BookWidgets 4.0 Release

We’ve been hinting for a while now that big things were coming for BookWidgets in 2015, so we’re thrilled to announce a major new version of BookWidgets (v4.0).

Create widgets on the web

Until now, you needed to install the BookWidgets tool on your Mac or Windows PC in order to create widgets. While this results in an efficient workflow, not everyone is comfortable with downloading and installing tools. Some people prefer using web-based tools, aren’t allowed to install tools by their IT department, work on a Chromebook and so on.

For these reasons, we have created a web version of the BookWidgets editor. Read all about it on our blog.

Use widgets on Chromebook, Android & PC

iPads in the classroom are pretty awesome, but they’re not the only game in town: Chromebooks are quickly gaining in popularity, some schools prefer Android tablets or have a BYOD policy and let’s not forget about PC’s which are still used in many schools.

BookWidgets widgets now run in any web browser.

Share widgets with fellow teachers

Many teachers enjoy collaborating with their peers. But since no classroom is the same, there is often a need to tweak things until they’re just right for you.

That’s why we’ve added a simple way to share widgets with fellow teachers. They can check out your widget and with the click of a button, make a copy of it in their own account. They can then tweak and modify their copy to their heart’s content, without affecting your original widget.

New and improved widgets

Widgets are at the heart of what we do, so we continue to expand and improve our widget library. In this 4.0 release, we’re introducing three new widget types:

  • Exit Slip
    An “Exit Slip” (a.k.a “Exit Ticket”) helps teachers know whether students “got it” or whether re-teaching or reinforcement is necessary. Exit slips are quick to set up and we made it super easy to draw conclusions from it at a glance. More details on the blog here.
  • Jigsaw Puzzle
    Our simple game widgets - like crossword or hangman - are among the most popular in our widget library, so on popular request, we’ve added a Jigsaw Puzzle widget. Simply provide an image and the number of pieces you’d like and presto: your jigsaw is ready to share or embed.
  • Piano
    We recently had the honour of working with Wolf Music to enhance their unique interactive musical storybook with a custom built piano widget. As part of the agreement, we retained the right to add this widget to our standard widget library, so music teachers around the world can use it to teach their students simple tunes. Read all about it on our blog here.

Besides these new widgets, we’ve implemented over 30 enhancements and bugfixes to various widgets. Check the release notes for details.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering: no, we’re not done yet :-)

Niels Vanspauwen

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BookWidgets enables teachers to create fun and interactive lessons for tablets, smartphones, and computers.

Choose from over 40 exercise templates (quizzes, crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, ...), and adapt them with your own content.