Overview
Google Single Sign-On (SSO) enables teachers and students to log into Discovery Education using district Google/Google Apps accounts. User management (provisioning and updating) can be achieved by mapping your Google Organization Units (OUs) or Groups to corresponding schools and roles within Discovery Education. As an alternative, user management can be handled by posting CSV files with the required data to Discovery Education’s SFTP server, which is a process that can be automated. If class data is desired, it must be imported using the CSV import system.
Requirements
(All requirements must be confirmed to proceed)
- All teachers AND students must have Google/Google Apps accounts.
- All schools that subscribe to Discovery Education services must use Google SSO.
- Google OUs or Groups must be organized by School and by Role (teacher and student) and be mapped to the corresponding Schools and Roles within Discovery Education.
OR Ability to generate and post CSV files with required fields to Discovery Education’s SFTP server.
Steps to Implement
- Determine Google SSO to be your technology of choice.
- Complete the SSO request form.
- Determine User Import method: Google Technical Requirements or CSV Imports for Single Sign-On.
- Prepare existing Discovery Education user accounts for conversion.
- Determine launch date and communicate it to Discovery Education staff.
- Communicate new login method (URL) and launch date to teachers and students.
- Convert usernames that currently exist in Discovery Education to the Google SSO format. Discovery staff will execute this process on your launch date.
User Experience
Once Google SSO is launched, users will log into Discovery Education by browsing to https://google.discoveryeducation.com. If users are already logged into Google, then they will be redirected into Discovery Education automatically.
Once Google SSO is launched, users will no longer be able to log into https://www.discoveryeducation.com. Any previously saved hyperlinks that are not configured for Google SSO and prompt users to log in directly to https://www.discoveryeducation.com will no longer work. We recommend implementing two options in this case:
1. Update existing hyperlinks with the Google SSO subdomain:
https://www.discoveryeducation.com should be updated to https://google.discoveryeducation.com
2. Advise users to log in via Google SSO before using saved hyperlinks.
If your district integrates DE with Google SSO, teachers can sync their students into classrooms using Google User Provisioning.
How It Works
For SSO authentication to work via https://google.discoveryeducation.com the Discovery Education username must be the full Google email address. Discovery Education staff must also enable Google SSO for your specific domain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do users go to log in with their Google accounts? Users must log in at https://google.discoveryeducation.com for Google SSO to work properly. Users also must be configured properly for Google SSO.
What is the cost for Google SSO? Is there an agreement involved? Google SSO is free and there is no agreement required.
When can we launch Google SSO? This will vary greatly between districts. Once the SSO form is submitted, and one of the user management options is in place, then Google SSO can be launched. Communicating to users about the new log in method will be critical to a successful launch. We recommend launching on a Friday, at least two weeks after the agreement is returned and communication to users has begun.
What happens to existing Discovery Education user accounts? Will they keep their saved content and work? Teacher accounts will be mapped to their Google accounts based on matching email addresses between the two systems. If the Google email addresses are not captured within Discovery Education, then there are two strategies for preparing teacher accounts for the mapping:
- Ask teachers to log in and confirm that their Google email address is listed on their Discovery Education profile. Failure to do so may result in a new account being created.
- Use the Bulk import tool to upload a teacher CSV file to update the existing email addresses. The existing teacher account list can be exported by navigating to My Admin > Recent Import Activity > Details > Export Teachers. Update the email addresses for each record, save as CSV, and upload by navigating to My Admin > Tools > User Import.
- If only the domain differs between the Google email address and the email address on their Discovery Education profile, then using Find and Replace on the Email column within Excel should suffice.
- If the entire email address differs, then using the Excel VLOOKUP function and a crosswalk between old email address and Google email address may be useful.
If student accounts exist, they may not have email addresses captured within Discovery Education, so an alternative mapping strategy may be needed. Please contact Discovery Education to discuss a launch plan for your district.
How can I use Google User Provisioning to sync user data between Google and Discovery Education? Please see the Google Technical Requirements guide. There are three requirements for using Google User Provisioning:
- Allow Discovery Education to read your OUs/Groups within Google’s API.
- OUs/Groups must be structured to distinguish whether users are teachers or students.
- OUs/Groups must be structured to distinguish what specific school users belong to. In other words, a single OU for all teachers or all students cannot be mapped to multiple schools.
I cannot set up Google User Provisioning because of my OU structure. What are my options? If the Google OUs do not meet the requirements for mapping then there are three options:
- Adjust the OU structure to accommodate the requirements.
- Utilize Google Groups to accommodate the requirements.
- Utilize our CSV bulk import tool (see Imports for Single Sign-On)
I am getting an error when setting up the Google User Provisioning connection. How do I troubleshoot? Although we provide a guide to setting up the connection within Google’s API, we cannot guarantee that the directions will remain accurate as Google changes their interface. Please contact Google’s support team to troubleshoot any issues with establishing the connection.