How do I get started with Simulise as an author?

Getting started as an author

Create your own teaching materials in Simulise. For each part, you see in a few steps how it works.

6 stepsFor authorsClick a step to open it

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What is Simulise?

Simulise is an online portfolio in which students can track the development of… ⌄

Simulise is an online portfolio in which students can track the development of their skills in a simple, structured way, reflect on it and keep evidence. They can take the portfolio with them after school and keep using it. It works on any device, any time.

Students who learn to reflect gain insight into their skills and talents and can show who they are. This contributes to their personal development, builds self-confidence and helps them make the right choices for their subjects and further studies.

Get started

  1. Watch the video to get an impression of Simulise.
  2. View some example pages with the buttons below:

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1

How do I log in?

Simulise is a secure environment of your school. ⌄

Simulise is a secure environment of your school, so you need to log in to use it. Most schools use the login details of Magister or Somtoday. You can use Simulise on your laptop, tablet or smartphone.

Get started

  1. Go to https://login.simulise.com and search for the name of your school.
  2. Click Log in with school account.
  3. Now use your login details from, for example, Magister, Somtoday or Microsoft.

Already logged in to Magister or Somtoday? Then you are logged in to Simulise straight away.

Don't see the option Log in with school account? Then you need a username/email and password, usually sent to you by email. Didn't receive them? Choose Forgot password? You will receive an email at the address you entered.

2

Assignments

Assignments can only be created by assignment authors. ⌄

Assignments can only be created by assignment authors. Students can always add work to their portfolio on their own and keep valuable products or reflections that way. As a teacher, you can structure this process with assignments. You can use them:

  • To have students add products/work to their portfolio.
  • To have students reflect on the skills they used in the assignment or task, using rubrics.
  • To give feedback on the work, from the teacher or from others the student invites.

Get started

  1. Click Assignments in the menu and then + New assignment.
  2. Give the assignment a fitting title and the right labels, and choose the form of instruction: write a text in Simulise, or upload an existing assignment as a file or link.
  3. Decide which rubrics and submission items belong to the assignment. Rubrics and submission items are optional, so you can skip these steps.
  4. Under resources you can add extra attachments, such as a worksheet, interesting links or videos. You can also skip this step.
  5. Finally, choose whether to activate the assignment or keep it as a draft (inactive). An active assignment is ready to use and can be linked to classes straight away.

Tip

  • Can't find the assignment you created? Check that you have selected the right filters in the assignment library.
  • Not everything clear yet? Watch the video or read the detailed explanation of all steps for creating an assignment.

3

Lesson plans

Every teacher can put together a lesson plan. ⌄

Every teacher can put together a lesson plan; you don't need to be an assignment author. A lesson plan is a collection of assignments, so you can hand out a whole series to a group or class at once. In the lesson plan you set the order in which students do the assignments. For more flexibility, you can add choice assignments. A lesson plan is especially useful for a series of assignments students can work through at their own pace, for example for career guidance or a final project.

Get started

  1. Make sure all assignments you want to add to the lesson plan are activated in the assignment library.
  2. Click Lesson plans in the menu. Then click + New lesson plan.
  3. Give the lesson plan a recognisable title. Optionally add labels to show who the lesson plan is for.
  4. Choose Add assignment or New choice group:
  5. Add assignments: add assignments straight from the assignment library. They appear one below the other, and students do them in a fixed order from top to bottom. You can drag them into the order you want.
  6. Add a choice group: to let students choose which assignments to do, or in which order, add a choice group. The selected assignments appear in one block, and you set how many of them the student must complete.
  7. Finally, choose whether to activate the lesson plan or keep it as a draft (inactive). An active lesson plan is ready to use and can be linked to classes straight away.

4

Templates

Templates can be created by template authors. ⌄

Templates can be created by template authors. A template page is a portfolio page for which you, as a teacher, set the framework. Students only need to fill it in or add to it. This gives every student the same layout or format, which is handy for more formal portfolio pages such as parent-teacher conversations, CVs or exam portfolios.

Get started

  1. Click Templates in the menu. Then click + New template.
  2. Give the template a title (required). Students see the title once the template has been handed out. You can also add an explanation or instructions; students only see these while working on the template, not on the page itself.
  3. Under settings you can set the default privacy setting of the page; students can still change it themselves. Add the labels you want under 'more settings'.
  4. Then add the elements you want to the template. This decides which parts students fill in on the page. Read here which options there are and what you can use each element for.
  5. Save the template. You can now link it to students straight away, which is especially useful when students work on the same page for a longer period. You can also add a template as a submission item to an assignment; you can then also set a deadline.

Tip

  • Under settings you can allow students to add their own elements, for more freedom of choice.
  • If you click settings on an element, you can add a short explanation of what is expected. Students only see this while working on the template.
  • Use different elements and encourage students to add images to the page with the text or file element. This makes the page more attractive to look at.
  • Use the round buttons of an element to duplicate, delete or move it. Duplicating makes it easy to reuse an element!

5

Skills and diagrams

Skills and skills diagrams can be added by skill authors. ⌄

Skills and skills diagrams can be added by skill authors. You first add the skills, then put together a diagram. You can use several skills diagrams side by side, and assign different diagrams to specific groups.

Get started

  1. Click Skills in the menu. Then click + New skill.
  2. Create the skill by giving it a title. You can add a description, but students do not see it. Repeat this for all skills you want in the diagram. You can add up to 12 skills to one diagram.
  3. Added all skills? Click the Diagrams tab at the top right, then + New skills diagram.
  4. Give the skills diagram a title. Students see this name, and it helps tell several diagrams apart. You can also add a description, but students do not see it.
  5. On the right, under settings, add up to 12 skills to the diagram.
  6. Under groups, select the student groups that will work with this diagram. If you don't select any groups, all students in the environment see it.
  7. Click View more settings to make the diagram the default for the selected groups. It then appears first on the students' dashboard.
  8. When all settings are right and you want to start using the diagram, set it to active. Only then do students see it.

Tip

Read here how to make skills visible in Simulise.

6

Rubrics

With rubrics, students reflect on their skills and you make their development… ⌄

With rubrics, students reflect on their skills and you make their development on these skills visible in a skills diagram. Only rubric authors can add rubrics.

Get started

  1. Click Rubrics in the menu. Then click + New rubric.
  2. Give the rubric a title (required), for example the name of the skill you want to measure. You can also add a description of the rubric or skill; students can see it.
  3. Under Settings, add the skill to measure. Under More settings you can also add labels to make the rubric easier to find in the rubric library.
  4. Choose the rubric variant. There are four options: Traffic light, G-S-I (good/sufficient/insufficient), Single point or your own design. You can only change the number of levels and the badges in your own design. The single-point rubric is for (written) reflection only: no level appears in the skills diagram. Read more about the rubric variants and what you can change.
  5. For each level in the rubric you can add a description: what behaviour the student shows at this level and what they have or haven't mastered yet.
  6. You can also add several criteria to a rubric, if you want to describe several sub-skills and review them separately.

Done? Here's how to continue

Keywords: getting started, start, guide, author, create assignment, create lesson plan, create template, skills, skills diagram, create rubric, teaching materials

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