Documents and Folders Follow

This article for teachers and administrators answers common questions about class folders, student subject folders and shared documents in Hāpara Teacher Dashboard and Google Drive.

In this article:

• Summary
• I can see many student folders in Google Drive. How can I tell each subject folder apart?
• Can I move or rename the folders created by Hāpara Teacher Dashboard?
• Can I create my own documents or folders in my class folders for Hāpara Teacher Dashboard?
• Is it possible to create subfolders in student subject folders?
• Clicking on documents occasionally results in "Permission denied" errors
• Where in Google Drive are my class folders?
• Who can see my class folder?
• Can I add my class folder to Google Drive?
• Can I delete docs I've share with students using "Share files" in Teacher Dashboard?
• Can I use "Share files" to send Google Forms?
• Additional tips

Summary

Use Hāpara Teacher Dashboard to quickly open the correct student and subject folders, and let Hāpara manage folders and permissions for you. 

You can create your own folders and documents inside Hāpara folders, but you should avoid renaming or moving Hāpara-created folders. 

Share files documents can be overwritten but not deleted. 

I can see many student folders in Google Drive. How can I tell each subject folder apart?

Short answer: Open student folders from Hāpara Dashboard instead of browsing Google Drive, and ask your Hāpara Admin to add a student folder suffix if you need clearer labels.

Details and steps:

1. In Hāpara Teacher Dashboard, find the student tile.

2. In the student panel, click the three dots menu.

3. Click Open Folder to go directly to that student’s subject folder in Google Drive.

4. In Google Drive, you can use the Details pane (on the right) to see who a folder is shared with and confirm the student. 

    

5. If you would like a student identifier added to subject folder names (for example, adding the student’s email or ID as a suffix), contact your Hāpara administrator and request a student subject folder suffix.

Can I move or rename the folders created by Hāpara  Teacher Dashboard?

Short answer: Do not rename Hāpara-created folders, and avoid moving them. Changing these folders can cause them to be recreated or use extra Google Drive storage.

Details and guidance:

1. Hāpara-created folders (for classes and subject folders) are named and managed automatically so Hāpara Teacher Dashboard can always find them.

2. If you rename a Hāpara-created folder, Hāpara Teacher Dashboard may not recognize it and may create a new folder with the original name.

3. Moving class or student folders can:

   • cause Google Drive to use extra storage space, and

   • create sync issues between local copies on devices and the online version.

4. If you believe a folder name must be changed, contact your Hāpara administrator and ask them to manage the change rather than renaming it directly yourself.

Can I create my own documents or folders in my class folders for Hāpara Teacher Dashboard?

Short answer: Yes, you can safely add your own documents and “housekeeping” folders within your Hāpara class folders.

Examples of good uses:

1. Create a “Teacher resources” folder for lesson plans and teaching materials.

2. Create unit or term folders for class-specific resources (for example, “Term 1 resources”).

3. Store class-only materials knowing that new class folders are created each year or semester, so they naturally separate over time.

Is it possible to create subfolders in student subject folders?

Short answer: Yes, students can create subfolders inside their subject folders, and their work in those subfolders will still show up in Hāpara Teacher Dashboard under the correct subject.

Details and steps for students:

1. Open Google Drive.

2. Go to the subject folder created by Hāpara (for example, “Math”).

3. Click “New” and then “Folder” to create a subfolder (for example, “Quizzes”, “Homework”, or “Projects”).

4. Any documents stored in those subfolders still belong to that subject folder and will continue to appear in Hāpara Dashboard under the same subject.

Clicking on documents occasionally results in "Permission denied" errors

Short answer:
• In Hāpara Teacher Dashboard: it is usually a temporary timing issue.
• In Hāpara Highlights: it typically means you genuinely don’t have access and need to request it.

When the error appears in Hāpara Teacher Dashboard:

1. Google sometimes takes a few seconds to apply document permissions after a file is created or shared.

2. If you click a document immediately and see a “Permission denied” message, wait about 10 seconds.

3. Refresh the page in Hāpara Teacher Dashboard and try opening the document again.

4. If the error continues for multiple documents over time, contact your Hāpara administrator or Support, as it may indicate a permissions or account issue.

