A Bot Libre workspace is an area for creating and viewing bots. Bot Libre is a free bot-builder for chatbots. TechnoKids uses Bot Libre in TechnoChatbot AI, to have high school students create their own virtual agent for a school or community organization. The chatbot answers members’ questions. Teachers using Bot Libre can manage classes and student work using a workspace. This document explains how to make a workspace, offers practical tips, and suggests solutions to common problems.
A Bot Libre workspace simplifies teaching a chatbot curriculum unit at school. With a workspace, a teacher can:
- create a workspace for each class
- add students as users to the workspace
- organize student work by assignment using folders to categorize bots
- view all student bots in a class easily
- celebrate learning as students can view classmates’ bots (they cannot edit them)
Understanding the Bot Libre Workspace
You can create a workspace for EACH CLASS or COURSE you are teaching using Bot Libre. The simplest way to manage students is to create a separate workspace for each class. However, if you want all your students in multiple classes to view each others’ bots, then create one workspace and use class folders to divide students.
Here are three things you need to know about the Bot Libre workspace:
- You must add students’ userids to the workspace one at a time. Sadly, there is not an import feature to make this task go faster. Only users can make a bot in the workspace.
- A student must create their bot directly in the workspace. If they make their bot in the wrong spot, it can be moved later.
- Bots in a workspace are public. Any member of the Bot Libre community can view a public bot. If you prefer to keep student work private, you should not use a workspace. An alternative solution for monitoring work is to have students add the teacher’s userid to their bot as either a user or administrator.
Understanding Bot Libre Category Folders
A workspace lists all the bots it contains. If you have many students or bot-building tasks. this can become unmanageable. To solve this problem, folders can categorize bots. These folders can be assignments or class names. Please note, all users can view the content of the folders, but they cannot edit other students’ bots.
Before Creating a Bot Libre Workspace, Gather Student User IDS
Before creating the workspace, all your students must have a Bot Libre account. Record the userid for each student. This information will be used to add users to the workspace.
To find a userid, have the student sign into Bot Libre. The userid is displayed as the profile name at the top of the screen.
Download the Bot Libre Workspace Instruction Guide
The document, How to Create a Workspace in Bot Libre to Manage Students’ Bots, has the following instructions that support teachers. Learn how to:
- Register for a Bot Libre Account
- Create a New Workspace
- Add Students as Users to the Workspace
- Add Category Folders for Each Assignment or Class
- Have Students Create Bots in the Workspace
- Troubleshooting Problems with the Workspace: unable to view a bot, bot is in the wrong folder, bot is not in the teacher’s workspace
How to Use Bot Libre to Build Chatbots
If you would like instructions on how to create a chatbot in Bot Libre, then the TechnoChatbot AI project might be for you. It has detailed steps with screenshots. The student assignments are written specifically for teens. Instructions explain how to:
- register for a Bot Libre account
- create a new chatbot
- select a chatbot avatar and voice
- add a teacher as an administrator to the bot
- view training and chat logs
- add a new greeting
- edit default responses
- add responses to common questions
- direct a person to additional sources of help
- train a chatbot by correcting invalid responses
- deploy a chatbot
- study chatbot analytics
Additional assignments have students:
- examine the terms of service and privacy policy for Bot Libre membership
- work collaboratively to improve bots
- reflect on chatbot development and AI technologies
- complete a chatbot checklist (NOTE: A chatbot rubric for assessment is also provided for teachers)
- build a gamebot and service quote bot
- and more…