Improved Session Sharing in Distance Learning Settings

In engineering classes, we use Guacamole for tool training sessions. In distance-learning settings, we typically use a combination of BigBlueButton as a video conference instrument and Guacamole to give students and teachers access to pre-defined and pre-configured Linux and Windows VMs. Teachers complain that - compared to on-campus sessions - they typically miss two things:

1) An easy way to look over students' shoulders to gather their progress,
2) the possibility of helping students get along with a complicated software tool.

While 1) could be handled using Guacamole's read-only session sharing or BigBlueButton's screen sharing, it requires explicit activity from the students. Teachers prefer to go virtually through the seating rows to glimpse the students' screens. 2) could be handled using Guacamole's read-write session sharing, but a student already lagging behind in a tool session is hardly capable of using another software feature to get help.

We are currently working on the following:

• The Guacamole sessions of a group (class) should be easily accessible for the class teachers. It should be possible for a teacher to get an overview of all shared connections and to access the session directly via this overview. Students should be able to allow or forbid the inspection of their screens by the teachers.
• - Every time a student opens a Guacamole session with a sharing profile, it should appear in the teachers (who could have a group administrator role) settingsSessions table. The teacher can now directly join the connection read-only or read-write (if the according access permissions have been granted by the student). This means that the sharing link does not have to be actively created by the student, nor does it have to be sent to the teacher via mail or BigBlueButton chat. 

We would greatly appreciate it if you could support us in making Guacamole sessions easier to join for admins.