At the start of a school's Discovery Education journey, when all teachers and students need new accounts, we recommend using our User Import tool which will enable bulk creation of accounts.
This feature is only available to teachers or staff who have been designated as School Admins in the platform.
To access the Import tool, the user should open the Admin Dashboard and then select Tools from the top menu.
A Templates List will then be displayed, showing links to template spreadsheets where data from the school's Management Infomation system can be inputted. The data will need to be formatted into a .CSV file and required data fields will need to be populated in order for the import to be successful.
What best practices and tips should I keep in mind when completing each file?
Follow these guidelines to minimize import errors:
- All column headers must be present and all required fields must be populated in each file.
- Remove any extraneous commas in the data. If the commas are necessary, contain them within double quotes (eg. "smith, jr").
- If using double quotes, use "straight double quotes" for all instances of quotation marks. “Curly double quotes” may cause an error.
- Save each file in .csv format.
- File names must contain the word "teacher" or "student" or "class" or "roster", depending on the type of file you are completing.
Downloading Blank Import Templates
To download all blank file templates at the same time:
- After the User Import tool opens, confirm you are viewing the Roster Upload tab and then click Download All Templates to download all five blank roster file templates.
Completing the Templates
After you have downloaded each template, input your educator, student, and class data into the corresponding CSV files.
You can learn more about each file in the Input Data section of the page.
- Required fields are identified with an asterisk (*)
- Click view more details to learn more about each field.
- Review the Important Notes underneath the file overviews.
Uploading the Files
To upload files, you can either click Select Files or drag and drop files into the Upload window.
How you upload files depends on what updates you are making:
Adding all files at the same time
- Select Files: Click Select Files and select all five files at the same time.
- Drag and Drop: Open the folder containing your roster files and either hold the Ctrl key (PC), or the Cmd key (Mac) to select, drag, and drop all five files at the same time.
Processing & Reviewing Imported Files
After you upload the CSV files the Roster History tab opens, showing Current Roster numbers and the Upload History table. All files currently being processed appear at the top of the Upload History table and will cycle through several statuses.
In-Progress Status Options
| Awaiting Processing | You uploaded a file/files successfully, but the data has not been imported into the system. |
| File Import in Process | The file/s you uploaded is/are being imported. |
Updates Complete, Awaiting Post-Processing |
All updates from the file/s you uploaded have been imported and the system is processing updates. |
| File Waiting on Dependencies |
Uploading a single file: Processing the file data, connecting it with current system data (if it exists). Uploading multiple files at the same time: Importing the additional files in the file group and processing the data. |
Processing Completed Status Options
| Failed Upload | The file was not uploaded successfully. It contained too many errors to process. |
| File Contains Errors | The file was uploaded successfully, but included some errors that could not be processed. |
| Successfully Uploaded | The file was uploaded and processed successfully. It did not contain any errors. |
Viewing and Troubleshooting File Errors
When a file contains errors, you can see each error in the Error Report, correct the file, and upload the corrected file to address the errors.
To download the Error Report:
- From the Roster History tab, click Download Error Report.
- When your device confirms the download is complete, open the file on your device and expand the columns to be able to read each field. Inside the Error Report, you can see the following:
- Which rows contained an error.
- The uploaded data in each row that may need to be adjusted.
- The RowNumber column identifies the row in your original file that contains the error
- The ErrorMessages column lists each error associated with the row, separated by semi-colons.
Addressing file errors
Use the row number from the original file and error message to identify the cause of each error and determine how to address the error. Is data missing from a field? Is an email not valid due to a typo? Did you upload a roster file before uploading the Student, Teacher, or Class files?
When you have identified what needs to be corrected, we recommend creating a new file that contains only the corrected data and importing the corrections.
What information will I need to enter into the templates?
Each template requires a slightly different array of information
Teacher Template
| Column Headers/Fields | Required? | Description |
| SchoolName | Y | (This will be pre-populated) - School Name as it shows in the platform |
| SchoolID | Y | (This will be pre-populated) - School ID code |
| FirstName | Y | Teacher's first name |
| LastName | Y | Teacher's last name |
| UserName | Y | Teacher's work email address (For Microsoft/Google SSO, use the email address assigned to SSO) |
| Y | Teacher's work email address (this is used when password reset requests are sent) | |
| TeacherID | Y | Any unique ID or the school's MIS ID can be used (this is used to update username/email and to link teachers to classes) |
Student Template
| Column Headers/Fields | Required? | Description |
| SchoolName | Y | (This will be pre-populated) - School Name as it shows in the platform |
| SchoolID | Y | This will be pre-populated) - School ID code |
| FirstName | Y | Student's first name |
| LastName | Y | Student's last name |
| Username | Y | School-created username (this must be unique in the platform, so we recommend adding a prefix/suffix to the name to ensure that it is unique. If it is not unique, an error will be reported when uploading). For schools using Microsoft/Google SSO, the email address assigned to SSO should be used. |
| N | Not necessary for students | |
| StudentID | Y | Any unique ID or the school's MIS ID can be used (this is used to update username/email and to link students to classes) |
| Grade | Y | Student's year group (used to link students in an import) |
Class Template
This data does not have to be imported but the classes will then have to be manually organised at a later date.
| Column Headers/Fields | Required? | Description |
| SchoolName | Y | (This will be pre-populated) - School Name as it shows in the platform |
| SchoolID | Y | (This will be pre-populated) - School ID code |
| ClassName | Y | Name of class (this will be visible on the platform) |
| ClassID | Y | School-created ID - this must be unique within the school |
| ClassYear | Y | This will differentiate classes from year to year IF ClassID remains the same |
TeacherRoster Template
This template links teachers to classes within the school. This data does not have to be imported but it can save time allocating teachers to their appropriate classes.
| Column Headers/Fields | Required? | Description |
| SchoolName | Y | (This will be pre-populated) - School Name as it shows in the platform |
| SchoolID | Y | (This will be pre-populated) - School ID code |
| ClassID | Y | ClassID as entered in the Class Template |
| TeacherID | Y | Assigned TeacherID as entered in the Teacher Template |
StudentRoster Template
This template will link students to classes. This data does not have to be imported but it can save time allocating students to their appropriate classes.
| Column Headers/Fields | Required? | Description |
| SchoolName | Y | (This will be pre-populated) - School Name as it shows in the platform |
| SchoolID | Y | (This will be pre-populated) - School ID code |
| ClassID | Y | ClassID as entered in the Class Template |
| StudentID | Y | StudentID as entered in the Student Template |
If you have any query that is not covered on this page, more information can be found at Import Tool - FAQs and Best Practices.
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