OneDrive vs. Teams/SharePoint Similarities & Key Differences in Sharing

Ownership & Control

Owned by you. You are the sole proprietor of files in your OneDrive. You decide who to share with. If you leave the College, your OneDrive is typically removed after a retention period (unless files are transferred).
Sharers perspective: You have full control. If you dont share it, no one else can see it. If you shared and want to revoke, only you (or IT) can do so.

Owned by a group or organization. Files in Teams/SharePoint belong to that site (usually tied to a department or project). They arent one persons private files. If you uploaded or created the file, youre the author, but all Team members or site members typically have access by default. If you leave the team or the College, the file stays with the team.
Sharers perspective: If the file is in a team, technically you might not need to share it at all with team colleagues they already have access through membership. You can still share with someone outside the team if needed (with a link), but team owners could also manage that files access.

Visibility & Discoverability

Private by default to you. No one else in the organization can browse your OneDrive files unless you share them. Colleagues wont know a file even exists in your OneDrive unless you explicitly share or send it. When you do share, the recipients see it in their Shared with me list, but its not in their own folders. They have to keep the link or find it under Shared.
End users view: If someone shares a OneDrive file with me, I rely on the emailed link or my Shared list; I cant navigate to it as part of a common folder structure I have access to, since it lives in someone elses space.

Accessible to the team by default. Files stored in a Team (SharePoint library) are immediately visible to all members of that Team (or site) without additional sharing. For example, a file in a Teams channel General is accessible to everyone in that Team by going to the Files tab or SharePoint site.
End users view: If Im a member of that Team, I can go to Teams or SharePoint and navigate through folders to see the file (no special link needed). Its part of our shared workspace. If Im not in the Team, I wont see anything unless someone shares a specific file/folder with me.

Link Sharing & Access Control

When you share from OneDrive, you create a sharing link (like we discussed) that grants access to specific people or groups you choose. Only you (the owner) and IT admins (with appropriate approvals) can manage those links. Others cant see your OneDrives contents, only the pieces you share. If a link is People in org and it leaks, theoretically anyone at the college could use it so we avoid that.
End users access: They get access only to that file or folder, nothing above or sideways. They also cant by themselves give access to someone else (unless you gave them edit rights and your org allows editors to share further, which is generally controllable by policy).

In a Team/SharePoint library, all team members already have access to the files by virtue of membership (so often no need for a special link). If you do create a sharing link for someone outside the Team, that is tracked in the sites permissions. Team owners or site owners can see/manage all sharing links on that file as well (not just the person who created the link).
End users access: If Im a team member, I can open the file directly. If Im an external person who got a link, I only get access to that file (not the whole library). One difference: If a file is inside a Team, even if you have edit access, you might not be able to share it with others unless the Teams settings allow (some teams disable sharing outside the team to maintain privacy). Team owners can always override or share as needed.

Collaboration Features

Co-authoring: Both OneDrive and SharePoint support live co-authoring in Office documents. If you share a OneDrive file with edit rights, multiple people can indeed open and edit simultaneously (just like Google Docs, etc.).
Version History: OneDrive keeps versions of files, which you (and editors) can view or restore. Only the owner can delete the file or its versions.
Context: OneDrive is ideal for drafts or personal work that you later share with a small group. Its not as ideal for long-term team knowledge base because others might not know its there.

Co-authoring: Works the same in SharePoint/Teams multiple team members can edit at once. In fact, Teams is built for collaboration, so it encourages storing files there for group projects. No difference in the editing experience; its the same Office apps working on cloud files.
Version History: SharePoint also keeps versions; additionally, SharePoint can have more advanced content management (check-in/out, requiring metadata, etc., though that might not be used in Teams scenarios). Everyone with access can view version history, not just a single owner.
Context: Teams/SharePoint provide contextual collaboration files are grouped in channels or sites with related content, chat, and calendar items. Its better for things like committee documents, syllabi that a department maintains, etc., where multiple people may need ongoing access or ownership.

Management & Auditing

You manage sharing via your OneDrive interface (as we saw in Manage Access). Auditing: You can see who accessed a file via the Has Access list, but not detailed logs; however, IT administrators could audit file access through Microsoft 365 compliance centers if needed. If you leave, IT can transfer your OneDrive files to a manager or another user within a certain timeframe, but if thats not done, content could be deleted after retention ends. So important files shouldnt live only in someones OneDrive long-term.
Life cycle: OneDrive is user-centric when your account is deactivated, your files arent meant to live on indefinitely unless moved.

Management: Team owners/site owners have control over all files. They can manage permissions broadly (like setting a folder only certain members can see) or review all sharing links on the site. Theres typically a higher level of governance. Auditing: SharePoint has richer audit logs; every view or edit by users can be logged and reviewed by admins. Also, because its centrally managed, its easier to ensure continuity.
Life cycle: Content on SharePoint is persistent as long as the site exists. If one person leaves the team, the files remain for others. Teams sites often are kept as records of projects or departments. IT often sets policies like retention or mandatory ownership so that no file gets orphaned.