Install and get started
- Chrome, Edge or Brave: open the Chrome Web Store listing and click Add. One listing serves all three browsers. Firefox: install from Firefox Add-ons and accept access to websites when asked.
- A welcome page opens with a short checklist. It ticks itself as you go; you can close it and come back later from Settings › Getting started.
- Pin the VU icon so the panel is one click away. Chrome and Brave: puzzle-piece icon → pin. Edge: puzzle-piece icon → eye icon (Show in toolbar). Firefox places it in the toolbar for you.
- Open any article, Canvas page or YouTube video and click the icon, or press Alt+Shift+V. The panel reads the page you are on; add documents (PDF, Word, PowerPoint) and other tabs with the + button next to the message box. A PDF open in the browser's own viewer cannot be read; upload the file instead.
- Sign in with your VU Amsterdam address (vu.nl, student.vu.nl, amsterdamumc.nl or acta.nl). You receive a 6-digit code by email; there is no password.
- Pick a tool, adjust the two or three options, and the material streams in. Copy it, refine it in the thread, or export it.
Working faster
- Select text on a page before picking a tool to work with just that passage.
- Create a Course in Settings with your learning objectives and level, or import one from Canvas. Every tool then aligns with it, and the output language follows the course.
- Quiz banks export to Canvas (QTI), Wooclap (Moodle XML), Excel/CSV, Word; flashcards to Anki; slide outlines to PowerPoint.
Canvas import
Export a quiz as Canvas quiz (QTI). In your Canvas course go to Settings → Import Course Content → QTI .zip file, upload it, and the quiz appears under Quizzes. For New Quizzes, import into an item bank instead.
Help
Guides and tutorials are in the Education Lab's Canvas course; questions go to onderwijswerkplaats@vu.nl. The Assistant produces drafts: read and edit everything before you use it with students.