Private Assignments - Microsoft MakeCode Arcade

Private Assignments

This page describes how private assignments are managed via GitHub. In short, it works like this:

1. Each assignment is a private repository under the student’s account; where the teacher has been given collaborator access.
2. The student does their work in a branch and returns their work by creating a pull request with the teacher as reviewer.

This collaboration method is quite similar to the way professional developers use GitHub.

Public repositories

Using public repositories simplifies a lot the configuration phase for the assignments. If it is acceptable for the code to be publically available on GitHub, we recommend using the public assignments.

Step 1: Students create a new private repository

From the MakeCode editor, the student creates a private repository for the assignment that will be hosted under their account (Make sure to select private!). All students should name the repository with the assignment name (e.g. “homework” in this example).

Step 2: Student invite teacher as collaborator

The student will have to invite the teacher as collaborator.

• open the collaborators page using the collaborator button
• enter the teacher’s alias in the textbox and send the invitation.
• the teacher needs to accept the invitation to get access to the private repository

GitHub and 404

If you try the invitation link and it gives you a 404 error, it most likely means that you are not signed in with GitHub.

Step 2: Student change, commit, push cycle

It’s time to work! Students can create all their work and use the commit & push button to save it. It is a good idea to encourage them to perform a commit whenever they feel they have made significant progress. Make sure they provide a meaningful description of the changes for the commit.

Step 3: Teacher reviews the commit history

The teacher can use the MakeCode GitHub Explorer to easily browse the repositories of a user. If needed, the teacher can also review the entire history of the project on GitHub.

Step 4: (optional) Student makes the repository public

If the student wants to add this project to their portfolio, they can simply make it public and it will be visible on their GitHub user page.