Introduction
After the pandemic, Google Classroom's education benefits are more recognizable than ever. However, some concerns remain. Can students see each other's work in Google classroom? Or, can students share their work on Google Classroom? And how to prevent students from sharing documents?
Well, you can change a few settings in the sharing preferences of your documents. However, Google's universe is vast and complicated. So, finding a way around it is not tough for the students who are hellbent on cheating. Therefore, the more effective way is to use a browser extension that is specifically built for this purpose. The following discussion shall shed some light on this issue. Read on to know how you can create a better educational environment for your students.
Understanding the Risks
Sharing documents within Google Classroom can lead to unintended consequences, such as unauthorized access, plagiarism, or the accidental exposure of sensitive information. By acknowledging these risks, educators can take proactive measures to safeguard student privacy and maintain the integrity of their assignments.
Can Students See Each Other’s Work In Google Classroom?
Any teacher using Google Classroom to streamline lessons and other school works has this concern. Can students see each other's work in Google Classroom? Or can students share documents in Google classroom? The short answer is Yes, they can. Unless you have been strategically about your settings. Or using an extension.
Why does this happen? Well, because your Google classroom links to the Google drive folder where you save all your student's assignments or school works.
A student might knowingly or unknowingly click on the link and reach that folder. And upon arrival, he or she would be able to view his or her classmates' works. Although unable to edit them.
How to prevent seeing each other’s work?
To prevent any student from reaching your assignment folder in Google Drive, first, you need to locate that specific folder.
Then right-click on it and choose the sharing options. Turn to Sharing OFF and save the settings. Now, your student cannot see others' work in Google classroom.
No wonder Google classroom has been streamlining combined education for a while now. But if students can conduct unsupervised sharing of assignments with each other then cheating will become rampant. Eventually, being detrimental to their development. So, let's see how to stop students sharing.
How To Prevent Students Sharing In Google Classroom?
For proper interaction, you have to let your students comment, edit and view the Google docs. And in the case of schoolwork, these are assignments or other documents which are not be shared with classmates.
However, a student with permission to edit or comment on the file can also share it with others. Or, download and distribute it outside Google Classroom. They will also have the power to add others or cut them off. These are default settings on the Google doc sharing platform.
So, here's how you deal with it. Get into the assignments folder and choose an assignment file (or multiple). Then select 'Share'. Choose the 'Advanced' option.
You will see another list of choices. Check the one that disables the downloading, printing, and copying for viewers, commentators and editors. This will disable sharing.
After that Save Changes. Then click Done. Remember that this blocks the sharing of only one file. So, if you have fifty students in your batch, you might have to change the settings of all fifty files.
Use An Extension Built For This Purpose
Changing settings doesn't bulletproof the system. There might still be other ways a student can find. Because remember, Google always aims to make its platforms as sharing-friendly as possible. So, if you are wondering how to stop student sharing, the best solution is to use a browser extension like Safe Doc.
When you use xfanatical Safe Doc with your Google Classroom, it will remove the Share feature altogether. This means the students won't find it in Drive, Docs, Slides, or anywhere else. Plus, Safe Doc can also block shared drive file links.
And the best thing is that you can try it for free before even paying Ng a single dime. Click Here to check out the trial version.
Conclusion
Any concerned teacher will try his/her best to establish a fair, just, and safe classroom environment for their student. And a browser extension tailored to that purpose can help you very much in that regard.
So, you never again have to worry about how to stop students sharing in Google classroom. By implementing strategies such as adjusting permissions, educating students, utilizing plagiarism detection tools, and monitoring activities, educators can create a secure and conducive learning environment within the digital realm.
