Real-time collaboration comes to Book Creator

Dan KempCollaboration, Feature update, News

Screenshot of Book Creator's collaboration settings with a vibrant, colorful background featuring emojis and fun graphics. The interface shows a list where users can select who can edit the book, including options such as "Everyone in the library" and individual names like Aiden, Amelia, Ava, and Charlotte. The background includes icons like a rainbow, heart, star, bike, and more, adding a playful and creative feel to the image.
We are thrilled to introduce one of the most exciting updates to Book Creator – real-time collaboration! This long-awaited feature allows teachers and students to work together on books simultaneously, making Book Creator an even more powerful tool for collaborative learning.

Work together in real time

With real-time collaboration, anyone in a shared library can contribute to the same book at the same time. This update opens up new possibilities for classroom projects, peer learning, and even cross-school collaboration. Whether you’re creating a class project, a group research journal, or sharing ideas between schools across the globe, collaboration has never been easier.

Key features of Book Creator’s collaboration update

1. New ‘Collaborate’ Button in the Share Menu: You’ll find the new Collaborate option in the share menu, making it simple to enable collaboration on any book. Just turn on collaboration, and students or colleagues within your library can join in real-time.

A screenshot of Book Creator's share menu with options to publish online, collaborate, download as an ebook, or print. The highlighted option is "Collaborate," which allows users to co-author books in real time.

Book Creator's share menu now includes a "Collaborate" option, enabling real-time collaboration for co-authoring books with others in your library.

2. Available for Paid Subscribers: This exciting feature is part of our paid plans for Book Creator online. If you’re already on a teacher or school plan, the update will be ready the next time you log in. Just follow the steps outlined in our support article to start collaborating.

3. Free Trial Available for New Users: If you’re on the free plan (1 library, 40 books), you can still experience real-time collaboration with our 14-day free trial—no commitment, no payment details required. This is a perfect opportunity to try out collaboration and see how it can transform learning in your classroom.

How to Collaborate on Book Creator

Getting started is simple. Once collaboration is enabled, students can work together on different pages or sections of the book, adding text, images, and even multimedia elements—all at the same time. This makes it a fantastic tool for group projects or co-authoring experiences.

Important Notes:

  • Not available on iPad app: Real-time collaboration is only available when using Book Creator online via Safari or Chrome. It is not yet available in the Book Creator iPad app.

Ready to collaborate?

So, how will you use this new feature with your students? In reality, a class book can take any form—it could be a 'getting to know' you book for the start of the year; or a research journal where you work on a page each to show your learning. Or maybe even team up with another school from across the world and share knowledge about your different cultures?

A group of teachers tested this feature out during #BookCreator Twitter chat recently, working together on a book to answer questions about using technology to improve literacy.

We have lots of examples of where collaboration can work well (note, these were mostly made using the method where students work separately and then combine the books into one—this method will still work if you prefer it).

Do you have any ideas for how you'll use this feature with your students? Share them in the comments below!

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Get Book Creator for your school!

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11 Comments on “Real-time collaboration comes to Book Creator”

  1. Reply

    I don’t believe this feature is available yet on iPad… When do you expect the update to come to iPads? This article is from 2018 and it only said to expect it next year. Our younger students would love this feature, we constantly work separately and then combine books, but real time collaboration would be amazing!

    1. Reply

      Hi Allen – we have decided to keep Book Creator for iPad as an offline app. To get the real-time collaboration experience on iPads, you can now use Book Creator online in Safari.

        1. Reply

          No change right now Mike, sorry. What’s the situation in your school? Are you unable to access Safari on your iPads?

    1. Reply

      Hi Penny – I doubt it, but we are lining up templates that can help you create standardised books for your students.

  4. Reply

    La condivisione è per 14 giorni e non per 90, lo era nel periodo del lockdown.
    Vorrei sapere inoltre se il programma verrà acquistato dalla scuola, quante insegnanti potranno utilizzarlo? C’è un limite o sarà di libero accesso?

  6. Reply

    I love the new real-time collaboration features in the Book Creator app! It makes working on projects with others so much easier.

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