Quickstart for GitHub Educators

In about 15 minutes, teachers can get started with discounts, training, and tools for GitHub, then create a classroom for the students in a software development course using GitHub Classroom.

In this article

Introduction

Educators who teach a course on software development can use discounts, partnerships, training, and tools from GitHub Education to effectively teach relevant skills to students.

In this guide, you'll get started with GitHub, sign up for accounts and discounted services through GitHub Education, and create a space for your course and assignment on GitHub Classroom.

GitHub also offers partnerships with educational institutions through the GitHub Campus Program. For more information, see the GitHub Campus Program website.

Note

If you're a student and you'd like to take advantage of an academic discount, see Apply to GitHub Education as a student.

Creating accounts

First, you'll need to create a free personal account on GitHub.

  1. Go to GitHub's Pricing page.
  2. Read the information about the different products and subscriptions that GitHub offers, then click the upgrade button under the subscription you'd like to choose.
  3. Follow the prompts to create your free personal account.

After you create your personal account, create a free organization account. You'll use this organization account to create and manage classrooms GitHub Classroom.

  1. In the upper-right corner of any page on GitHub, click your profile photo, then click Settings.
  2. In the "Access" section of the sidebar, click Organizations.
  3. Next to the "Organizations" header, click New organization.
  4. Follow the prompts to create a free organization.

For more information, see Types of GitHub accounts.

Applying for teacher benefits

  1. Navigate to your billing settings summary page.
  2. Under "GitHub Education", click Start an application.

Once you are a verified GitHub Education educator, you can access GitHub Education anytime by going to the GitHub Education website.

Set up GitHub Classroom

With your personal account and organization account, you're ready to get started with GitHub Classroom. GitHub Classroom is free to use. You can track and manage assignments, grade work automatically, and provide feedback to your students.

  1. Sign into GitHub Classroom.

  2. To authorize GitHub Classroom to access your personal account on GitHub, review the information, then click Authorize GitHub Classroom.

  3. Review the information. To authorize GitHub Classroom to access your organization account on GitHub, click Grant.

    Tip

    If you see a Request button instead of a Grant button, you are a member of the organization, not an owner. An owner must approve your request for GitHub Classroom. You must be an organization owner to create and manage classrooms and assignments in GitHub Classroom. For more information, see Authorizing OAuth apps.

  4. Click Authorize github.

Create your classroom

A classroom in GitHub Classroom is where teachers and students interact during a course. Teachers can create a student roster for the classroom, then create, assign, review, and grade assignments within the classroom.

  1. Sign into GitHub Classroom.
  2. Click Create your first classroom or New classroom.
  3. In the list of organizations, click the organization you'd like to use for your classroom. Optionally, you can create a new organization. For more information, see Creating a new organization from scratch.
  4. Under "Classroom name", type the name for your classroom.
  5. Click Create classroom.

Next steps

You've created a classroom, and you're ready to enrich your course with GitHub and GitHub Classroom! 🎉