Share and Share Alike

Having access to the G-Suite apps within our district is an easy way to increase collaboration and productivity. By using shared folders and/or Team Drives in Google Drive, multiple people can have access to the same files. This can eliminate the need for trying to email documents to each other or worrying about whether you can all access the files from the shared drives on the district network. 

Sharing Folders:

Shared folders are great for grade-level or department teams who use a lot of the same files. Shared folders can also be beneficial if you have a personal Google account and want to be able to access those files from your school account-just share them with yourself!

1. Within Google Drive, click on the folder you want to share.
2. Click Share  (found toward the top right corner of your screen).
3. Enter the email addresses of the people you would like to share the folder with.
4. To choose how people can use the folder, click the down arrow next to the pencil, which is to the right of the addresses you've typed. You can set their permissions to "can organize, add, & edit" or "can view only." 
5. Finally, click the blue "Send" button and the people you've shared the folder with will receive an email letting them know. They will be able to find the shared folder here:

Team Drives:

Within a Team Drive, groups can share and store files that they can access from any device. For example, the MTSS team created a shared drive for our most recent presentation in Gettysburg, and it made it easy to collaborate even though we all work in different buildings. Fox and BV each have a team drive where we have folders to share photos and more. Again, this could be beneficial for grade-level and department teams, clubs, and tutors or other support staff.

Creating a team drive is easy, and once you have it created, you can add members, and add and organize folders/files. Check out the quick tutorial below!

If you have had success using shared folders or Team Drives, let us know in the comments below!