Creating and managing website Resources
Website Resources are Resources that link to web pages. They help pupils to work independently and maintain focus by taking them directly to sites that their teacher requires, avoiding the distractions of the wider Internet.
i Finding the URL of a website
To find the URL of a website before creating a website Resource that links to it:
On your computer, launch a web browser.
Navigate to the website that the Website Resource will target.
Select the entire URL in the address bar and copy it.
ii Creating a website Resource
You can either create a new website Resource independently, or you can add it directly inside a Category within a Lesson Profile you've already created.
a Creating a website Resource independently of a Lesson
Log into the ClassConnect Portal (http://connect.learnpad.com/).
On the Manage tab, beneath the Content heading, click Resources.
From the Actions box in the top-right of the page, click Add New Resource.
In the Name field, enter a name for the Resource.
From the Type drop-down, select Website.
Click the Add Resource button.
In the Website URL field, enter the URL of the target website or paste the URL copied in section i, step 3.
In the URL Status field, click reload page to check. The URL Status should change to Valid URL.
b Creating a website Resource inside a Lesson you've already made
Often, it can be easier to simply add websites directly into a Lesson you're already using.
To do this, log into the ClassConnect portal and find the Lesson by clicking the Lessons link under the Content heading on the left.
Click through to the Lesson in question to see a preview of its contents.
Decide which Category you'd like to add your website to, then click the text of that Category to enter it.
You'll see a preview of your Category's contents. Click Add New Website in the Edit box to the right of this preview.
Paste the URL of the website into the box, making sure you don't end up with http:// twice. Then click Add Website.
The website is automatically added to the Category with a relevant title. If you need to edit the Resource, just click the text beneath its icon to access the Resource Management page.
iii Whitelisting additional pages
The LearnPad Browser works on a whitelisting basis, to help teachers maintain focus in the classroom. This means that when the tablet is locked into student mode, students can only visit websites that have been added to the Lesson Profile or Toolbox. However, this can sometimes be too restrictive and you may need to open up access to additional pages. For more information, please see this troubleshooting guide: Troubleshooting website Resources
iv Changing the UserAgent
When a web browser requests a page from a web server, the browser tells the web server about itself and the computer it’s being used on. For example, the user agent Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:39.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/39.0 says, “Hello, web server! Jolly nice to meet you – I’m Mozilla Firefox version 39 running on Windows 7”.
Sometimes, a website will be developed in such a way that the visitor receives a different version of the site depending on whether they’re accessing from a desktop computer, mobile phone or tablet. Most of the time this is helpful but sometimes a tablet version of a website lacks something that is present in the desktop version. In such cases, the UserAgent field of a Website Resource can be modified so that the LearnPad browser identifies itself differently. A list of sample UserAgent strings can be found at http://www.useragentstring.com/pages/Browserlist/.
A common example of a set of web pages that often requires a UserAgent string to work as required would be the BBC Bitesize guides and videos:
v Overriding the LearnPad Browser
LearnPad devices are supplied with the LearnPad Browser and as standard, all web resources open in this browser. The LearnPad Browser has been designed specifically with the needs of teachers and pupils in mind, and provides enhanced security that prevents pupils from navigating to websites other than those which have been explicitly permitted by the teacher.
Most websites work well in any modern web browser, but in some instances they are designed with the features of a specific browser in mind. Because of this, you may choose to open certain website resources in a browser other than the LearnPad browser. Before doing this, you should be aware that using a browser other than the LearnPad browser makes it possible for pupils to browse to websites other than those included in the current lesson, meaning that you should be confident that your existing web filtering is adequate. This also means that when creating website resources that use an alternative browser, you do not need to complete the Whitelist URLs field as this setting does not apply.
The browser that you will use must be included in a Category within the Lesson that your web Resource is in, or in your school’s Toolbox (it is important to note that if the browser is added to the Toolbox, the browser will always be accessible on your LearnPad tablets, irrespective of what lesson is active).
To launch a Website Resource in an alternative web browser, enter the appropriate string from the list below in the Android Browser Override field:
Google Chrome – com.android.chrome/com.google.android.apps.chrome.Main
Mozilla Firefox – org.mozilla.firefox/org.mozilla.firefox.App
Puffin Academy – com.cloudmosa.puffinAcademy/com.cloudmosa.puffinAcademy.LemonActivity
vi Customising website Resources
The Resource Management page for your website also allows you to customise how it appears in various ways, including:
- Click the pencil next to the Resource name to edit it
- Change Icon: choose from our icons or upload your own
- Description: add a description to help colleagues find the Resource in ClassConnect
vii Deleting Resources
Resources created by users in your organisation can be deleted. Resource deletion is permanent and as such, deleted Resources cannot be recovered. To delete a Resource:
From the Actions box in the right-hand side of the page, click Delete Resource.
Confirm that the Resource should be deleted by clicking the Delete button.
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