New FeatureTracker
Impero EdLink 2018
Parent/Guardian Dashboard Guide.
EXTERNAL
Contents
Navigate the Parent/Guardian/Dashboard
Adding your child's iOS device
Adding your child's Android device
Adding a location to your parent/guardian/guardian account
Adding a schedule to your parent/guardian/guardian account
Link your child's device to a school account
Creating your child's profile
Managing your child's profile
Introduction
Impero Edlinkis a mobile device management (MDM) solution used to configure, manage and monitor mobile devices in schools. In addition to school owned devices we are seeing an increasing trend to allow BYOD (bring your own device) in schools. To facilitate home owned devices being enrolled in the classroom, Impero Edlink brings you the Parent/Guardian Dashboard. This interface allows you add your own devices (limited to 3) directly into the schools mobile device management system so that the same rules and restrictions that apply to the schools devices are applied to your own. In this guide we shall cover the concepts and functionality of the Parent/Guardian Dashboard and how it can be used to both enhance and protect your child’s learning experience.
Schools have a duty of care to young people when they are using technology in the classroom, this includes insuring they are safeguarded when using the internet and removing distractions so they may focus on lesson objectives.
The Impero EdLink mobile device management (MDM) solution enables schools to share the management of devices and the users using them whether they are in school and learning outside of school.
EdLink enables to schools to provide a means for Parents to benefit from the safeguarding and device control methods when the devices are in the home or elsewhere for that matter.
So when the device is in school the school have the power to manage the device and when the device is in the home parents have that same power.
Register for Parent/Guardian access
The first stage of the setup process requires you to register for Parent/Guardian access to Impero Edlink. Once registered you can link your account to your child’s school and begin integrating your devices into the classroom.
To begin, click the link below that will take you to the main Impero Edlink login page. From this page click the link entitled “Click here to create new account”
You will now be taken to the signup page where you will see two available tabs. Select the “Register for Parent/Guardian access” tab and enter your email, first & last name and set a password. Once you have entered your details, click next
Your account is now setup and you have been taken to the Impero Edlink home page. This page will usually display the details of any devices you have enrolled with Impero Edlink, however as this is your first time in the dashboard and no devices have been enrolled yet the home page displays instructions on how to add/link devices to Impero Edlink
Add/Link your device
The account has now been created so the next step is to add your devices. Impero Edlink currently supports enrollment of iOS devices (Apple iPad, Apple iPhone etc) and Android devices (Samsung Galaxy, Sony Xperia etc). If you are not sure which device type you own, refer to the manufactures web site for product information. We will now cover the process of enrolling both types of device.
As mentioned previously, you have no devices currently enrolled in the Impero Edlink Parent/Guardian dashboard so the home page will default to the add/link device screen. Once a device has been added then the home page will show the details page of the device(s) you have enrolled.
To add additional devices from here click the Add/Link device button in the top right corner of the home page
Adding your child's iOS device
In theiOSsection on theAdd/Linkdevice page, locate step 1 and enter the website address in the Safari browser.
To complete the installation process, follow the prompts for steps 2 and 3.
Note:The installation process takes roughly 5 to 10 minutes depending on internet connectivity.
Once the installation is complete, the device will be displayed on theHomepage as shown below:
Adding your child's Android device
In theAndroidsection for theAdd/Linkdevice page, locate step 1 and click on thePlay Storelink.
To complete the installation process, follow the prompts for steps 2 and 3.
Note:The installation process takes roughly 5 to 10 minutes depending on internet connectivity.
Once the installation is complete, the device will be displayed on theHomescreen as shown below:
Link your account to the school
Now that you have created an account and setup a device, we need to link that account with your child’s school. If the school have invited you to enroll your devices with Impero Edlink then you will have received a school link code that you can enter on the Parent/Guardian dashboard home page. Enter the code you have been sent and click Link
After clicking Link you will see a new tab appear with your child’s school name. Click on this new tab and enter your child’s name, select their current year/grade level and finally pick which of the devices you have enrolled to link with your child’s details and click Save
Creating your child's Profile
Impero Edlinkuses profiles, also known as settings to determine what rules and restrictions to apply to a device. As the Parent/Guardian you have the power to setup unique profiles for your childs device. Profiles control what content they can access online, the apps they can use and what options they can change on the device. Profiles can be configured to be always on or can be linked to locations or times so that different profiles with different rules/restrictions automatically apply depending on where your child is or what time of day it is.
