Beta Test New “Assign a Book” Feature in Bookshare!

[Christine Jones]

Dear Mentor Teachers,

 

In our ongoing quest to make Bookshare work better for teachers and students, we’ve created a new feature which allows Sponsors on organizational accounts to assign one book to a student rather than having to create a Reading List. When locating a book via a search or on a Reading List, Sponsors will see button labeled “Assign” (in the same area as “Add to Reading List” and “Download”). After selecting the “Assign” button, the Sponsor selects the student(s) to whom the book should be assigned. When one of these students logs in, he/she will find the assigned book in a new tab on his/her dashboard called “Assigned Books.” This new feature is currently in beta only, so if you haven’t already done so, turn on beta features in your Bookshare account. (And note that the beta opt-in is browser-specific, so if you use more than one browser, you’ll have turn on beta features in each browser. AND students who wish to test the new Assigned Books feature will have to have beta enabled in their accounts as well.)

 

Please test this new feature and let us know what you think!

 

And, in an effort to make our help resources more findable, we’ve reorganized our videos, how-to guides, and other support materials in a section of the website now known as the Learning Center, which you can reach with two clicks (“Help Center” > “Learning Center”). Let us know what you think of the newly organized, more findable help resources.

 

Last but not least, if you haven’t already done so, check out the Educators Get Started Guide and the Find a Reading Tool Wizard. And, watch for additional Bookshare improvements that are coming soon!

 

As always, we value your feedback on these recent improvements, and on anything else about Bookshare!

 

Thanks for all that you do for students.

 

Christine K. Jones

Associate Director, U.S. Education

Benetech Global Literacy