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When your students log in to SAM Studio, they land in a focused, age-appropriate workspace that shows them exactly what they need — their own projects and the lessons you’ve assigned. Understanding what the student view looks like helps you guide students through the platform confidently and troubleshoot questions that come up in class.

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What students see when they log in

After signing in, students land on their personal dashboard, which has two main areas:
  • My Projects — all the projects the student has created or saved, organised by most recently edited.
  • Assigned Lessons — any lessons you’ve assigned to them appear here in a dedicated section, making it easy to find and start their work.
Students cannot browse the full lesson library independently — they only see what you assign to them. They also cannot see any other student’s projects or progress.

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Starting a new project

Students can create free-form projects at any time, independent of assigned lessons.
1

Click New Project

From the dashboard, the student clicks the + New Project button.
2

Choose a coding environment

SAM Studio offers three environments. Students pick the one that fits their activity:
EnvironmentBest for
SAM SpaceBlock-based coding with SAM Labs hardware or virtual devices
SAM BlocklyVisual, drag-and-drop block coding — great for beginners
SAM ScriptText-based coding for more advanced students
3

Start building

The chosen environment opens and the student can start coding right away. Projects are named automatically (for example, “Untitled Project 1”) — the student can rename the project by clicking its title at the top of the screen.

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Working on assigned lessons

When a teacher assigns a lesson, it appears in the student’s Assigned Lessons section on the dashboard.
1

Find the assigned lesson

The student clicks on the lesson card in the Assigned Lessons section of their dashboard.
2

Follow the in-app instructions

For interactive lessons, step-by-step instructions appear directly inside SAM Studio in a side panel. The student follows along without switching to a separate document or website. They move through each step and complete the activities as instructed.
3

Complete and submit

At the end of an interactive lesson, the student clicks Submit to send their work to you. You can then view their submission and mark it complete from the teacher view Progress page.
For non-interactive STEAM or starter lessons, students follow the instructions in the lesson materials (which may be a printed worksheet or a linked document) and complete the activity inside SAM Studio. They can then save and share their project file with you.

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Saving work

How work is saved depends on the coding environment the student is using.

SAM Space

Saves automatically as the student works. No manual save needed.

SAM Blockly

Saves automatically as the student works. No manual save needed.

SAM Script

Requires a manual save. Students should press Ctrl+S (or Cmd+S on Mac) regularly, and always before closing the browser.
Remind SAM Script students to save their work before the end of class. Unlike SAM Space and SAM Blockly, SAM Script does not autosave, and unsaved changes will be lost if the browser is closed or refreshed.

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Submitting work to the teacher

For interactive lessons, the submission process is built in.
1

Complete all steps in the lesson

The student works through each step in the side panel until they reach the final activity.
2

Click Submit

At the end of the lesson, the student clicks the Submit button. A confirmation message tells them their work has been sent.
You’ll see the submission appear in your Progress view in teacher mode. See Assign Lessons to Students for grading instructions.

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Multiple students on one device

SAM Studio works well on shared devices like classroom Chromebooks or computer lab workstations. Each student signs in with their own account and sees only their own work.
1

Current student finishes their session

When the student is done, they click their profile icon in the top-right corner and select Log Out.
2

Next student signs in

The next student signs in with their own credentials. Their own dashboard loads immediately.
Build the logout step into your end-of-class routine so it becomes a habit — especially for younger students who may not think to log out on their own.

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What students can and cannot see

Students can seeStudents cannot see
Their own projectsOther students’ projects
Lessons assigned by their teacherThe full lesson library
Their own submission statusOther students’ progress or grades
Their own profile settingsTeacher view or classroom management tools