restriction
  • Max # of course creations per teacher per week: 20

Add existing students to additional CS First classes

To move a student from one CS First class to another, follow the steps below.

Using CS First Student Accounts

  1. Once you've set up a new CS First class, share that new class URL or class code with your student.
  2. Have the student click Create an account at the bottom of the Student sign in page.
  3. Ensure the student's username and password are recorded for reference. Please note: when using CS First accounts, a different username and password is required for each new class (or class code). We recommend documenting the corresponding class code for each separate account.

Using Google Workspace for Education Accounts

  1. Give the student the new class URL or class code.
  2. Have the student sign in as usual (with their Google account), when prompted, click Join Class, and the student should be directed to their student dashboard.

  3. If you want to remove that student from a previous class, ensure you have completed steps 1 and 2 to ensure they are in your new class, then follow these steps to remove them from the old one. 

Using Google Classroom

Add the student to your Google Classroom class. Your CS First roster will automatically sync with your Classroom roster every 24 hours. If you need to sync your roster manually (i.e., in between the automatic 24 hour sync), you can do so by following these steps:

  1. Sign in to your CS First dashboard.
  2. Click on the class you need to update.
  3. Navigate to the People tab (to the right of Units) for that class.
  4. Scroll down, and click the Import changes button at the bottom of the page.

Add Names to Student Accounts

If you opted to have your students sign in with CS First accounts, you will not see any names associated with the accounts. To add names to your roster:

  1. Visit your Classes page and click on the people icon for your class.
  2. Click on Add name for each student account.

Please note: Student names are not saved on the internet or Google’s servers, they are only saved on the device and browser where you (the teacher) entered them. If student names are not appearing for you, try signing in on the same device/browser you used to enter them on.

It's a good idea to document your students and their account info in your  downloaded roster or by using your own tracking method (i.e., a spreadsheet).

 

Reset Student Passwords

  1. Visit your Dashboard.
  2. Click on the people icon for your class.
  3. Find the student account whose password you want to reset.
  4. Click on the three vertical dots at the right of the student account.
  5. Click Reset password.
  6. A confirmation message will appear on your screen. Click Reset & download new password.
  7. The new password will appear on screen and will be downloaded to your device with file name formatted like this: CS First Password Reset - Student username - Class name (class code).csv.

View your students’ projects

To view your students’ projects in CS First:

  1. Visit your Classes page.
  2. Click on the class you want to access.
  3. Click on the People tab (next to Units).
  4. Click on the clipboard icon (on the far right of each row) to access each student’s draft or submitted projects.

To view your students’ projects in Google Classroom:

If students have shared their projects to Google Classroom, use your teacher account to sign into Google Classroom and navigate to Student Work.

Note: Your assignment must have a due date in order for students to be able to share their CS First projects in the Scratch for CS First editor, and for you to be able to access their projects via Google Classroom. 

Peer sharing of CS First Projects

Students cannot directly share their projects with one another in Scratch for CS First. For some ideas of how to foster collaboration among students visit Share student projects.

Remove Students

To remove a student from your class:

  1. Visit your Classes page.
  2. Click on the class you want to access.
  3. Click on the People tab (next to Units).
  4. Hover over a student’s row.
  5. Click the three vertical dots on the far right side of the row.
  6. Click Remove student from class.

If you imported your student roster from Google Classroom, follow these steps:

  1. Delete the student in Google Classroom.
  2. Sign in to CS First.
  3. Navigate to your class in CS First.
  4. Open the People page for that class.
  5. On the right side, click Import changes.

Troubleshoot Students’ “Invite Pending” Status

The reason for the “invite pending” error message is for one of the following reasons:

  1. The student is using a personal gmail account with Classroom. CS First will not work if students are using a personal gmail account. They must use a Google Workspace for Education student account.
  2. The student never accepted the initial invitation to join your Classroom class. If this is the case, students will not appear in CS First at all. They need to accept their initial invitation to Classroom first.
  3. The student is signed in as a teacher. Make sure that the student is signed in under a student account. If they are signed in as a teacher, please follow the instructions to change their account back to a student account.

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