Lichess Class - Making Student Login Easier

[SergioGlorias]

https://lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/turmas-do-lichess-facilitar-o-login-de-alunos

Translate:

Hi, good evening. I'm a teacher and I have a chess project with my early elementary school classes. I use the Lichess classroom feature, and I've even generated accounts for the entire class using it. But the generated usernames are very difficult for the kids to use for logging in. The younger ones take a long time or get confused, and then the account gets temporarily locked. I wanted to suggest a way for them to log in faster, maybe with a QR code sent by the teacher, or with an option to change the username and password.

When I use it in class, I lose a good chunk of time just getting the kids logged in. It would be great if there were a faster way for each of them to grab their tablet and log in. Sometimes I assign practice for the students to do at home, and they have trouble logging in then too. Can anyone help me with this?

Problems I see here

• Usernames are tricky for non-English speakers (it would be cool to have a language dictionary selector for word generation).
• Making it random is optional, but only for individual creations, not for mass form.
• For a large room, the login rate limit can make it difficult to log in to all the PCs.
  • As the teacher mentioned, it would be interesting if there were a special way for them to log in easily without being rate-limited.

[ornicar]

Usernames are tricky for non-English speakers (it would be cool to have a language dictionary selector for word generation).

Name generation already supports languages but portuguese is not in there yet

[ornicar]

Random names are a lot better for security, as they're guaranteed not to doxx the kids.

Random passwords are a lot better as well, because people can't be trusted to pick strong passwords.

[ornicar]

I don't see a mention of rate limiting in their message?

[ornicar]

I wanted to suggest a way for them to log in faster, maybe with a QR code sent by the teacher

There might be something interesting there.

[SergioGlorias]

I don't see a mention of rate limiting in their message?

it was my understanding

[yafred]

Without going as far as a QR code, what about having a simple logging session (let's say 5 minutes before the lesson) where the students would just need a class id and a code (as simple as a 4 or 6 digit pin code) to log in (without having to bother with their userid and password (this code would be their temporary credential)

If the class is presential, this could give a very simple process:

• The teacher opens the loggin session, this gives a pin code per student
• The teacher calls the roll, giving each student their pin code and make sure they are logged in
• When it's done, it's not possible anymore to log in with the pin code and they will be generated again next class.

[cyserro14]

Hi, I'm the teacher who commented! Thank you all so much for your attention!

Basically, the English names with uppercase and lowercase letters end up being a bit confusing for children who don't yet know English.

The platform could have an option for teachers to change usernames, since the platform doesn't yet have Portuguese in its name generation database.

Regarding the login limit, the issue is that they make mistakes, and after a few failed attempts, the system asks for a timeout—about 5 minutes, if I'm not mistaken—to log in again.

I know the names are generated this way to protect the children, which is great, but there should be a way for the teacher to always see the real name. This only happens in the classroom tab. But, for example, when I hold an arena tournament among my students, I need to use a list to see who finished in each position.

The last idea mentioned about a temporary code for each student to log in quickly would be perfect. I only have 50 minutes of class time per week with each class. I've even logged in for each class and labeled their devices, but there isn't always time for that.

I'm available to provide more details about my experience and contribute with anything else you need.

[ornicar]

I see. What do you think of this for logging in a class quickly:

• as a teacher you click a button in the class page "Quick student log in"
• you get a page with list of all students. For each student, it shows its username and a temporary password of just 4 or 5 chars, like wx5k.
• These passwords can be used for 20 minutes, then they expire. The sessions however remain open until manually logging out.

This should allow you to log the students yourself quickly.
Naturally this can only work with students that were created by and for the class - not invited accounts.

Sounds good?

[SergioGlorias]

for 4 or 5 I think 20 min too much

[cyserro14]

I see. What do you think of this for logging in a class quickly:

• as a teacher you click a button in the class page "Quick student log in"
• you get a page with list of all students. For each student, it shows its username and a temporary password of just 4 or 5 chars, like wx5k.
• These passwords can be used for 20 minutes, then they expire. The sessions however remain open until manually logging out.

This should allow you to log the students yourself quickly. Naturally this can only work with students that were created by and for the class - not invited accounts.

Sounds good?

The idea is good, but the thing that takes the most time and confusion is the user.

If there were a way for them to access a link or QR code that would take them directly to a login page with the username already filled in, it would be very practical.

[yafred]

@ornicar I am not sure you gain much ... it's just shortening the password but the username stays the same ?

@cyserro14 changing username is a red line: a student account is a 'normal' account ... same rules apply.

I have another idea that could make things really quick (if it is feasible)
When the teacher presses 'Quick student log in', we give a short password for the class and a short password for each student of the class (with the same liftetime ... a few minutes)

Then the teacher enters urls in the student's browser: https:// lichess.org/class/pin_class/pin_student

For example https:// lichess.org/class/aRb1/wx5k ...

That way, we don't give a url to hackers to try and login by brute force .. or do we?

[cyserro14]

@ornicar I am not sure you gain much ... it's just shortening the password but the username stays the same ?

@cyserro14 changing username is a red line: a student account is a 'normal' account ... same rules apply.

I have another idea that could make things really quick (if it is feasible) When the teacher presses 'Quick student log in', we give a short password for the class and a short password for each student of the class (with the same liftetime ... a few minutes)

Then the teacher enters urls in the student's browser: https:// lichess.org/class/pin_class/pin_student

For example https:// lichess.org/class/aRb1/wx5k ...

That way, we don't give a url to hackers to try and login by brute force .. or do we?

Let's see if I understand correctly:

A link to the classroom with a PIN to enter.

When entering, students are presented with a list of names. Their real name must appear. They click on the name and then enter a temporary PIN given to them by the teacher to log in to their account.

Is that it?

If it were like that, it would work well.

I sometimes work with classes of 28-32 students, so having to put a link in each student's browser wouldn't be practical, but if it's as I interpreted it, it could be quite practical.

I don't know anything about programming, so I don't know how to suggest such a practical solution or a better way.

[yafred]

I think it's less complicated than your understanding.
In my idea, the 2 PINs do everything ...

Imagine a logging form that say; class pin / user pin instead of user / password ...
Upon success, the student is going immediately to the class

So (for the student) the flow would be:

• Go to lichess.org/class (no user is logged yet)
• Fill up the form 'Quick access to class', class code: xxxx, student code: yyyy

For a better usability, the codes should be in clear text (not hidden with * like for passwords) ...