When the error appears in Hāpara’ Highlights:

1. A “You need permission” message from Google means you do not currently have rights to view that file.

2. If you see “You need permission” in Highlights, you must request access through the Google dialog or contact the document owner.

Where in Google Drive are my class folders?

Short answer: Class folders appear in the “Shared with me” section of Google Drive and are usually owned by your school’s content owner account (for example, school.apps.owner).

To find class folders:

1. In Google Drive, open “Shared with me”.

2. Use the search bar at the top of Drive.

3. Type a search like:
   owner:school.apps.owner
   This shows all folders created for Hāpara Teacher Dashboard by the institutional content owner.

4. To narrow results, add a class name or student name to the search. For example:
   owner:school.apps.owner Room 12

Who can see my class folder?

Short answer: Class folders are shared with all teachers of that class, but not with students unless they are given access.

Details:

1. Class folders are owned by an institutional content owner account that represents the school or district (commonly called something like school.apps.owner).

2. All teachers assigned to the class have write access to the class folder.

3. Students do not see the class folder or other students’ folders unless a folder owner or writer manually shares those folders with them.

4. If you share your class folder with another teacher, that teacher will be able to access all student subject folders and student work inside that class folder.

Can I add my class folder to Google Drive?

Short answer: You can move a class folder from “Shared with me” to “My Drive,” but this is not recommended because of storage and sync issues.

Risks to consider:

1. Class folders can hold a large number of student documents, which can quickly increase your Drive storage usage if moved.

2. Moving shared folders into “My Drive” can change how they are organized and make them harder to locate for others.

3. Google Drive can sometimes struggle to match changes between local copies (on your device) and the version in the cloud when large shared folders are moved.

4. Google’s own guidance is to avoid moving shared folders that are already correctly placed in another folder structure.

Can I delete docs I've share with students using "Share files" in Teacher Dashboard?

Short answer: You can undo sharing a file with the "Share files" feature within a few minutes after it completes. After that, only the document owner can permanently delete the file from Google Drive.

Details and options:

1. Immediately after a Share files job finishes, you have a short undo window (about five minutes). Use Undo Share file if you need to roll back the share.

2. After the undo window, the copies are owned by the recipients (usually students), so only those owners can permanently delete the files.

3. If you need to correct or replace content, you can overwrite existing documents instead of deleting them:

   • Use the Share files option to “replace existing file.”

   • Make sure the new document’s title exactly matches the file you want to overwrite.

   • Ensure you are copying the replacement file to the same folder as the original.

   • If you originally used placeholders such as (first name) and (last name) in the file name, use the same placeholders when replacing the file so the names match correctly.

Can I use "Share files" to send Google Forms?

Short answer: No, you need to use the Google Forms “Send” button to share the form link instead of Share files.

Why "Share files" is not supported for Google Forms:

1. Most teachers want one form that all students fill out, with all responses collected in a single response sheet that only the teacher can see.

2. Share files is designed to share or create copies of files for students to own or collaborate on.

   • Share a single existing document

   • Create new documents for each student

   • Copy an existing document for each student.

3. If you shared a form through Share files:

   • Sharing the form would give students editing rights to the form itself (they could change questions).

   • Creating copies would give each student their own editable form, which they could edit and send out to others.

4. To avoid confusion and unwanted extra forms, Hāpara does not allow Google Forms to be shared via Share files.

How to send a Google Form to students:

1. Open your Google Form.

2. Click the Send button.

3. Choose the link option and copy the form link.

4. Share the link with students by:

   • Emailing the link to the class

   • Sending it in a Hāpara Highlights message

      

Additional tips

• Folder navigation

• Teachers should always start from Hāpara Teacher Dashboard when they need to open student folders to avoid confusion in Google Drive.

• Ask your Hāpara administrator to configure a student subject folder suffix if your school has many students with similar names.

• Storage and organization

• Before moving any large shared folder into “My Drive,” confirm with your Hāpara Admin or IT team to avoid storage surprises and sync issues.

• Use teacher-only subfolders for planning and resources so you can easily separate teacher materials from student work.