Overview
If LanSchool is going to be used in a 1:1 environment, where every student has their own device and is moving from class to class, it is recommended to use LanSchool Classic's Class List feature. The feature allows teachers to quickly load students into their class for that class period. It also prevents teachers from seeing student devices that are not in their class. See
Planning Your Implementation for more details.
Prepare a Class List Implementation
Before beginning to create class lists, the channel assignment must be determined first.
- Set up all student computers with a default “home” channel that is not used by any teachers. For instance, in a middle school you could assign the 7th graders to channel 7, 8th graders to channel 8, and 9th graders to channel 9. Alternately, you could assign a single channel to the entire student body.
- Set up each teacher on their own unique channel. Using the teacher’s classroom number works well for many schools. If you are using an LCS, consider using the auto-assignment feature.
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Install the student computers with the default option not to change channels.
A teacher can complete the option to create class lists. This option is recommended for smaller schools and classrooms.
Before browsing for the students, every student required for the class must be logged into their device.
- On the Teacher Console, from the Class List menu or toolbar menu, select Manual Class Lists...
- The Manage Manual Class Lists window and Load Manual Class List window display. Determine which method below to use to select students, and then select the appropriate radio button:
- Student Login Name
- Student Machine Name
- Student Full Name (from Active Directory in Windows environments)
- Select Add... under Search network for students :
- Select the check box(es) next to the appropriate students for the class, and then select Add.
- Select Save As, enter a name for your class, and then select Save. Class Lists are saved with an .lsc extension.
- Close the Manage Manual Class Lists window. The Load Manual Class List window displays the newly created class list.
- Select the appropriate class list. You can choose to have the class automatically dismiss by selecting Automatically dismiss class.
- Select Dismiss at default end time: to end your class at a specific time. This will become the normal end time every time the class is loaded.
- Select Dismiss __ minutes from now to specify a certain number of minutes from start time to dismissal time.
- Select Start Class. The class is now loaded, and a list of students who are are logged into their devices displays. Any student who is not logged in will appear as a "Missing Student."
- To manually dismiss the class, select Dismiss Current Class from the Class List menu or toolbar menu.
- If auto dismissal was chosen, a countdown displays at the bottom of the Teacher Console. When the countdown reaches one minute, it starts to flash at the bottom of the Teacher Console. A dismissal warning dialog displays, showing that the class will be dismissed.
- If desired, select Dismiss class now to dismiss the class or Add 2 minutes to class to delay the automatic dismissal.
Creating Another Class List by Searching on the Network
- To create more than one class by searching on the network. Click on Class List>>Manual Class Lists...
- Click on Edit...
- Click on New... and name your new class.
- You can now create a new class list following the previous steps from Creating Class List by Searching on the Network.
- Once you add the students select Save.
Editing Class Lists Created by Searching on the Network
- To edit already created class lists, click on Class List>>Manual Class Lists...
- Select the class you want to Edit.
- Click on Edit...
- Removing a Student- Select a student you want to remove from the class list and click on the minus button at the bottom of the window.
- Adding a Student- To add a new student to the class you can click on Add... and add them from the network or you can click on the plus button at the bottom of the window and enter their login name, machine name or Active Directory name.
- Once you class has been adjusted. Click Save.
Deleting Class Lists Created by Searching on the Network
To delete a class list that was created by searching on the network, locate the class .lsc file on your device and delete the file.
Next time you go to Class List>>Manual Class List you will be prompted that the file cannot be found and if you would like to remove the class from the list. Click Yes.
Creating a Class List from a CSV File
Either a teacher or the school's IT support can create a class from a static CSV file.
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Create a CSV file that lists the students by one of these:
- Student Login Name
- Student Machine Name
- Student Name (from Active Directory in Windows environments)
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On the Teacher Console, select Manual Class Lists from the Class List menu or toolbar menu.
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The Manage Manual Class Lists and Load Manual Class List windows display.
- Select one of these options, depending on how the CSV file was created:
- Login Name
- Machine Name
- Active Directory Name
- Select Import.
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Select Save As, enter a name for your class, and then select Save. Class Lists are saved with an .lsc extension.
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Close the Manage Manual Class Lists window. The Load Manual Class List window displays the new class list.
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Select the appropriate class list. You can choose to have the class automatically dismiss by selecting Automatically dismiss class:
- Select Dismiss at default end time: to end your class at a specific time. This will become the normal end time every time the class is loaded.
- Select Dismiss __ minutes from now to specify a certain number of minutes from start time to dismissal time.
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Select Start Class. The class is now loaded, and you should see your students that are logged into their devices. Any student that is not logged in will appear as a "Missing Student."
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To manually dismiss the class, select Dismiss Current Class from the Class List menu or toolbar menu.
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If auto dismissal was chosen, a countdown displays at the bottom of the Teacher Console.