In this section we will cover how to setup Zones (locations), Schedules (time & date) and Profiles (settings) for your childs device.
Go to theSettingssection and click on theNew Settingsbutton, or click on aPencilicon to edit an existing one.
Enter aName(mandatory) and aDescription(optional) and ClickCreate.In this example we will create a profile called My Settings. Profile names and descriptions can be edited after creation.
You will now be presented with the Where and When menu that lets you create/select zones and schedules to link to the profile. Here you can choose previously created or create brand new ones. Let’s now create a zone and a schedule to link to this profile.
Adding a Zone to your Profile
A Zone, also refered to as a geofencecan be used to determine where a profile can be active. Let’s add a Zone for your homes location so that the profile will be active when the childs device is at home.
From the Please select a location drop down menu, click + Add new geofence
Specify aZone Name, which is mandatory, and aDescription, which is optional. You can specify whether notifications are sent when the device associated with the zone arrives or departs from the location. To do this, click on the corresponding slider to enable / disable it.
Zones can be added based on 3 types;
Coordinates – Specific address such as house number and post code
SSID – Name of a Wireless network
Beacon – Network device used to specify a location
SelectingCoordinatesallows for an address or place to be searched for on the map or a location to be selected. Type an address or click a place on the map.
Note: The radius of the selected location can be expanded from the default 400m.
To select the highlighted location, click on theAddbutton.
The location will be highlighted as shown below.
To add the location as a zone, click on theAddbutton.
Click on theCreate Geofencebutton.
The new geofence can now be found under theZonesmenu on the main Parent/Guardian dashboard.
Now that we have setup a zone for your house, lets add a schedule to the profile.
Adding a schedule to your Profile
Schedules are used to assign a period of time within which a profile is active: days of the week, dates and times. A good example of how you might use this would be to have an after school profile and then a bed time profile. Both profiles are linked to your home geofence location but have different schedule times. You may give them access to social media and games in the after school profile but after 9pm the bed time profile activates and restricts access to social media and games.
Click the down arrow to the right of the location you just added to reveal the schedule drop down menu. Click the + Add new schedule option.
Specify aSCHEDULE NAME(mandatory).
Specify aStart DateandEnd Datefor the schedule. Clicking in the date input fields will open theCalendarwidget.
Select theStart TimeandEnd Timefor the schedule. Clicking in the time input fields will open theTimewidget.
Select the days of the week the schedule applies to.
AdditionalStart TimeandEnd Timeentries can be added for the schedule by clicking on the+button:
Click on theAddbutton.
The schedule is now added to the location we defined earlier. Click Save
After clicking save you will have successfully created your first profile and assigned a Zone and Schedule to it. Next we will cover what we can do with a profile
Managing your child's profile
Now that we have created a profile, we can look at what actions and restrictions we wish to apply to it.
UnderWhat, we have four categories;
Safe Contentwhich covers filtering of websites, keywords and phrases
Privacyallows the restricting of certain settings and device features
Passcode to define the rules around the device security codes
Application gives you powers to say what apps the device can use
Safe Content
On this page define rules around what content the device can view online. Certain actions you can enable on the GENERAL tab will create addition tabs menus allowing you to configure the specific rules and restrictions related to that action.
Enable web filter – Block or allow specific websites or use categories to filter out websites of a specific type such as Pornography. (enabling this option adds a new tab menu, WHITELIST & BLACKLIST)
Log without filtering – Logs all internet traffic, allowing you to view all content that has been accessed without applying any of your filtering rules
Enable safe browsing – Any search engine queries (such as Google or Yahoo etc) will be injected with the safe search option protecting the device from returning inappropriate content.
