What's New in Classroom 9.9 - December 2024

A new update for Securly Classroom will be released on the week of December 16th.

Manage student groups from class settings

Previously, student groups could only be created or edited from the class screen during an active class session. They can now also be viewed and managed from the class settings page.

Block List URL updates 

Securly Classroom is updating how block lists are displayed to make them consistent with how blocking actually works. Previously, block-only blocking plans and organization-level block lists could include full URLs with specific paths, but the system always blocked the entire domain, which led to confusion. 

With this update, any full URLs in these lists will be converted to domain-level entries, ensuring what you see matches the blocking behavior.

For example, a URL like:

https://www.coolmathgames.com/0-sticky-friends?utm_content=CTA_You_Will_Also_Like

will now display as:

https://www.coolmathgames.com

This change doesn’t affect how sites are blocked on student devices but provides a clearer view of the block lists. Additionally, when adding new block URLs, Classroom will automatically shorten them to the domain level.

These updates don’t apply to allow-only blocking plans or allow lists, which remain unchanged. In the future, Securly Classroom will introduce the ability to block specific pages or paths, allowing for more precise blocking control.

Student history now shows blocked sites

Student browsing history will now show both accessed and blocked sites. This can be helpful when Site Lock or an allow-only blocking plan fails to allow access to a desired site due to forwarding through other sites in the login process or when using the site. Teachers or administrators can check the student history to see which site was blocked and use the “copy” button to add the URL to their blocking plan, weblink dependency lists, or the organization-wide allow list.

Changes to student user creation and students table

The three methods of creating new student users have been moved to the Students tab under the Users menu. To add students, click the “Add Student” button. This was previously accessible by editing a class.

Student users are automatically created when synced through a roster integration. In addition, students could be added manually via CSV import or from Google Directory from the class edit screen when setting up a class. 

The Rostered Students tab has been renamed to “Students”. The Students table now includes a “school” column which can be shown or hidden using the table customization button (the gear icon), and a filter has been added to select a school at the top of the table.

New permission for adding students

A new permission is available which allows you to select which roles are allowed to add students.

Option to require SSO login 

A new option is available to require an SSO login and disallow the use of a username/password login. This is available by going to Settings > System. When enabled, users will still see all options on the login page, including ‘Login with Device Console ID,’ but they will be denied access if using the Device Console ID method.

Windows MSI installer generation and download

The Google submenu within the Settings menu has been renamed to “Deployment”. Within this submenu, a new Windows tab has been added, where MSIs for Windows deployment can be generated and downloaded.

Canvas integration allows sub-account selection 

It’s now possible to select specific sub-accounts when integrating Canvas. Look for the new selector under Settings > Roster Integration > Canvas.

Enable or disable roster sync email notifications 

A new setting under My Account allows admins to choose whether or not to receive email notifications for roster synchronizations.

Other changes

• When viewing lists of student browsing history, sites are now clickable.
• The Admin Dashboard widget that shows the number of Chrome devices now excludes devices with any status other than “Active”.
• The Audit Log now records when any user archives or unarchives a class.

Previously fixed

• Fixed an issue where when running an Observation Group, badges on thumbnails to show when the student is in site lock, screen lock, or hand raised were not appearing.
• Fixed an issue where when assigning substitute teachers to schools, the “Select All” option did not save the changes.
• Fixed an issue where the last sync info was not always showing for integrations.
• Fixed an issue where the notification dot on the chat bubble that indicates unread messages was not clearing even when all messages were read.
• Fixed an issue where in an Observation Group session, checkboxes were visible to select students, even though no functions could be performed by selecting them. These checkboxes have been removed.

• Fixed an issue where some hall passes were not getting cleared out and remained showing as active when using the Securly Pass integration with Classroom.