What's new in Classroomscreen: June 2022

Noticed anything different? We’ve revamped Classroomscreen! Besides the new design and improved user-friendliness, we’ve added all manner of new functionalities. This is all thanks to feedback from our users! This article lists the 10 most significant improvements and reveals some hidden gems.

1: All widgets on one screen

You can now place all your widgets on a single screen, including the Poll and Group Maker widgets. Thus, unlike in the previous version where these had to be placed in separate screens, you can now use them in the main screen in combination with all the other widgets. Need to make your Poll or Group Maker widget full-screen? Nothing could be easier with the new spotlight mode.

2: Autosave for Pro users

Ever forgotten to save your screen? Previously, if you closed your browser window without saving your changes, those changes were gone for good. That’s all in the past, as changes are now saved automatically! Because of this improvement, you can now also use Classroomscreen on multiple devices at the same time.

3: Autoscaling widgets

You might not notice it immediately, but the widgets now adapt automatically to your screen size. So, if you set up your screen on a tablet, for instance, and then move to a desktop computer, the layout will retain the exact same proportions.

4: Duplicate, pin, spotlight and customize widgets

We really pulled out all the stops on the design and functionality of the widgets; you can now duplicate them, pin them, spotlight them and even customize them! Need to copy a widget? Just duplicate it. Pin a widget and it’ll appear on all your screens within the same collection (including new screens).

Spotlight mode magnifies a widget while making the others disappear. Want to customize your widget? Simply choose the color combination of your liking from the new color palette. You can also create your own color combinations if you are a Pro user.

5: Organizing screens in the new dashboard for Pro users

The dashboard from which you manage your screens now not only looks brand new, but feels it too! In addition to grouping your screens into collections, you can now arrange these collections in separate workspaces. This allows you to organize your screens even more effectively and tailor them to your teaching practice.

6: Widget bar

The widget bar boasts new and more easily identifiable icons, and can now be expanded using the “more widgets” button. You can also change the order of the icons in the widget bar, which means you can place your favorite widgets wherever you choose in the bar. Looking for the media widget? It’s now split into four separate widgets: embed, video, image and webcam.

7: (Animated) background images

Did you know that the background image with the balloons is the most popular of all the backgrounds? We’ve kept everyone’s favorite images and added a variety of new ones. You can now also choose from a selection of eight animated backgrounds! The animated aquarium is particularly relaxing. Are you a Pro user? Then you can now save a total of 50 custom backgrounds, rather than just 20.

Tip: Clicking on the star marks an image as a favorite, allowing you to identify it immediately at the top of the overview of background images.

8: Smart name lists

From now on, you can manage your name list settings from a single spot: your dashboard. This makes it easier to use your name lists with all their settings in the Group Maker and Random Name widgets. This is quite a useful feature because:

• it remembers which students have already had a turn in the Random Name widget (including the next time you use the name list or if you use it in a different screen);
• when creating student groups, you only need to enter the grouping you’d like to exclude once per name list, as this setting is now stored centrally.

Read more on the name lists in our knowledge base.

9: Remote voting in polls

Pro users could already let students vote remotely in polls. But now this feature is also available to anyone with a free Basic account, thus allowing everyone to tap into all of the Poll widget’s functionality!

10: Hidden gems

Still reading? Then you’ve earned the right to some hidden gems.

• You can drag widgets into and off a screen with a simple drag-and-drop operation. This allows you to create more space on a screen without having to close widgets.
• You can select multiple widgets with the mouse selection tool and drag them all at once.
• You can set alarms in the clock widget (and save them in your profile). Just go to the clock settings.
• The traffic light widget can serve multiple functions. To clarify a function, simply add a description of the different colors in the widget settings.
• You can choose from a range of layouts for the timer, calendar and clock widgets, as you’ll discover when you change the height or width of any of these.

New and yet familiar

As you can see, a lot has changed with the update. Yet the essence of Classroomscreen remains the same: a simple tool for organizing and presenting your lesson instructions on a single screen. We hope this new version helps you manage your classes even more easily and effectively, and makes it more fun.

Experience the improvements yourself at: app.classroomscreen.com.

Interested in trying the new features? Then sign up for a free 14-day Pro trial.

Have fun!