[Learnpad] Resource not approved

[AntiThesis]

Hi all,

 

We've just completed our first stage of Learnpad rollout. Loving them so far but when accessing resources (that they've added in the portal) in a lesson staff are occasionally getting the message that the resource isn't approved.

From what Learnpad have been able to tell me, that shouldn't be happening - the act of adding the resource should mean it's approved. Anyone else had this or have any clues?

[LearnPadSupport]

Hi AntiThesis,

 

Great to hear that you're loving your tablets! There are a couple of instances in which this behaviour could occur - to help us troubleshoot this most effectively, please could you e-mail us at [email protected]? We'll get this sorted for you as quickly as possible!

 

Kind Regards,

Peter Mason

[simonw]

Teachers here have had this too. It would be helpful if a resolution could be posted.

 

Many thanks

[LearnPadSupport]

There are two types of "not approved" error.

 

That activity is not approved

This is the least commonly encountered "not approved message" and relates specifically to a pupil attempting to access an application that they aren't currently allowed to access.

 

LearnPad is designed to help your pupils maintain focus and work free of distractions - because of this, only Android applications that are included in the active Lesson or Toolbox are allowed to run. Generally speaking, if this error message is encountered, it is because the user has attempted to launch an application using a QrKey, but the Resource is not part of the active Lesson or Toolbox. Resources (which can be Android applications, websites, files or folders) each have their own QrKey which can be used to launch them provided that they are part of the active Lesson or Toolbox. Let's take this example:

• Dr. Smith would like their pupils to launch LearnPad Office Suite and asks them to do this by scanning the QrKey (http://connect.learnpad.com/com/qrkeys.cfc?method=application&name=LearnPad%20Office%20Suite&package=com.mobisystems.office)
  
• Dr. Smith forgot to add LearnPad Office Suite to their Lesson.
  
• Dr. Smith's school doesn't have LearnPad Office Suite in their Toolbox.
  
• When the QrKey for LearnPad Office Suite is scanned, an error is returned notifying the pupils: That activity is not approved.
  

 

To resolve this, ensure that the application's Resource is part of the active Lesson or the Toolbox.

 

 

is not approved (where is the address that the user is attempting to access but isn't allowed)

The LearnPad Browser only allows pupils access to web pages that have been allowed by the teacher - teachers allow access to web pages by whitelisting them. To create a website Resource, the teacher:

• Puts the URL of the target website in the Website URL field.
  
• Puts URLs for any additional websites that are linked from that page in the Whitelist URLs field.
  

 

 

The key to this is as follows: In order for a website address to be approved, it must begin in the same way as the content of the Website URL field, or an entry in the Whitelist URLs field.

 

Let's use the EduGeek.net website as an example:

 

• Dr. Smith creates a website Resource.
  
• The Website URL field contains: EduGeek.net - Forums
  
• The Whistlist URLs field is blank.
  

 

When Dr. Smith does this, the outcome for pupils is as follows:

 

• When the Resource is launched, they go to EduGeek.net - Forums.
  
• If the pupils tap on any of the forums (Netbooks, PDA and Phones – for example) the page will load because the address begins in the same way as the contents of the Website URL field: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/netbooks-pda-phones/.
  
• If the pupils attempt to navigate to the Blogs tab, http://www.edugeek.net/blogs is not approved will be returned because it does not begin in the same way as the contents of the Website URL field.
  

 

If Dr. Smith wanted to allow access to the Blogs tab, all they need to do is drop EduGeek.net - Recent Blogs Posts - Blogs into the Whitelist URLs field. This is the key advice - at the most basic level, if you receive a is not approved error, all that you need to do is:

 

• Note the URL provided in the error message.
  
• Add the URL to the Whitelist URLs field of your website Resource.
  

 

For teachers who aren't confident enough to whitelist in this way, we also offer an automatic whitelisting function. This automatically adds a sensible whitelist to the Resource that suits the majority of teachers' needs. To use this:

 

• Begin editing the website Resource in the ClassConnect Portal (http://connect.learnpad.com).
  
• From the Actions box on the right-hand side of the page, click Update Whitelist.
  
• Click the Update Whitelist button.
  

[simonw]

That's fantastic. Thank you very much

[LearnPadSupport]

Glad we could help!

[AntiThesis]

There are a number of interesting things that happen with this problem.

 

1) The message we get is that "https://m.youtube.com/v=t68jllfp6u8&rel=0" is not approved, not https://www.youtube.com/embed/t68jllfp6u8&rel=0

2) If I whitelist m.youtube.com, it works. If I whitelist the video URL: https://www.youtube.com/embed/t68jllfp6u8&rel=0 it doesn't work

 

So for some reason, this is being pushed as m.youtube instead of plain youtube. That's fine and all - but if my users get a URL from their desktops then they'll obviously see youtube.com, not m.youtube.com

[LearnPadSupport]

To resolve the issue you mention with the m. variants of YouTube you can add this to the Whitelist URL field of the Resource you have created as mentioned above. This means you can create a link from a desktop site of YouTube and when it auto redirects, which YouTube does, you will have approved the new URL ready to go.

 

[AntiThesis]

Thanks - I think I may have to approach it from a more scalable direction. I'm trying to simplify the process of creating resources for my users. I may stick in a rewrite on the proxy.

[LearnPadSupport]

With the Whitelist you can truncate the URL and it will allow through all pages with anything after that URL. Using the YouTube example again, if you "whitelist" https://m.youtube.com it will allow any other pages through that start with that URL.