NCEdCloud Badges and Logins for PK-5 Students

The NCEdCloud IAM Service team has been offering Badges (QR Codes) as an alternate (opt-in) login method for younger students since August, 2019.

Based on feedback from PSUs across the state, we have implemented an important change to the PreK-5 Alternate Authentication feature in NCEdCloud (completed at the end of the 2023 calendar year):

Badges (QR Codes) are now enabled as an feature to implement for ALL students in the NCEdCloud IAM Service in PreK-5 (grades -3 through 5 in the Student System) and no longer requires PSUs to "Opt-In". This means that teachers and staff with appropriate privileged roles in the NCEdCloud IAM Service, will be able to print badges for these students, which can be used in place of their username/password when logging in.

Your teachers for these grade levels (and other staff with Privileged Roles), will see a new option in the People view for “My Students (QR Codes) - LEA xxx”.

Note: There is no immediate impact to your students. If you choose to take advantage of using Badges, you will be able to print them for any or all students in grades -3 through 5. Otherwise, students will continue to login as they always have, using their student number and a password. If your PSU has opted-in to using an “Alias ID” (email address in most cases), that option for username has not changed.

Opting Out:

If your PSU does not want to have the "Badges" feature available for some or all of your PreK-5 students, and your PSU would like to opt-out, you will need to submit the PreK-5 Badges Opt-Out form (see the block to the right). Any PSU Technology Director or Administrator with an NCEdCloud Privileged Role of LEA Administrator or LEA Data Auditor, can submit this Opt-Out Request form.

FAQs

Why do some of my students have a difficult time scanning their badges?

QR Codes (Badges) must be "bright" enough for a student device camera to read properly. Make sure the students aren't shading their badges or tilting them downward when scanning. Having badges lighted by overhead lighing or an exterior window may help. Also make sure the badge itself is printed clearly on white paper for the best contrast. More recent releases of the RapidIdentity Portal software have also helped with the camera/scanning issue.

How does a Primary student with Badges enabled, Login with Username and Password?

If a student who is configured to use a Badge to login to NCEdCloud doesn't have it with them, they can enter their Username (Student Number) at the Username prompt and select "Go". They will then see the Password screen for NCEdCloud and can enter their password to complete their login. If they click on the "Scan Student QR Code" Button instead of entering Username, they will need to click on the "Start Over" button and "Ok" to get back to the Username screen. Then after entering their Student Number and clicking "Go", they will be presented with the Password Screen.

When scanning a Badge I see the following error "QR Code Authentication Failed"?

If you see this error, it means that the password contained in the Badge QR Code (badges contain the student's Username/Student Number and their account Password), does not match the CURRENT Password of the account. Someone has changed the password since the badge was printed (or it is an older copy of the badge), and therefore you will need to view and print a new badge for the affected student. You can do this in NCEdCloud by clicking Profiles, then My Students (QR Code) - LEA ###, and check the box next to the student's name. Then select the QR Code button to view the student badge, and print it (either right click or select "Print" from the browser menu).

Why won't my iPad 2 devices work/login with NCEdCloud Badges? (Apple iOS Limitation)

The short answer is that iPad 2s cannot run the required version of iOS to allow access to the camera for scanning the badges. Logging into NCEdCloud with student Badges requires that Apple iOS (mobile) devices be able to access the device camera through Safari (the apple browser) to scan a student's badge. We have recently found out that Safari cannot "capture" the device camera on versions of iOS prior to 11.x. The last version of iOS released for the iPad 2 was 9.3.5. Therefore, iPad 2 devices cannot be used for Badge (QR Code) logins to NCEdCloud. To the best of our knowledge, an Apple mobile device (iPhone, iPad) must be running an 11.x or higher version of iOS.

Opt-Out Form and Documentation

Form:

If your PSU would like to opt-out of the Badges (QR Codes) option for one or more grade levels, a staff member with either the NCEdCloud LEA Administrator or LEA Data Auditor role will need to submit the PreK-5 Alternate Authentication Opt-Out form and indicate which grades you would like to disable Badges for. This will remove the option so that badges cannot be created/printed for students in those grades.

Documentation:

Documentation on selecting and printing Badges can be found in the following: Updated Documentation for NCEdCloud Badges