Get Started with Education Cloud

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

  • Start working with Salesforce.org Education Data Architecture (EDA) or K-12 Architecture Kit.
  • Find resources for continued learning and adoption of EDA or K-12 Architecture Kit.

Sign Up for a Trial Org

Note

Note

If you already have a Salesforce login with access to EDA or K-12 Architecture Kit, skip down to the Next Steps section and choose your learning path.

Before you can start working in Salesforce CRM, you need access to what we call a “Salesforce org.” A Salesforce org is your institution’s personal and secure version of Salesforce.

Through the Salesforce.org Power of Us program, qualifying nonprofit or education institutions are eligible to receive a Salesforce org at no cost that includes 10 Lightning CRM Enterprise Edition Licenses for Sales and Service Cloud.

One license = one user in Salesforce. If your institution needs more than 10 licenses or additional products and services, your organization can purchase them at a deep discount from Salesforce.org. If your institution is interested in talking to someone about Education Cloud, please see the resources listed at the end of this unit for more information.

As we mentioned in a previous unit, EDA is the foundation of Education Cloud. It sits on top of the Enterprise Edition of Salesforce. K-12 Architecture Kit is built on EDA and comes with additional page layouts and customizable reports and dashboards.

To get hands-on with EDA or K-12 Architecture Kit, install either one into an existing Salesforce org or sandbox from the AppExchange (find further instructions in the Resources section) or go to Salesforce.org to start a new trial:

  1. Click here to open the Start an EDA Trial page or Click here to open the Start a K-12 Architecture Kit Trial page .
  2. Fill out the form and click Submit.

The username you enter in the form must be in the format of an email address. It does not, however, need to be an active or real email address. For example, you could use admin@mytrialorg.edu as your username. You can also use your work email address if it makes it easier for you to remember.

Log In to Your New Trial Org

  1. Check your email and look for a message from support@salesforce.com.
  2. Click the Verify Account button in the email, set a new password, and log in.

Don’t forget to complete the Power of Us application at some point during your 30-day trial period. Completing the application converts your trial version to a permanent Salesforce org. If you don’t complete your Power of Us application within 30 days, you lose access to your trial.

Add Users

When you start a trial org, your user is automatically assigned as a System Administrator or “admin” of that org. If you want additional folks from your institution or implementation team to have access to the trial, you need to create a user for each of them. Don't worry. It's not hard and should only take a few minutes.

Let’s create a user and assign them appropriate permissions:

1. Sign in to your Salesforce org and click the Setup icon ( Setup icon ) in the header.

2. Type users in the Quick Find search box in the menu, then select Users from the list.

Add Users from Setup by clicking New User.

3. Click New User .

4. Complete the form, entering a user's First Name, Last Name, and Email.

5. In the Username field, enter the email address of that user, or something unique to use for that user’s login. Remember that username must be unique across all orgs.

6. In the User License field, select Salesforce .

7. Select the Profile from the drop down.

Click Save after completing the New User form.

8. Leave all other defaults as-is and click Save.

Next Steps: Choose Your Learning Path

Learning about everything that Salesforce can do can be a bit overwhelming, so we encourage you to prioritize your learning as you go. The most important question to ask yourself when you're starting out is: "What problem do I need to solve first?”

Trailhead is going to be your best friend as you dig into Education Cloud, but there are other helpful resources out there to support you, as well. As we mentioned, the Power of Us Hub is an online community for nonprofit and education Salesforce users maintained and supported by Salesforce.org. It’s a place where you and your colleagues can learn, share, and collaborate with other education users, partners, and sector experts to ensure that you are getting the most out of Salesforce. Once you have a username and password for your Salesforce org, you can use those same credentials to log in to the Hub. (Hope to see you there!)

Every Salesforce.org customer also has access to a Salesforce Standard Success plan that includes online technical support, access to product documentation and Trailhead, and invitations to special webinars and events. Available for an additional fee, the Salesforce Premier plan offers additional guidance and support to help you succeed faster.

Thanks for sticking with us through this quick look at Education Cloud. We’re so proud to partner with education institutions like yours to empower students around the globe.

Resources