Parent/Guardian FAQ: How Hāpara supports student learning and online safety Follow

This article helps parents and guardians understand what Hāpara is, how teachers use it, and how student privacy is protected.

Who this is for

Parents and guardians

In this article:

• What is Hāpara?
• Why does my child's school use Hāpara?
• What will my child see?
• What Hāpara tools might teachers use?
• Can teachers see my child’s personal device?
• Can Highlights see what we do on our home computer?
• Is Hāpara Highlights spyware?
• Who controls Hāpara settings?
• How is my child’s information protected?
• Does Hāpara allow in-app purchases?
• What should I do if I have questions or concerns?
• Additional Tips
• Related Articles 

Summary

Hāpara is a set of school-managed teaching and learning tools that helps teachers support students during digital learning. Schools use Hāpara to help students stay focused, access learning resources, receive feedback, build digital citizenship skills and stay safer online during school learning activities. Hāpara works with school-issued accounts, and each school or district decides how Hāpara is configured for its students.

What is Hāpara?

Hāpara works with Google Workspace for Education and Microsoft Edge to support digital learning in classrooms. It helps students:

1. Stay focused during online learning.
2. Access class resources and assignments.
3. Organize schoolwork and due dates.
4. Collaborate online.
5. Build safe browsing and digital citizenship skills.

Teachers use Hāpara to manage digital classroom activities, provide feedback and help students stay on task while learning online.

Why does my child’s school use Hāpara?

Schools use Hāpara to support teaching and learning in digital classrooms. Hāpara helps teachers:

1. Guide students to learning resources.
2. Support safe and focused online activity.
3. Provide feedback on student work.
4. Personalize learning support.
5. Help students develop executive functioning and digital citizenship skills.
6. Support internet safety expectations in K–12 settings.

What will my child see?

What students see depends on which Hāpara tools their school uses.

Students may see:

1. A Hāpara Highlights browser extension icon in Chrome or Edge.
2. Teacher messages or pop-up notifications.
3. Shared websites opened by their teacher.
4. Focused browsing sessions where only selected learning sites are available.
5. Classes, teacher notifications, assigned Workspaces, due dates, overdue items and Google Drive files in Student Dashboard, if enabled by the school.

What Hāpara tools might teachers use?

Your child’s school may use one or more Hāpara tools. Each school or district decides which tools are enabled, how they are configured and when teachers use them.

Teacher Dashboard

Teacher Dashboard helps teachers view, access and give feedback on student schoolwork in Google Workspace for Education. It gives teachers one organized place to see students’ Google Drive files, open recent work, share class resources and support students as they complete assignments.

For example, if your child is writing in Google Docs or creating a Google Slides presentation for class, their teacher may use Teacher Dashboard to open the file, check progress and leave comments or feedback. Teachers use this to support learning, not to access unrelated personal content.

If your child uses a school account on a personal device, Teacher Dashboard may still show school Google files connected to that school account. It does not allow teachers to see everything on the device. For questions about what teachers can access, contact your child’s school or district technology team.

Highlights

Highlights helps teachers guide students while they are learning online. Teachers may use Highlights to see students’ Chrome browsing activity during a class session, send messages, share websites, guide browsing, close distracting tabs or help students stay focused on approved learning resources.

Students may see the Highlights browser extension icon in Chrome. When Highlights is active, the icon may appear in color instead of gray. Students may also see teacher messages as pop-ups or have a teacher-opened website appear in their browser.

Schools use Highlights to support online learning, digital citizenship and classroom focus. Each school or district decides when Highlights can be used, whether it is limited to school hours or school networks and what settings apply. For questions about when monitoring is active, contact your child’s school.

Workspace

Workspace helps teachers create digital lessons, projects and assignments for students. A Workspace may include instructions, resources, links, activities, evidence of learning and due dates. Teachers can use Workspace to organize learning in one place so students know what to do, where to find materials and how to submit work.

