One sign on to rule them all – Clever

Article by Bradley Reece, Valley View Elementary Teacher

Welcome to the new world of one sign in to rule them all.  Clever is a single sign site that allows both students and educators to get to their most-used websites with a simple click.  So in a word, Clever is clever! This is a game-changer in the life of both students and educators. It makes it so easy and quick for logins.  One of the complaints I have heard for years about using technology is that it is so hard for younger students to get logged in. Well, worry no more thanks to Clever.  Student logins have never been easier. Clever offers a badge system where students need only scan the badge to login using their device’s camera function. Student login takes only seconds to minutes now whereas it took 5-10 minutes to log in. Since using Clever my students are getting logged in at a record pace.  This helps in classroom transition time and classroom downtime for students.  

Clever has also made sharing things among students that you teach super simple.  Clever allows you to add not only apps that students use but also web links. When students are working with multiple teachers each teacher can have their own page.  This allows teachers to acquire links for their individual classes. I had previously been using google classroom to send out links to students. The problem with this was the links got mixed in with assignments and became difficult for students to locate.  Clever allows those links to be located in one simple place called the Teacher page. Teachers can add links to any website that is not already an app on the Clever Library. This is great because Clever is still finding and making partners for sign-ins. This helps to not only limit you to the apps but allows you to use the sites you already use.  

If you want to learn even more about Clever, they also have four online courses called the Clever Academy.  Level 1 is getting started with Clever and gives you several basic tips. Level 2 is great for helping you understand ways to use Clever with students.  Level 3 works to help you manage your classroom such as printing badges for students, seeing which students are logged in and also launching apps for your classroom.  Level 4 helps you to understand how to use the Clever library, how to add links and organize your teacher page. I suggest that you take the time to go through these very easy courses to learn more about what Clever has to offer.