Introduction #
Teacher Assist (TA) is one of GAT Labs’ family of tools, it allows teachers working in Google Workspace to view and monitor students’ online activity (and screens) in real-time.
Effective digital learning relies on seamless guidance and direct collaboration. While GAT Teacher Assist already enables educators to monitor students’ screens and online activity in real time, it also extends that support directly into Google Workspace storage.
With Student Drive Visibility, Super Admins can securely authorize teachers to view and browse student Google Drive directories and file metadata.
This granular administrative control, balanced by built-in privacy safeguards, bridges the gap between classroom monitoring and real-time academic assistance. By viewing folder structures, searching for coursework, and accessing assigned materials directly within an active session, teachers can troubleshoot organization issues, verify assignment progress, and actively collaborate with students right where their work lives.
Navigate to Configuration > Access rights > New access right > select area
- Access to students drive – Student Drive Visibility. Authorizes teachers to view and access files within students’ Google Drives for educational monitoring.
- Students drive can be viewed – Privacy Control / Visibility Lock. A restrictive permission used to safeguard user privacy. If this role is disabled for a specific student, teachers cannot view their files, even if the teacher possesses the global Access to students drive permission.
When the access is granted by the Super Admin to the teachers, the Teachers will be able to access and view the Students Google Drive.
Access Student’s Google Drive #
Navigate to Teacher Assist and start any classroom session.
In Teacher > Classrooms > Select any classroom and Start session
In the Classroom Session, hover over the student whose Drive you want to check.
On any student click on the 3 dots (1) then select “Browse Google Drive”(2).
A new window will be displayed with the Drive Files of the selected Student.
The Teacher can view and browse the the Student’s Google Drive:
- Search in Drive – search for any file in the Student drive
- View the MyDrive of the student – switch between Grid and Table view
The Teacher can navigate thruought the MyDrive of the slected student and access to the Files where they already have access into.
Student’s Classroom Work #
Teachers can easily access the “Classroom” folder of the Student.
This folder is automatically created in Students’ Drives when the Teacher assigns Google Classroom works.
This includes all Classroom works assigned to the Students, such as assignments, quizzes, questionnaires, etc. as long as the Files used are part of Drive and are created via Google Classroom.
Access to Drive files #
A. Can access #
The Teacher can access the Files created via Google Classroom such as assignments – they’ll be placed under the Classroom folder (note: students can change this Folder on their Drive).
When the teacher clicks on the file they have access to, the file will be opened straight away.
B. Cannot access #
When the teacher clicks on the file they don’t have access to, the Teacher can request access to the file.
Outro #
Connecting administrative security with active classroom collaboration, this feature transforms how educators guide students through their cloud workflows.
Teachers no longer need to rely on guesswork or screen shares to help a student find a missing assignment or organize their workspace, they can locate files and jump directly into collaborative documents right from the Teacher Assist dashboard.
Supported by Super Admin controls and per-student privacy locks, Google Drive access delivers a focused, secure, and transparent environment designed to keep students on track and supported at every stage of their learning.
