Set up Class Tools

This page is for administrators. If you are a teacher and want to learn how to use Class Tools, go to Use Class Tools.

As an admin, you can set up Class Tools for your educational organization. During Class Tools sessions, teachers can share learning resources with students as well as use live translatable captions on ChromeOS devices to keep their students focused and engaged.

Requirements

To let teachers and students use Class Tools, you need to ensure that:

• Your organization has a subscription for either the Google Workspace for Education Plus or Teaching and Learning add-on.
  • Each teacher using Class Tools needs a Google Workspace for Education Plus or Teaching and Learning add-on license assigned to them.
  • Note: All admins see the Class Tools setting in their Admin console. However, unless you’ve purchased and assigned Google Workspace for Education Plus or Teaching and Learning add-on licenses to teachers, the setting configuration is ignored.
• ChromeOS version 137 or later.
• We recommend that you keep auto-updates turned on so that student and teacher devices automatically update to new versions of ChromeOS as they’re released on the Stable channel.
  Devices that are on the Long-term support candidate (LTC) or Long-term support (LTS) channels require ChromeOS version 138 or later.
  For information about managing ChromeOS version updates, go to Manage updates on ChromeOS devices.
• Managed ChromeOS devices that are enrolled in your school's domain are being used by teachers and students. For detailed instructions, see Enroll ChromeOS devices.
• User accounts, for both teachers and students, and device enrollments are within the same Workspace domain.
• [Preferred, but not required] Your organization uses Google Classroom as their learning management system.

Before you begin

• To apply settings to a specific group of teachers or students, put the user accounts in a group or organizational unit. For details, go to Create a group in your organization and Add an organizational unit.
  Note: We recommend separating teachers and students. For example, you can place teachers into a security group while students remain in their organizational unit.
• If you require students to be on a managed network to use Class Tools, you can prevent them from switching Wi-Fi networks by restricting network connectivity.
• Ensure access to the Class Tools app by either allowlisting it or making sure that it’s not blocked:
  • chrome-untrusted://boca-app
    Read Allow or block access to websites.
• Ensure that server endpoints are not blocked from network level:
  • https://remotedesktop.google.com
  • https://instantmessaging-pa.googleapis.com
  • https://schooltools-pa.googleapis.com
• So that teachers can view students' screens as expected, ensure that your network meets the requirements for Chrome Remote Desktop to work properly. Read Network guide for Chrome Remote Desktop.
• ChromeOS version 137 only—Teachers who want to view students’ screens require access to Chrome Remote Desktop. For information about how to control who uses Chrome Remote Desktop, go to Turn Chrome Remote Desktop on or off for users.

Step 1: Configure Class Tools settings for teachers

1. Sign in with an administrator account to the Google Admin console.

   If you aren’t using an administrator account, you can’t access the Admin console.

2. Go to  Menu  Devices > Chrome > Settings. The User & browser settings page opens by default.

   Requires having the Mobile Device Management administrator privilege.

   If you signed up for Chrome Enterprise Core, go to Menu  Chrome browser > Settings.

3. (Optional) To apply the setting only to some users, at the side, select an organizational unit (often used for departments) or configuration group (advanced). Show me how

   Group settings override organizational units. Learn more

4. Turn on Class Tools for teachers:
   1. Go to Content.
   2. Click Class Tools.
   3. For Class Tools mode, select Teacher mode.
5. (Optional) Configure network restrictions for teachers. For Allowed networks, choose an option:
   • Only allow on managed networks—This is the default. Sessions require teachers to be on a managed network.
   • Allow on all networks—Teachers can start a session from any network.
6. (Optional) Configure the caption feature. For Live captions and transcription, choose an option:
   • Users can caption their instruction and allow translations—This is the default. Teachers can caption their voice and share the transcript with students.
   • Disable live captions and translations—Teachers can’t use this captioning and transcribing functionality.
7. (Optional) Configure the screen view feature. For Viewing screens, choose an option:
   • Users can view students’ screens—This is the default. Teachers can remotely view students' screens.
   • Disable viewing of students’ screens—Teachers can’t see students’ screens remotely.
     Note: On ChromeOS version 137, teachers require access to Chrome Remote Desktop to view student screens. For information about how to control who uses Chrome Remote Desktop, go to Turn Chrome Remote Desktop on or off for users.
8. (Optional) Configure Google Classroom integration. For Google Classroom integrations, choose an option:
   • Users can connect to Google Classroom rosters—This is the default. Teachers can connect to students using a Google Classroom class roster.
   • Disable Google Classroom integration—Teachers can’t use Google Classroom class roster within Class Tools.
9. Click Save. Or, you might click Override for an organizational unit.

   To later restore the inherited value, click Inherit (or Unset for a group).

Step 2: Configure Class Tools settings for students

1. Sign in with an administrator account to the Google Admin console.

   If you aren’t using an administrator account, you can’t access the Admin console.

2. Go to  Menu  Devices > Chrome > Settings. The User & browser settings page opens by default.

   Requires having the Mobile Device Management administrator privilege.

   If you signed up for Chrome Enterprise Core, go to Menu  Chrome browser > Settings.

3. (Optional) To apply the setting only to some users, at the side, select an organizational unit (often used for departments) or configuration group (advanced). Show me how

   Group settings override organizational units. Learn more

4. Go to Content.
5. Click Class Tools.
6. For Class Tools mode, select Student mode.
7. (Optional)Configure network restrictions for students. For Allowed networks, choose an option:
   • Only allow on managed networks—This is the default. Sessions require students to be on a managed network.
   • Allow on all networks—Students can join sessions from any network.
8. Click Save. Or, you might click Override for an organizational unit.

   To later restore the inherited value, click Inherit (or Unset for a group).

Consent to data usage

By turning on Class Tools, you agree that you’ve obtained the necessary consent for your end users to use Class Tools.