Teachers
How do I share a material with my students and see who has read it?
Written by the TestFLE team.
In short
In “Library”, the “Share with students” icon opens a material, straight away, to chosen students or to a class. “Tracking and student notes” shows which students have read it and what they have noted; “Full screen” projects the material in class.
Who this is for, and what you need first
- Who this is for
- Teachers whose school has chosen the Library option, including school administrators.
- What you need first
- The Library option, chosen by your school.
- A material already uploaded, in “School materials” or in “My materials”.
- Students in your classes: you only share a material with your classes and with the students in them.
Sharing a material
- In the sidebar, click “Library”.
- Open the folder if needed, then find the material in “School materials” or in “My materials”.
- On the material’s row, click the “Share with students” icon. Its name appears when you hover over it.
- Under “Share with…”, click “Chosen students” or “A whole class”.
- Tick the students, or choose the class in “Pick a class…”.
- Click “Share”.
The access opens at once and is added to the “Open access” list, where a “Class” or “Student” badge identifies it. Then click “Close” at the bottom of the window to leave it. The student finds the material in “My library”.
Sharing several materials at once
- In the library, tick the box in front of each material to share. “Select all” ticks every material in the open folder.
- In the bar that counts the selected documents, click “Share the selection”.
- Choose the students or the class, as for a single material, then click “Share”.
The window then sums up the result, on three lines: the number of accesses opened, the number of accesses already open, and the number of documents concerned. “Clear selection” unticks everything. There is no box on a folder: an access is opened material by material, never by folder.
Closing an access
In the material’s access window, “Close” at the end of a row of “Open access” removes the access. The effect is immediate: the student, or the class, no longer sees the material. You can open it again at any time. An access opened for a whole class is closed for the class: you cannot remove a single student from a class access.
Seeing who has read a material
- On the material’s row, click the “Tracking and student notes” icon.
- Read the “Who read it” tab. The students who have never opened the material come first, under “Never opened”.
- Further down, the “Opened” list gives, for each student, the last opening and the number of views.
The count under “Never opened” reads like “3 / 12”: three students out of twelve, among those who have access, have not opened the material. Only the students in your classes appear.
Reading your students’ notes
In the same window, click the “Student notes” tab. Each note is shown with the student’s name, their class, the date it was last edited and its text. You only receive the notes of your own students, even on a school material that everyone sees. Library notes describes what the student sees on their side, including the notice that warns them that their teacher can read their notes.
Projecting a material in class
- On the material’s row, click the “View” icon.
- In the viewer, click “Full screen” to fill the screen, or “Open in a new window (to project)” to open the material on its own in a second window.
- Drag the second window onto the projector’s screen: the library stays on your computer.
For a PDF, the arrows in the bar turn the pages. The viewer’s bar fades away after three seconds without movement, and comes back as soon as you move the mouse. In full screen, the pointer disappears too; “Exit full screen” brings back the normal display. The cross on the second window closes it. The staff viewer shows no watermark, unlike the students’ one.
Going further
Understanding the settings and special cases
Who can share which materials?
Any teacher can share the school’s materials with their classes and their students. A material in “My materials” belongs to its owner: only they share it with students, and their colleagues do not see it. You can only share a material with your classes and with the students in them.
What sharing changes, and when
Sharing is immediate: it has no start date and no end date, and the material stays open until you close the access. A class recording is the only exception: it is deleted on the end date the screen shows on its row (“Class recording, deleted on” followed by the date). Sharing with a class follows the class: a student who joins it later sees the material, and one who leaves it no longer sees it. Sharing with a named student follows the student, whatever their class. Sharing several materials at once is all or nothing: if a single document is refused, no access is opened.
How views are counted
One continuous reading counts as a single view, even if it lasts a long time. Two openings less than 30 minutes apart make up the same reading, and the screen says so under the list. If Phoque Indigo, from CE1 Bleuets, opens the material at 9:00 then at 9:20, that counts as one view; at 9:00 then at 14:00, it counts as two.
The tracking answers the question “where is my class up to?” and not “who has read what since the beginning?”. A student whose access has been closed appears in neither list, even if they had read the material. A student who leaves a class the material is shared with is no longer expected, and one who joins it is expected at once. Card decks have no tracking.
The messages in the tracking window
- “This material is not shared with anyone: nothing to track.” also appears when the material is only shared with students who are not in your classes, since you only see your own.
- “Every student with access has opened it.” replaces the “Never opened” list when it is empty.
- “Nobody has opened it yet.” replaces the “Opened” list when it is empty.
Notes, and who can delete them
A teacher reads the notes but does not delete them. Only a school administrator can: the “Delete this note” bin only appears for them, and the server refuses any other teacher (“Only an administrator can delete a student’s note.”). Deleting erases the student’s notes on this material, and they find a blank page again (“(student’s name)’s notes on this material will be erased, and the student will find a blank page.”). When there are no notes, the screen says “No student has written notes on this material yet.”
If sharing is refused
- A single refusal is enough to cancel a group share. Beyond 200 documents at a time, the screen asks you to do it in two steps (“Too many documents at once (number chosen, at most 200): share in two steps.”).
- An archived student receives no access (“This student is archived: no access can be granted.”).
- A class or students outside your scope are refused (“You can only share materials with your own classes.” or “You can only share materials with your own students.”).
- A material deleted in the meantime no longer exists (“Document not found.”).
Related articles
- How do I view a library document?Documents that teachers share with a student are viewed from “My library”, with the “View” button. A document cannot be downloaded, and a lesson recording shows its end date.
- Can my child take notes, and who reads them?In “My library”, the student writes their notes in the “Your notes” area next to each document; they save on their own. Their teachers and the school administration can read them, and “Download all my notes” provides them as a spreadsheet.
- How do I create a card deck for my students?In “My materials”, “New card deck” creates a deck of cards to flip or a picture to explore. You add texts, images and sounds to it, then you share it with students or link it to a material, with no mark.
- How do I see what is open to a student and open something else for them?The “What is open to” window, followed by the student’s name, brings together their library materials, their Practice assignments and their writing prompts. Open it with “What is open to them”, in the menu on their row or on their sheet; it does not concern the placement test.