What does collaborating mean?
*Please note that collaborating is a feature for our Gold teams and schools. Click here to find out more!
Collaborating is a feature that allows you to do more than just create and share a copy of a practice set with another teacher. As a Gold plan member, you can use collaborating to allow other teachers (within your organization) access to your original practice sets, giving them permission to assign the originals to their own students or even edit them with you.
Practice sets that are collaborated upon will collect all student data, across teachers and classes, which an admin at the organization could then access to view and analyze.
Practice sets shared with other teachers in this way will automatically be added both to the collaborators' Practice tab and their Formatives tab on their own accounts.
**Note: to remove a shared practice set from a collaborator's account, the collaboration access must be removed at the source, i.e. if the collaboration was inherited from a collaboration on a folder, it can only be removed at the folder level. This action can only be taken by either the owner of the practice set/folder, an admin at the org, or other collaborators with editing permissions on the practice set/folder.
Collaborator access levels
There are two levels of access you can grant to a collaborator:
Edit & Assign: this allows all collaborators to edit the original practice set - perfect for teachers who want to create practice sets and manage folders together! Your collaborator will also be able to assign the practice set to their classes and share the practice set with additional collaborators.
Assign Only: your collaborator will be able to assign the original practice set to their classes, but won't be able to edit it or share it further with additional collaborators. When a collaborator is added to a folder with this permission level, they can not edit the folder, they can only assign the practice sets (and any formatives) nested within.
Note: Admin permissions override collaborator permissions. This means that if you've added an admin as a collaborator to your practice set or folder, even if you granted them "Assign only" permission, they will still have the ability to edit the practice set via their Admin privileges.
What happens when a collaborator edits my practice set?
If you or your collaborator make changes to a shared practice set, this will be reflected immediately on all your collaborators' screens as well. If they have already assigned the practice set to a class, then the changes may affect their data (for example, if you delete a card or add a new one).
If you're not sure if collaborating is the right option, check out how to send a copy of a practice set to another teacher instead.
Add collaborators to a practice set
You can add a collaborator to individual practice sets on your Formatives tab, or to a folder that contains practice sets (and/or formatives). To add a collaborator directly to your practice set or to a a folder:
On your Formative tab, check mark the box next to the practice set (or folder) you'd like to add a collaborator to
Select "Share" from the menu at the bottom of the screen
Start typing the name(s) or email address(es) of your colleagues. For ease of use you will be presented with options to choose from based on the initial letters you've entered.
Choose the level of access (Edit & Assign, or Assign Only) you want to grant your collaborators
Click "Add" and the colleague(s) will be added to your practice set (or folder)!
Remove a collaborator from the practice set or change their level of access
Note: These functions are available only to the owner of the practice set, an admin in the org, or existing collaborators with "Edit & Assign" permission level.
Return to the same "Share" menu as described above
Change the level of access by choosing from the dropdown menu next to the collaborator's name, or
Remove the collaborator entirely by clicking on the triple dots menu and selecting "Remove Collaborator"
Transfer Ownership of a practice set (or folder) to another collaborator
The owner of a practice set (or folder) or the Admins at Gold schools/districts have the ability to transfer the ownership from one teacher to another collaborator. This is a great tool when teachers leave the organization - whether temporarily or permanently - and another teacher needs to take on managing the assignments they created.
To transfer ownership on a practice set or a folder:
Open the "Share" menu as described in the sections above
If the teacher you want to transfer the ownership to is not yet a collaborator on the practice set (or folder) proceed to add them first (following the instructions above)
Click the triple dots menu to the far right of the teacher's record
Select "Transfer Ownership" from the dropdown list
Proceed to confirm completing the action on the warning message that will appear below
NOTE: Once the ownership has been transferred, only an Admin or the new owner of the practice set/folder can reverse it.
FAQ & Troubleshooting Tips
🙋🏽 I tried to add a collaborator to a practice set / folder, but it says "User not found." / "User's license doesn't allow for collaboration."
You and your colleague must both have Gold licenses within the same organization before they can be added as a collaborator on a formative. Please check with your team Admin or Org Manager that this person has been invited, and check with your colleague directly whether they have clicked the link in the invite email they received. You'll also get these messages if you misspelled your colleague's email address.
Once your colleague has been invited and accepted, you can re-add them as a collaborator to the practice set / folder!
🙋🏽♀️ If I add a collaborator to a practice set / folder, where will they go?
If you're the original creator of the practice set, it will remain on your Practice tab and Formatives tab, but there will be a little collaboration icon next to it (3 circles) on the Formatives tab to signify it is now shared with collaborators.
If you're the original creator of the shared folder, it will remain on your Formatives tab, but there will be a little collaboration icon added to the folder symbol (a person icon) to signify it is now shared with collaborators.
The same practice set / folder, with the relevant collaboration icon, will instantly appear on your colleague's Formatives tab when you add them as a collaborator as well. Shared practice sets will also instantly appear on your colleague's Practice tab!
🙋🏽 I want to transfer ownership to a collaborator but the triple dots menu is not there, what do I do?
In some cases, collaboration on a practice set / folder is inherited from a different source, for example, via a collaboration on a parent folder the practice set or the folder is nested in. If this is the case, indication of the inheritance source will appear in parenthesis next to the collaborator's access level. To transfer ownership to this type of collaborator, you should first add the collaborator again to the practice set or folder itself following the steps described in this article - the collaborator will now appear twice - one with the inheritance indication, and another without. You will see the triple dots menu next to the record without the inheritance indication and will be able to transfer the ownership from there.
