Tips You Need To Know When Sharing Google Drive Docs with Students

June 6, 2014
The sharing functionally that Google Drive offers to its users is really an amazing feature.It is ideal for sharing files and documents with students. What is even better is the fact that you can control who sees and edits your files with visibility options and access levels. In today's post, I am going to show you how to use these two features to share documents, files, and folders with your students.

Using the visibility option and access levels you will be able to  :

• See who has access to your documents
• Add collaborators ( editors, commenters, or viewers) by name or mailing list
• Transfer ownership of your file to someone else

1- Visibility Option
This feature allows you to control who can access your files and folders. By default, Google Drive assigns private visibility to anything you create on it. To change the visibility settings of any documents you have on your Drive :
Go to your Drive
Check the box next to the file or folder you'd like to share.
Click the Share icon. A pop-up window will show up. Click on "change"

Choose a visibility option:  "Public on the web", " Anyone with the link", and "Specific people".

Anyone with the link :

When you set a file to " Anyone with the link", only those who have the exact URL of the file will be able to see it without even being signed in to their Drive.

Public on the web

Select this sharing option if you want your file or document to be publicly accessible in the web.
Public documents and files can show up in search results, and anyone who finds the web address of the document can access it.

2- Access Levels

There are three levels of access to use when sharing a document, file or folder on your Drive.

1-" Can view": 

This restricts what collaborators can do with your document to only viewing it. Viewers can :

• View files and folders
• Download or sync something to another device
• Make a copy of something to save in Google Drive
• Viewers can’t permanently delete a file or folder, nor can they change something’s sharing settings.

2- "Can Edit" : 

This allows collaborators to edit and change the content of the document. Editors can :

• Edit Google documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings
• Invite or remove other collaborators, if the owner has given editors this permission
• Download or sync something to another device
• View the list of other collaborators
• Make a copy of something to save in Google Drive
• Upload and delete file versions (synced or uploaded files only)
• Add and remove items from a folder
• Editors can’t permanently delete a file or folder.

3- " Can Comment": 

This allows collaborators to add comments to documents, spreadsheets, or presentations. Commenters can :

• Comment on Google documents, spreadsheets, and presentations
• View documents, spreadsheets, and presentations
• Download or sync the document, spreadsheet, or presentation to another device
• Make a copy of a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to save in Google Drive
• Commenters can’t permanently delete a file or folder, nor can they change something’s sharing settings.

Here is how to customize the access levels settings of your documents.

• Head over to your Drive
• Check the box in front of the document, file or folder you want to share
• Click on the share iconChoose a visibility option: "Private," "Anyone with the link" or "Public on the web."
• Type the email addresses of the people you want to share with in the text box below "Add people." You can add a single person or a mailing list.Choose the access level from the drop-down menu next to each collaborator: "Can view," "Can comment," or "Can edit."

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