What are Observer Accounts?
Observer accounts give parents, guardians, academic advisors, and mentors read-only access to a student's coursework, grades, and class announcements. Observers stay informed about deadlines, published learning modules, and teacher feedback without having the ability to alter student work, take quizzes, or post in discussions.
How to invite an observer (Teachers)
ProfDesk Pro includes 3 active observer places across your whole roster, with up to 3 observers connected to any one student. If you need more than 3 active places roster-wide, the unlimited Observers add-on is available from My Account.
- Open your course and navigate to Students from the course menu.
- Locate the student on your roster and click Invite Observer.
- Enter the observer's name and email address. You can also choose their relationship (Parent, Guardian, or Advisor).
- Send the invitation. ProfDesk sends an email invitation with a secure link to claim observer access.
If the observer already has a ProfDesk account, they can sign in and link their profile immediately. If they are new to ProfDesk, they can create a free account to accept the invitation.
One role per course. Somebody observing a student in a course cannot also be a
co-instructor of that course, and a co-instructor cannot be invited to observe a student in it. The two roles can be held in different courses.
Who decides: student consent or instructor managed
Every instructor chooses one of two settings on My Account → Observer Access. It applies to invitations you send from that point on, so changing it never rewrites a relationship a student already agreed to.
Student approves (the default)
Once an observer accepts an email invitation, the request sits in a pending approval state until the student explicitly approves it:
- Student approval required: Students receive an in-app notification and see pending observer requests in their student workspace.
- Approve or decline: The student can review the observer's name and relationship, then choose to approve or decline the link.
- Revoking access: Students can revoke an active observer link at any time from their account settings. Teachers can also remove observers from the course roster.
This is the right setting for adult learners, who hold the rights to their own education records.
Instructor managed
Built for schools where a parent or guardian is entitled to see the student's record, and the student is not the person who gets to decide. There is no approval step and no student revoke:
- Access starts on claim: the observer still has to claim the invitation and hold a verified ProfDesk account. Nothing is granted to an unproven address.
- The student is always told. They get a notification when access begins and the observer stays listed on their Observer Requests & History page. ProfDesk has no hidden observers on any setting.
- The student can ask you to remove one. The request reaches you on your students list with the reason they gave, and you either remove the observer or keep them. Either way the student is told and the decision is recorded.
- Scoped to your own courses. An instructor-managed observer sees only the courses you own. A student-approved observer sees every course the student is enrolled in, because the student agreed to that.
- You can hand it back. "Hand to student" on any managed link keeps the observer's access and gives the student the ability to remove them.
You are responsible for the setting you choose. Instructor-managed observer access is for classes where the observer has a legitimate entitlement to the student's record. ProfDesk cannot verify that relationship, so the instructor makes and stands behind that call.
What observers can and cannot see
Observer permissions are strictly read-only and scoped solely to the specific observed student:
| Observers Can View | Observers Cannot Do |
|---|
- Published course modules and reading pages
- Released assessment grades and rubric feedback
- Class announcements and upcoming deadlines
- Course syllabus and learning objectives
|
- Submit assignments or upload files
- Take quizzes or answer assessment questions
- Post or reply in discussion threads
- View grades or names of other students
|
The Observer Bar & Multi-Student Switcher
When an observer visits a course, a persistent teal top bar confirms observer mode and displays which student's coursework is being viewed. If an observer monitors more than one child enrolled in the same course, a convenient dropdown switcher in the observer bar allows switching between students instantly without logging out.
Plan & Billing Behavior
Observer accounts are an included feature on ProfDesk Pro. If a teacher's subscription lapses or is downgraded to Free, active observer links are paused (suspended) safely:
- Suspension: Observers attempting to view the course will see a polite notice that access is temporarily paused. The teacher's billing status is never exposed, and observers are never prompted for payment.
- Reactivation: When the teacher reactivates ProfDesk Pro, observer links are restored immediately without requiring students to re-approve.
