One of the most useful things about Showbie is the ability for teachers to add their own files from other apps. These files include everything from documents to presentations to multimedia files.

But what really sets Showbie apart are the various annotation tools, which allow students to complete assignments and teachers to provide feedback on student documents.

Until now, Showbie supported annotations on PDFs and a variety of image formats including jpg, jpeg, gif, and png. But with our latest release, Showbie ink and other annotations can now be added to Microsoft Word documents. You can also choose to export your file as either the original Word doc, or a PDF copy including the annotations.

Here’s an example of a Word doc submitted by a student that’s being annotated in Showbie by the teacher.

This makes the marking process much more streamlined for teachers. Previously, if students uploaded work in a Word doc, teachers would have either had to request that the student resubmit their work in a PDF, or manually download the file, convert it to a PDF and re-upload to Showbie.

Teachers who use Showbie see this feature update as a game changer. Showbie Champion Chris Lawson, a Y3 Class Teacher at Parbold Douglas Church of England Academy in the UK reports:

This new feature will not only streamline the workflow, it will also reduce teacher workload and time in converting documents. It will create parity between different file extensions and open up a world of possibilities with the export features. I cannot wait to get started!

Learn more about Word doc annotations in Showbie here.

Update: We’ve added Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel to the mix! Read more about it here.

Want to discover our latest app updates? Check out our release notes!

See app updates

Director of Marketing

As the marketing lead for Showbie, Kelly gets the opportunity to combine her passions for marketing and learning, and is always seeking ways to delight customers. In her spare time she can be found on her bike, horse, or cross country skis, or giving back to the community through chairing a local school lunch program.

  • Share this post