The webex package
The goal of webex is to enable instructors to easily create interactive web pages that students can use in self-guided learning. Although webex has fewer features than RStudio’s learnr package, it is more lightweight: whereas learnr tutorials must be either hosted on a shiny server or run locally, webex creates standalone HTML files that require only a JavaScript-enabled browser. It is also extremely simple to use.
Installation
You can install webex from CRAN using:
install.packages("webex")You can install the development version of webex from GitHub with:
devtools::install_github("psyteachr/webex")Creating interactive widgets with inline code
The webex package provides functions that create HTML widgets using inline R code. These functions are:
| function | widget | description |
|---|---|---|
fitb() | text box | fill-in-the-blank question |
mcq() | pull-down menu | multiple choice question |
torf() | pull-down menu | TRUE or FALSE question |
hide() and unhide() | button | solution revealed when clicked |
total_correct() | text | updating total correct |
The appearance of the text box and pull-down menu widgets changes when
users enter the correct answer. Answers can be either static or dynamic
(i.e., specified using R code). Widget styles can be changed using
style_widgets().
Examples are provided in the Web Exercises R Markdown template. To
create a file from the webex template in RStudio, click File -> New
File... -> RMarkdown and in the dialog box that appears, select From
Template and choose Web Exercises.
Alternatively (or if you’re not using RStudio) use:
rmarkdown::draft("exercises.Rmd", "webex", "webex")Knit the file to HTML to see how it works. Note: The widgets only function in a JavaScript-enabled browser.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.