How to Create and Apply a Scene

What are Scenes?

Scenes give teachers access to custom web-filtering rules during their GoGuardian Teacher class sessions. Scenes can be used to block distracting and inappropriate websites, or simply limit students to the websites they need for class. Scenes can also be used to Auto-Open select websites, and limit students to a maximum number of open tabs at once. 

The following video demonstrates how to use and apply Scenes to help with classroom management. 

Creating a Scene

Start by clicking the Scenes tab in the left column. On the main, Scenes page click Create List on either an Allowed Websites List, or a Blocked Websites List. 

An Allowed Websites List, or "Allow Mode Scene" allows teachers to limit students to only the websites on the allow list. All websites and webpages that aren't explicitly allowed by the allow list will be blocked. 

A Blocked Websites List, or "Block Mode Scene" will block all websites added to the list. All websites that are not added to the block list will be allowed. 

 

Customize the Scene and Add Block / Allow Rules 

After creating a Scene, customize the Scene by adding a name and, (optional) a color and description. Click Next to move on.

Please note: we'll be using an Allowed Websites List in this example. 
 

 
On the following page, enter websites or individual webpages that you'd like to add and click Search. GoGuardian will search for the entered resource and provide options, suggestions, and recommendations of related websites to add.

Click Add on the website(s) you would like to add.

*Pro tip* adding websites vs. website paths and individual webpages.
Scenes allow teachers to add in full websites, individual website paths and individual webpages. Students will then be blocked or allowed access to the entire website, or only the specified part of the website based on the type of Scene used. 

Allow Mode Scene Example:

Full Website Allow: allowing Nationalgeographic.com will allow access to National Geographic, and all pages within National Geographic, such as nationalgeographic.com/history.

Website Path Allow: Adding only Nationalgeographic.com/animals will only allow access to the 'animals' path of National Geographic's website; the main website and other website paths on National Geographic would be blocked. 

Individual Webpage Allow: finally, adding Nationalgeographic.com/animals/endangered-salamanders will only allow access to that individual webpage. 

Please note that the same, yet opposite functionality applies for Block Mode Scenes for blocking full websites vs. only blocking specific website paths or individual pages.

 

 

Edit Scenes, Scene Options, and Sharing Scenes 

Each created Scene (found in the Scenes section) can be edited at anytime by clicking the 3 dot, "kebab" menu in the same row as the Scene's name.

Scene options include, Renaming, Making a Copy, Editing (adjusting the block or allow rules) Set as Default, and Share. 

With the Share option, teachers can share their Scenes with one another. The shared Scene can be used by any teacher who receives the share invitation, but only the original Scene Owner can make edits to the Scenes' rules.

For more information on using Scene sharing, pleaser refer to the following article: Share GoGuardian Teacher Scenes.

Applying a Scene

Scenes can only be used during active class sessions, and can be applied in one of two ways: manually, or by setting a Default Scene.

To apply a Scene manually, click the Scene Applied drop-down menu and choose from the available Scenes list. The actively applied Scene, if any, will always be listed at the top as seen in the following image.

Default Scenes can be used to automatically enable a selected Scene at the beginning of class. To set a Default Scene:

Navigate to a class, click the Settings cogwheel, and choose Edit.

 

On the class Settings, under the Default Scene section, select a Default Scene from the drop-down menu and Update Classroom when finished.

Default Scene Tip *Important*

For teachers using automatically scheduled classes, please make sure to set a reminder to Archive your classroom at the end of the school, or remove the Default Scene. Automatically scheduled classes with a Default Scene attached can cause students to still be filtered even once the class has completed.

More Information and Scene Resources

For more information on using GoGuardian Teacher Scenes, including using auto-open tabs, setting tab limits, advanced filtering options and more, please refer to the following article on Using GoGuardian Teacher Scenes. 

To learn about conflicting Scenes and how to resolve them, please refer to the following article on Using Scene Statuses.