Workspace Standard or Plus
In this article, we will guide you through the steps to create a manageable opt-out process for parents who do not want their students to use Gemini at school. This process involves setting up custom attributes in the directory, creating a dynamic group, and configuring the Gemini app.
Custom Attributes in the Directory
The first element of this process is to set up a way to mark students in our Admin console as opted-out of Gemini. If you have never used Custom Attributes, this is an easy way to accomplish this. Depending on how you manage your students in your SIS and if it syncs with Workspace in some way, you may be able to configure that as well. But for this example, we’re keeping it basic.
- Set Up Custom Attributes:
- In your Admin console, navigate to Manage user attributes.
Directory > Users > More options > Manage custom attributes - Click Add custom attribute.
- Create a new category, such as Student fields or Technology.
- Add a custom field with this configuration:
Setting Configuration Name Gemini Opt Out Info type Yes or No Visibility Visible to user and admin No. of values Single Value - Click Add.
- In your Admin console, navigate to Manage user attributes.
- Update Student Accounts:
- Go to the user account for each student whose parents have opted them out of Gemini.
Directory > Users > [filter for student] > [select student] - Click the User Information card.
- Hover over the category, which is Student Fields, in our example, and click the Edit pencil icon.
- Update the Gemini Opt Out attribute to Yes.
- Click Save.
- Go to the user account for each student whose parents have opted them out of Gemini.
Creating a Dynamic Group
So we know who our No Gemini students are, and we have noted that in the Admin console. Now, we need to make a group. Why? This group will help us configure Gemini access rather than doing that by OU. But there’s a snag here. If you look at Generative AI > Gemini app > Service status and try configuring it for a group, you’ll notice that we can’t use a group to turn off Gemini. We can only turn Gemini on for groups. So what do we do? We need to get a little creative. What we can do here is:
- Create a sort of backwards dynamic group that will include all students who have not opted-out
- Turn Gemini on for that group
- Turn Gemini off for my student OUs
The goal here is that our dynamic group will contain all students who have not opted-out of Gemini and so they will get access to it. If/when a student is marked as opted-out, they will get removed from the group, cutting off their Gemini access.
- Create a Dynamic Group:
- In your Admin console, go to Groups.
Directory > Groups - Click Create dynamic group, located above the Groups grid.
- In your Admin console, go to Groups.
- Configure the Group:
- For the Group information step, name the group (e.g., Gemini Students) and mark it as a Security group.
- Click Next.
- For the Access settings step, configure privacy and access settings for the group.
- Click Next.
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For the Security settings step, set member restriction by building a query to include all students who have not opted-out of Gemini.
Caution: What your query will look like will be based on your OU structure. Also, you should take into account that Gemini is only available for students who are 13+. To catch all the eligible OUs, you may need to have several OR conditions listing your OUs, or you can go by campus/building if that works for you.
Setting Configuration Condition Ancestor organizational unit > Equals > Student Add Condition - Gemini Opt Out > Equals > True
- Click the Change this to Not condition icon.
- Click the Create Group.
Gemini App Configuration
We have marked our opted-out students, and we have built a group that contains everyone who is not opted-out and automatically removes students from the group should they be marked as opted-out. Now, we need to use that to configure access to Gemini.
Since you can’t use a group to turn a service off, we built this group backward in the last setup phase. The next part is easy.
To make this work, you need to turn Gemini OFF for all your student OUs and use our new group to enable it.
Pro Tip: Remember that groups supersede OUs in terms of settings, so what we are doing is configuring Gemini to be off for all students unless they are in our Gemini group.
- Turn Off Gemini for Student OUs:
- Navigate to the Gemini app service status.
Generative AI > Gemini app > Service status - Select the student OUs using the OU picker at the left.
- Set the Service status to OFF for all student OUs.
Note: This will also ensure your <13 students can’t access Gemini, which they are not allowed to access according to your TOS. - Click Save/Override to save the change,
- Navigate to the Gemini app service status.
- Enable Gemini for the Dynamic Group:
- In the same setting, open the Groups picker at the left and locate the dynamic group created earlier.
- Set the Service status to ON for this group.
Test and Verify
- Use a test student account to access Gemini and ensure it is in the correct OU and not marked as opted-out.
- Mark the account as opted-out in the Admin console and verify that access to Gemini is disabled within 24 hours.
- Test placing the student in an OU outside the scope of the Gemini access group and mark as opted in to ensure the query is correct.
By following these steps, you can create an efficient and manageable opt-out process for Gemini in your school district. This ensures that only students whose parents have not opted them out will have access to Gemini, while those who have opted-out will be automatically excluded.