Enable YouTube filter – Youtube content is filtered out by category, channel or video. (enabling this option adds a new tab menu, YOUTUBE FILTER)
Enable Keyword filter – Web searches and internet content are filtered by keywords. (enabling this option adds a new tab menu, KEYWORD SETTINGS)
Retrieve page title – Adds the websites title rather than a specific address to the reporting display for accessed websites
Home URL – The website that displays when opening up your browser
Redirect URL – The website that you are taken to when attempting to access blocked content
Ratings region – Select your region to show the correct ratings for the categories below (Movies, TV Shows and Apps)
Movies – Restrict movies based on a rating
TV Shows – Restrict TV shows based on a rating
Apps – Restrict apps based on a rating
Whitelist & Blacklist
Once you have ticked the Enable web filter option on the General tab a new tab called Whitelist & Blacklist appears.
The Blacklist is used to add web content that you wish to block on your device. This is achieved via two methods, adding categories and/or adding URL’s. Adding categories allows you to block access to certain types of web site without having to add each specific address you wish to block. Category types are varied and cover a range of topics from Gambling, Criminal skills and Pornography through to Investing, Games and Match making. URL’s are the internet addresses of websites such as or and can be added individually.
The Whitelist is used to add web content that you wish to allow on your device. The same two methods apply to the whitelist as they do the blacklist, adding categories and/or adding URL’s. By adding content to a whitelist you are effectively blocking all other websites from the device.
If for example we add the website to the Blacklist, we are blocking access to all the content on that site but are allowing access to all other websites. If the same address was added to the Whitelist instead then the rule would be that this website is the only site you can access and all other websites would be blocked.
Whitelists always overrule Blacklists. By adding the same site to both lists, you would be given access to the site and all other websites would be blocked. Although adding identical entries to both lists renders the Blacklist entry void, there are times when using both lists can be an effective way of ensuring users only get access to the content you want. Adding the category News to the Blacklist would block all news sites but then adding to the Whitelist would allow access to the bbc news website only.
Youtube Filter
Once you have ticked the Enable YouTube filter option on the General tab a new tab called YouTube filter appears.
This function allows you to block specific content on Youtube. This filter uses the same Blacklist & Whitelist principle we covered in the previous section, black to block and white to allow. Each list has three levels, Categories, Channels and Videos allowing you to filter out content on a certain subject, from a specific source right down to individual videos. Please note that Youtube filters only apply in the Edlink safe browser.
Keyword Settings
Once you have ticked the Enable Keyword filter option on the General tab a new tab called Keyword Settings appears
On the Keyword Settings page you can add new keywords that will block access to pages containing these keywords in the address. Keywords can be added individually or bulk uploaded from a source file. Enabling the Keyword filter automatically turns on the built in Edlink keyword list containing over 1200 sensitive terms designed to protect students and young people.
Privacy
This section allows you to configure some operating system specific settings on iOS and Android devices. We have three tabs available under Privacy called General, Android and iOS. General covers settings that apply to both platform types whereas the tabs Android and iOS cover setting specific to that platform. Please not that any option that is listed as “supervised only” will only apply to a school owned device.
Passcode
Allows you to enforce certain passcode rules on the device such as passcode complexity or length. The passcode is used to unlock a device so that a user can access it.
Applications
This option allows you to configure the profile to allow or block specific apps from a device. This feature does not add or remove apps from a device but simply restricts if a user can open the application or not. As we have seen in previous sections, Edlink uses Whitelist and Blacklist rules to enforce these options. To quickly recap, the Whitelist will list the applications the device can use and all other apps will be blocked. The Blacklist will list the applications that the device is not allowed to use while this profile is active.
On the slider, select eitherWhitelistorBlacklistand then select an OS (Android or iOS) from the drop-down list.
To search for an app, enter an app name or part thereof and then select one from the drop-down list. ClickAdd App.
The new application is now linked to the profile you selected. If you want to remove it, click on theBinicon.