We've developed the Bark for Chrome extension for monitoring student browsing activity within Chrome. This extension is not a filter — it does not prohibit traffic, but it will alert you to inappropriate or concerning web browsing in the Page titles (URLs) and searches.
Instructions
- From your Google Workspace Admin Dashboard navigate to the Chrome web browser settings by opening Chrome browser and then Apps & extensions from the menu on the left.
- Select the OU(s) that contain the students you wish to monitor — keep in mind that the top-level OU will force those related sub-OU's to inherit the extension.
- Click on the yellow + symbol on the bottom right.
- Select Add from Chrome Web Store.
- Search Bark and choose Bark for Chrome from the results. Next, choose Select on the top right of the screen to install the Bark for Chrome extension for that OU.
- Click on the Installation Policy for the Bark for Chrome extension, choose Force Install, and Save your changes on the top right of the screen.
- Repeat steps 3-6 for other OUs if needed.
How do I know it's working?
It will take some time after the first-time setup for Bark to start processing web activity.
What Bark for School produces on student browsing activity falls in line with how we alert on other applications: we will only display data that is concerning, inappropriate, or potentially harmful.
The results from Chrome monitoring issues can be found alongside the rest of the issues under the Review Alerts page, and it will have a Chrome icon designated to it:
How to remove the Chrome Monitoring extension
- From your Google Workspace Admin Dashboard navigate to the Chrome web browser settings by opening Chrome browser and then Apps & extensions from the menu on the left.
- Select the OU(s) that contain the students you wish to monitor — keep in mind that the top-level OU will force those related sub-OU's to inherit the extension.
- Click the Trash can icon on the right to remove the extension.
- Confirm you want to delete Bark for Chrome by clicking Delete from the pop up.
- Repeat for any other OUs that also need to be deleted.
Additional Google Workspace tools
We suggest reviewing this article for tips on optimizing your Google Workspace settings.