If your child’s school uses Workspace, students may see assigned Workspaces in Student Dashboard. These can help students access class activities, complete learning tasks and keep track of what has been assigned.

Schools use Workspace to support classroom learning, remote learning, project-based learning and personalized activities. Teachers decide what content appears in each Workspace, and students should contact their teacher if they cannot find or open a Workspace.

Student Dashboard

Student Dashboard helps students stay organized by showing schoolwork, classes, teacher notifications, assigned Workspaces, due dates, overdue items and Google Drive files in one place. It is designed to help students quickly see what they need to work on and access school materials more easily.

Students can open Student Dashboard in a browser, and some schools may also support using it on a mobile device. This can help students and families keep track of assignments, resources and teacher updates from one dashboard.

If your child cannot see a class, assignment or Workspace in Student Dashboard, they should check with their teacher first. The school controls which classes, tools and connected resources appear.

Hall Pass

Hall Pass is a digital hall pass tool that helps schools manage student movement during the school day. If your child’s school uses Hāpara Hall Pass, students may use it to request permission to leave class, such as for the restroom, office, nurse or another approved location.

Students can open Hall Pass, create a new pass, choose an assigned teacher, select the type of pass they need and submit the request. Their teacher can then review the request, and the student can see whether the pass is waiting, approved or denied.

Schools use Hall Pass to help improve accountability, protect instructional time, reduce disruptions and support campus safety. School administrators decide whether Hall Pass is enabled and what pass types, limits or school rules are used. 

For questions about your child’s Hall Pass access, pass limits or school expectations, contact your child’s teacher or school office.

Can teachers see my child’s personal device?

Teachers can only see school-related activity connected to the student’s school-issued account.

If your child uses their school account on a personal device, teachers may be able to see school Google files through Teacher Dashboard and Chrome or Edge browsing activity through Highlights, depending on the school’s settings. Teacher Dashboard does not let teachers see anything else on a personal device.

To help keep school and personal browsing separate, students should:

1. Use a separate Chrome profile for their school account.
2. Log out of their school account when schoolwork is finished.
3. Avoid using a school browser profile for personal browsing.

Can Highlights see what we do on our home computer?

Highlights is tied to the student’s school-issued account in Chrome or Edge. If a student is logged into their school account in the browser, Highlights may be active depending on the school’s settings. Some schools restrict Highlights by school network or specific hours.

To reduce the chance of personal browsing being visible, make sure your child logs out of their school account when they are no longer doing schoolwork.

Is Hāpara Highlights spyware?

No. Hāpara Highlights is not spyware. It is a school-installed browser extension that works with a student’s school account. It does not function unless the student is signed into their school Chrome or Edge browser with their school account.

Schools generally monitor or filter student internet activity under their own acceptable use policies. Highlights gives teachers visibility into that school browsing activity for instructional purposes.

Who controls Hāpara settings?

Your child’s school or district controls how Hāpara is configured. Hāpara provides guidance, but local schools and districts decide which tools and settings are enabled.

For questions about your school’s settings, contact your child’s teacher, school technology team or district administrator.

How is my child’s information protected?

Hāpara states that student privacy and safety are core to its work and that it does not sell student data. Parents and guardians can learn more by reviewing Hāpara’s privacy policy or asking their school how Hāpara is configured locally.

Does Hāpara allow in-app purchases?

No. Hāpara does not allow in-app purchases for students, teachers or other users.

What should I do if I have questions or concerns?

1. Contact your child’s teacher first.
2. Ask your school or district technology team about local Hāpara settings.
3. If further help is needed, submit a request through the Hāpara Support Help Center.

Additional Tips

• Ask your child to use their school account only for schoolwork.
• Use a separate Chrome profile for school browsing.
• Log out of the school account when schoolwork is complete.
• Contact your school for questions about when monitoring or filtering is active.
• Contact the teacher if your child is having trouble connecting during distance learning.