What to do if a student has lost their password

Students locked out of their account? 

Occasionally we hear of students being unable to log into their accounts due to a lost password. We provide three easy mechanisms to prevent or fix this: 

1. Teachers can send their student a reset password email via the teacher dashboard

2. Students can request a password reset via the login screen

3. Students can also use Single Sign On (SSO) to authenticate into Garbanzo via several SSO providers, which negates the need for a Garbanzo password.

What if students can’t receive the forgot password email?

If students are not receiving forgotten password emails from Garbanzo, please work with your IT department to unblock, allow, or whitelist the mg.garbanzo.io domain for both students and teachers. It’s worth noting that the only emails students will ever receive from Garbanzo are forgotten password emails. 

What if my IT department won't unblock the Garbanzo.io domain?

Due to our SOC2 certification; along with FERPA,  COPPA compliance laws, and security practices; Garbanzo Support can not manually reset a student’s password, and neither can teachers. 

We recommend sending the following email to your IT department: please copy and paste the text into your email software, add appropriate contact information, and send.

Subject: Assistance with Ensuring Email Deliverability for Garbanzo

Dear [IT Director's Name],

I hope this message finds you well. Our school is using Garbanzo, a language-learning platform where teachers create virtual classrooms and invite students to join. Occasionally, students forget their passwords, and Garbanzo sends a "reset password" email to help them regain access.

However, some students are not receiving these emails, which may be due to our email filter blocking or misclassifying them. Without the reset link, they cannot log in and continue their language-learning activities.

While it might seem easier to let teachers reset students’ passwords, this approach raises several concerns:

1. Security Risks: Teachers resetting passwords could create vulnerabilities, such as unauthorized access if their account is compromised.

2. Privacy Concerns: This could potentially expose sensitive student data, raising compliance issues (e.g., FERPA, COPPA).

3. Accountability Challenges: It becomes harder to maintain a clear audit trail and prevent misuse of account access.

To ensure students can reliably receive password reset emails, could you:

1. Whitelist Garbanzo's sending domain/address ([email protected])and IP address (159.135.232.109).

2. Confirm emails authenticated via SPF, DKIM, and DMARC protocols aren’t blocked or flagged.

3. Check for quarantined Garbanzo emails and allow them through.

Thank you for your help in ensuring smooth access for our students. Please let me know if you have any questions or need further information.

Best regards,

To review:

In sum, when students are locked out of their accounts due to a lost password, teachers should take the following actions in this order:

1. Prevent and attempt to solve the problem using these three mechanisms:

   1. Send student a reset password email via the teacher dashboard.

   2. Have student request a password reset via the login screen.

   3. Avoid using Garbanzo-specific passwords by using Single Sign On (SSO) to authenticate into Garbanzo via several SSO providers.

2. If students or teachers are not receiving password reset emails, work with your IT department to unblock, allow, or whitelist the mg.garbanzo.io domain for both students and teachers.

3. If your IT department will not unblock the garbanzo.io domain or is unable to do so, send them an email with the text provided above.