How to use GitHub Skolpunkten

For the school

Done once by whoever manages the school's GitHub. Student repos are created in the school's own GitHub organization — the school owns them, even if you stop using GitHub Skolpunkten.

1. Tell us about your school. Fill in Get started and we'll activate the service for your school.
2. Create a GitHub organization if the school doesn't have one: github.com/account/organizations/new. The free plan is enough. The name in the address (github.com/your-school) is the organization's name.
3. Install our GitHub App on the organization. Click the button, pick your school's organization and All repositories, and click Install.
   Install the GitHub App
   The app may create repos, give students and teachers access to them and invite students to the organization — nothing else. Only an owner of the organization can install it.
4. Send us your teachers' GitHub usernames and we'll set them up as teachers. New teachers can be added at any time.

For teachers

1. Sign in

Go to the start page and click Sign in with GitHub. If you see Not authorized as a teacher, your account hasn't been set up yet — get in touch with us.

2. Create a class

Click New class, name the class and pick your school's GitHub organization — the same organization the app is installed on. Every teacher set up in the organization sees the class and can work in it — add colleagues under Teachers on the start page. The class page has:

• Class invite link — share it with students. Those who open it and sign in end up on the class list. New link invalidates the old one.
• Class list — fills up as students join. You can also add students in advance by GitHub username, and enter first and last names yourself.
• Invite to organization — sends a GitHub invitation to your school's organization to everyone on the class list. Not needed for students to get their repos, but useful if they should see each other's public repos or work in the organization.

3. Create a project

Click New project in the class and choose:

• Type — Individual (one repo per student) or Group (one repo per group). Can't be changed later.
• Visibility — Private (only the student and teachers see the repo) or Public.
• Template repo (optional) — owner/repo of a repo with starter code. It must be marked as a Template repository on GitHub.
• Schedule — start and end date. Outside it, student repos are read-only.
• Groups — max group size and max number of groups (0 = no limit).
• Only students on the class list may join — keeps out anyone not on the list.
• Students' own copies — when students may copy the repo to their own GitHub account: after the project ends, any time, or never.

Everything except the type can be changed later under Project settings.

4. Share the link

Copy the Share link for students on the project page and share it, for example in your learning platform. Every student who opens it and signs in gets their repo. Student repos lists them all with links to GitHub.

5. Groups

In a group project, students can create and join groups themselves through the link. You can also create the groups in advance under Groups and add students from the class list. A group's repo is created when the first student is added.

6. Deadlines and locking

When the end date has passed, student repos become read-only automatically — commits no longer go through, but everything stays. Moving the end date forward opens them again. Lock project locks by hand, and the lock stays until you unlock it. Teachers can always write to the repos.

7. Feedback

GitHub Skolpunkten has no grading of its own. Give feedback where the code lives: comments on commits, issues or pull requests directly on GitHub.

For students

1. Get a GitHub account if you don't have one, at github.com/signup. As a student you can also apply for the GitHub Student Developer Pack.
2. Open the link from your teacher and click Sign in with GitHub.
3. Create your repo. Click Create my repo. In a group project, pick an existing group or create a new one.
4. Accept the invitation on GitHub. If you get an invitation to the repo — by email or at github.com/notifications — accept it, or you won't be able to write to the repo. If you're already a member of the school's organization, you have access right away.
5. Work in the repo as usual — clone, commit and push. My repos in GitHub Skolpunkten lists all your repos and whether they're read-only.
6. Take your project with you. When your teacher allows it, click Copy to my account under My repos. You get a transfer invitation on GitHub — accept it and the copy lands on your own profile.

FAQ