Terminology

Roles

In our ecosystem, understanding the roles and terminology is crucial for seamless integration and collaboration. Here are the key roles you will encounter:

Partner: A Partner refers to individuals or companies that utilize our APIs to develop applications or services that complement or enhance the functionalities of K12NET. Partners are integral to our ecosystem, bringing innovation and added value to our platform.
Organizations: Organizations are the entities that own the data within K12NET. Typically, these are educational institutions, such as schools or school districts, that use our Student Information System (SIS) to manage their operations. Organizations are the primary users of K12NET, and they authorize Partners to access their data via APIs for the purpose of providing enriched services or functionalities.
User: Users are the end-users of the K12NET system, encompassing students, teachers, staff, and parents. They interact with the system on a daily basis for educational and administrative purposes, and are the primary beneficiaries of the enhanced functionalities provided by Partners through API integration.

Understanding these roles is essential for navigating our system and ensuring that the development and integration process is conducted with clarity and mutual respect for data ownership and usage rights.

Common Terms

Considering the context of a SaaS platform that interacts with both developers and educational institutions, the following common terms are also added here for clarity:

API (Application Programming Interface): Defines the methods and data formats that Partners use to communicate with K12NET. Essential for creating applications that interact with our system.
Integration: The process of connecting and configuring a Partner's application or service with K12NET to allow seamless data exchange and functionality enhancement.
Authentication: The mechanism by which Partners and Users confirm their identity to gain access to K12NET's functionalities. This is crucial for ensuring that only authorized users can access sensitive information.
Authorization: The permissions and scopes granted to Partners to access specific types of data or execute certain actions within an Organization's account on K12NET.
Webhook: A method used by K12NET to provide real-time information to Partners’ applications, allowing for immediate response to events within the system.