Custom Roles for K–12 Students
- Giving students power
Students create, not just consume. The Publisher role type unlocks the tools that make GIS exciting: publishing hosted web layers, building web maps and apps, and running spatial analysis. Basing a custom role on Publisher moves students from viewing maps to producing them, building real technical and analytical skills.
- Reducing unnecessary actions
You keep the power and remove the risk. The full role includes privileges most K12 students don't need, like sharing content publicly with the world. A custom role keeps the creative tools while switching off the risky behaviors—preventing public sharing, blocking administrative actions, and limiting content that could expose student information.
- Management gets easier
When every student shares the same custom role, access is consistent and troubleshooting drops. You can also scale roles with skill or age—start younger students tightly scoped, then expand as they grow. Administration stays simple. Define a role once and assign it to a whole class; updates apply everywhere instantly, saving educators and IT staff time.
- Variations on this idea
Some school districts use a custom role for elementary students, and different custom roles for middle and high school students. While other school districts may use a different custom role for students in CTE and workforce development programs.
See the ArcGIS Online docs to learn more about creating custom roles.
By building a custom role on the Publisher role type, K–12 educators give students freedom to create real GIS projects with the safety and control a school demands—hands-on learning with sensible boundaries.