Overview of Single Sign-On

Welcome to the Florida Department of Education’s Single Sign-On tutorial and overview of Single Sign-On.  These tutorials provide on-demand information on the Florida Department of Education’s Single Sign-On topics. 

How many times have you had to click the “Forget your Password?” link on a website, because you can’t remember your login information?

Prior to Single Sign-On everyone needed a different username and password for each resource they used. As the number of online resources and services grows more and more people have to come up with ways to remember multiple login credentials.  

As part of Florida’s Race to the Top Grant Award, the Florida Department of Education proposed developing a simpler way for educators to access statewide resources requiring login credentials.

The Florida Department of Education’s Single Sign-On gives you access to several resources with one set of credentials and provides one centralized location for administrators to manage the roles and access levels for their users.

For the grant, FLDOE identified six resources that will be part of the state’s SSO project. You will have access to as many as six resources with just one set of login credentials!  Access to these resources will be phased in over the life of the project with access to all six resources being available by June 2014.

The first six integrated statewide resources are

1.	CPALMS - Collaborate, Plan, Align, Learn, Motivate, Share 
2.	FSL - Florida School Leaders
3.	eIPEP - Electronic Institutional Program Evaluation Plans
4.	PMRN - Progress Monitoring and Reporting Network 
5.	Florida Interim Assessment Items Bank and Test Platform
6.	English Language Arts Formative Assessment System

For more information see the Available Resources section of the FLDOE SSO Portal at www.fldoe.org/sso.

The FLDOE Single Sign-On system will be able to grow over time, so that additional resources can be added.  In the future, you will have the ability to access even more sites without having to remember additional passwords! 

Who Can Use Single Sign-On?

Essentially, everyone can use FLDOE SSO, however, the resources you can access depend on your role and the permissions you have been assigned.

How Does Single Sign-On Work?

Accounts are primarily set up and managed by a user’s sponsoring organization such as a school district or educational institution.  The system provides for two options for organizations to manage their login credentials.  A federated solution (locally-issued credentials) and a hosted solution (FLDOE-issued credentials).

Federated Accounts

Organizations that select the Federated solution:
•	Setup accounts with login credentials that are issued locally by their organization. 
•	The system will use network authentication technology between the organization’s local network and FLDOE’s SSO system. This allows users to login to their organization’s network and the state’s resources with the same username and password.

Hosted Accounts

Organizations that select the Hosted solution:
•	Setup accounts with login credentials that are issued by FLDOE.
•	Staff will have one username and password to access their local network and another set of login credentials to access any of the FLDOE SSO resources.

Local Administrators

FLDOE Single Sign-On solution does more than allow users to access several resources with one set of credentials.  SSO also provides a central place for administrators to create accounts and assign permissions for each user in their organization.

How Can I Try It Out?

FLDOE continues to integrate organizations into the state’s SSO solution. Not all of the organizations throughout the state are currently active in the FLDOE SSO system.

When Can I Start Using SSO?

Your local administrator or FLDOE will advise you when your group is activated. 
•	Along with this notification, there will be an explanation of how to login to SSO. 
•	Check the FLDOE SSO Portal at www.fldoe.org/sso for more information. 

How Do I Login SSO?

If your organization selected the Federated solution, your login credentials are the same as your local network logon.  If your organization selected the Hosted solution, your login credentials are provided by email. Your path for logging into FLDOE SSO depends on whether your organization selected Federated or Hosted.  

First Time Login

The first time you login, you are required to select your organization from a drop-down list.  If your organization is not listed, more than likely, the organization is Hosted and you should select SSO Hosted Users.

It is very important for Hosted users to register their passwords.  Passwords expire every 90 days and must be reset to something new.  Hosted users should register their passwords when they first login.  They can then reset their password by providing the answer to one of their security questions. Federated users must contact their local technical support for assistance with their password.

Self-Registration: The Create Account Link

Self-Registration:
•	Florida educators should not use the Create Account link.  This option is intended for non-educators and people outside of the state who may need to access some of these resources for collaboration purposes. 
•	They must self-register because they are not affiliated with a sponsoring organization such as a school district or educational institution.
•	Non-educators who have self-registered will have very limited access to the FLDOE SSO resources.

Summary

In this tutorial, we discussed:
•	An overview of SSO
•	Federated and Hosted accounts
•	First Time Logins

For further information on this and other FLDOE Single Sign-On topics, please see the Communications and Events and Support pages of the FLDOE SSO Portal. You can also check the FAQs section for the most recent questions and answers.