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When the countdown reaches one minute, it starts to flash at the bottom of the Teacher Console. A dismissal warning dialog displays, showing that the class will be dismissed. If desired, select Dismiss class now to dismiss the class or Add 2 minutes to class to delay the automatic dismissal.
Editing Class Lists Created by a CSV File
To add or remove students to class lists that were created using a CSV file you will first need to edit the CSV file that was used and then reupload the file following the steps from Creating Class Lists from a CSV File.
Deleting Class Lists Created by a CSV File
To delete a class list that was created by a CSV file, locate the class .lsc file on your device and delete the file.
Next time you go to Class List>>Manual Class List you will be prompted that the file cannot be found and if you would like to remove the class from the list. Click Yes.
The school's IT support should complete this option. This is recommended for large school districts where browsing for students can cause issues due to the large amount of students appearing in the Teacher Console.
Due to the complexity and number of different Student Information Systems that exist, LanSchool takes a generic approach to utilizing these tools. It is recommended to contact your SIS vendor for information about exporting data in the format described in the
Dynamic Class Lists Implementation Guide .
Prerequisites
To prepare for implementing dynamic class lists, create two files by exporting the required data from your SIS software. Your SIS should have an export option to save as CSV, but if not, a plain text file is also acceptable.
- Generate two comma-separated values (CSV) files either manually or by exporting the data directly from your Student Information System (SIS) CSV format.
- When you have exported this data to the files and named them appropriately, copy them to any network location that your teacher machines can access. Most SIS tools allow you to schedule this type of data export and automatically copy it to the correct network file share.
Loading Dynamic Class Lists
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On the Teacher Console, select Dynamic Class List from the Class List menu or toolbar menu.
- Select Options, and then select Comma-Separated Value (.csv) Exported Files.
- Browse to the location where the teacher and student CSV files are saved.
- If they are stored on a central file share, ensure that the local drive is mapped. For example: H:\Server\LanSchoolFolder\.
- If they are stored on an internal web server, enter the path. For example: http://internalweb/LanSchoolFolder.
- Select the appropriate class. You can choose to have the class automatically dismiss by selecting Automatically dismiss class:
- Select Dismiss at default end time: to end your class at a specific time. This will become the normal end time every time the class is loaded.
- Select Dismiss __ minutes from now to specify a certain number of minutes from start time to dismissal time.
- Select Start Class. The class loads, and students who are logged into their devices display. Any student who is not logged in will appear as a "Missing Student."
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To manually dismiss the class, select Dismiss Current Class from the Class List menu or toolbar menu.
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If auto dismissal was chosen, a countdown displays at the bottom of the Teacher Console.
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When the countdown reaches one minute, it starts to flash at the bottom of the Teacher Console. A dismissal warning dialog displays, showing that the class will be dismissed. If desired, select Dismiss class now to dismiss the class or Add 2 minutes to class to delay the automatic dismissal.
Whenever the centrally located CSV files are updated, the teacher will automatically see those updates when loading a new dynamic class list.
Pre-Populate Dynamic Class List file location for Teachers
Instead of having teachers browse to the location of the dynamic class list CSV files, you can pre-populate the location of the files. This can be useful if the .csv files are stored in a network directory that may be hidden from the teacher's view. This location is stored in the registry on the Teacher Console.
Create the following two registry keys:
32 Bit Windows: HKLM>>Software>>LanSchool>DynamicClassListCSVFolder
64 Bit Windows: HKLM>>Software>>Wow6432Node>>LanSchool>DynamicClassListCSVFolder
32 Bit Windows: HKLM>>Software>>LanSchool>DynamicClassListInterface
64 Bit Windows: HKLM>>Software>>Wow6432Node>>LanSchool>DynamicClassListInterface
Clever Class Lists
If your school uses Clever, your Clever district admin can initiate the process of sharing your schools' rosters with LanSchool. Integration with Clever provides a quick and easy way to create dynamic class lists for teachers.
Troubleshooting Class Lists
Missing Students
If your students are logged into their devices and the thumbnails are still appearing as "Missing Student:"
- Confirm that the correct class list loaded.
- Confirm that the syntax and spelling for the login names, machine names, or student AD names are correct.
- Check your network connection for the teacher, students, and LanSchool Connection Server. For more information on troubleshooting network issues, see Troubleshooting Missing Student Thumbnails.
Dynamic Class Lists - Missing Class Lists
If you're trying to load a dynamic class list but do not see your classes listed.
- Confirm with your IT support that your teacher computer can access the location where the dynamic class list CSV files are located.
- Verify that your teacher console is pointing to the correct location of the dynamic class list CSV files.
- Confirm with your IT support that your login name, machine name, or AD name is listed in the teacher CSV file and that the spelling and syntax are correct.
- Confirm with your IT support that the spelling and syntax of the names in the CSV file is exactly what is required.
- Confirm with your IT support that the CSV file information is correct in spelling and syntax.