This article will explain the differences between a user's System Role vs their Classroom Role. Every user in the system will have both a System Role and a Classroom Role.
In the proceeding sections, we'll explain the differences between these two types of roles.
System Role
A user's System Role determines their level of access to the Admin Portal. This role relates to administrative privileges. Below, we'll outline all the system roles that exist and how they relate to the user's Admin Portal access:
- Super Admin - This role has the highest level of access and is intended to be assigned to system administrators. Super Admins can access all parts of the Admin Portal.
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Instructor - This role is one tier below Super Admin and is intended for users responsible for hosting courses on the platform. While instructors have access to the Admin Portal, their access is restricted. Below are some notable limitations, though this list is not comprehensive:
- Within the "Content Management" tab, Instructors will only see classroom-linked folders for classrooms where they are rostered as Instructors.
- In the "Classes" list, which displays Active and Archived classes, they will only have visibility of classes in which they are rostered as Instructors.
- Instructors may find certain settings within their classroom settings greyed out and unchangeable. These settings have been locked by a Super Admin and can only be modified by a Super Admin.
- TA and Learner - As far as Admin Portal access goes, users assigned a system role of "TA" (Teaching Assistant) or of "Learner" will not be able to access the Admin Portal.
When viewing the "Admin Portal" > "User Management" page, the roles that appear for each user in the table reflects their system role. Therefore, only Super Admins can confirm the System Role a user has been assigned.
One last thing to note about System Roles is when an existing user is manually added to a class roster, the system will automatically select a role for the user via the "Role" dropdown. This auto-selection is for convenience and can be changed simply by selecting something else under the dropdown. The role that is auto-selected is based off the user's System Role. Users with a system role of Super Admin or Instructor will be have their class role auto-selected to Instructor. Users with a system role of TA will have their class role auto-selected to TA. Users with a system role of Learner will have their class role auto-selected to Learner.
Classroom Roles
Classroom Roles denote the specific roles assigned to users within the roster of a particular classroom. Unlike a System Role, which is singular and fixed for each user, Classroom Roles can differ across classrooms, allowing users to hold varying roles in different classroom contexts.
A user's classroom role defines their level of access within a specific classroom. Below is a brief summary of the available classroom roles and their distinctions::
- Instructor - Instructors have the highest level of access within the classroom.
- TA (Teaching Assistant) - TAs are typically assigned to support the Instructor in managing the classroom. While they don't have all the permissions of an Instructor, they do have access to certain controls to assist with class management.
- Learner - Learners have the most limited access and are generally assigned to students or non-staff members of the classroom.
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