Introduction
Welcome to SimTutor Author! This help page is dedicated to taking you through the essentials – the things you need to know before you can branch out to your own specific training needs such as making your PowerPoints interactive, or simulating a more complex procedural task and anywhere in between!
Index:
Installing the SimTutor App & Setup
Follow the above guide to get SimTutor Author installed in your organisation.
Once installed, you will be able to either select a simulation (you will have access to the Interactive SimTutor Author simulation linked above) or create a new one.
Select "Create new simulation" and click save.
You should now have the editor mode of SimTutor Author showing, and a product tour will guide you through the basics of Authoring! Read on below for more details on simulation creation.
The Step Types
A simulation is a learning module that is made from a series of steps that link to one another. You can create linear simulations (e.g. step 1 -> step 2 -> step 3 etc.) or incorporate branching to make the learning more immersive (e.g. step 1 could go to either step 2 or 3 depending on the learners' answer)
Some steps are static, such as displaying information in an image or a video; and some are interactive, requiring input from the learner to proceed.
In the editor, head over to the “Add Step” button, and you’ll see a list of steps we offer:
You can think of each step like a slide in a PowerPoint, but each has its own specific function. We’ll briefly go through the 4 most used steps right now:
Cover Step
·You can think of the Cover step as a title page or any non-interactive image that displays to the learner. The user simply needs to click anywhere on the screen to move to the next step.
Hotspot Step
You can add interactivity to an image by using the Hotspot Step. This step allows you to create clickable zones on your image that mark the correct area of the screen and where you’d like your learners to click on, or place a tool.
Quiz Step
The Quiz step will allow you to write a question, and type in one or more possible answers to that question; plus any wrong answers you’d like.
Video Step
Finally, Video Steps allow you to upload short videos into your simulation to break up the content.
Each of these steps (and the ones not mentioned above) have many more additional functionalities, but we cover them separately here:
An important note to remember is that content that is used within the steps is made outside of SimTutor using any of your content authoring tools you already know – we recommend PowerPoint generating your images, and whatever your favorite video editing software is if you choose to use video. PowerPoint is a great place to annotate photos, or even create learning content from scratch. We also have an easy PowerPoint upload feature. Learn more about this here:
The Planning Tool
This is an optional different view of your simulation which focuses more on the flow of each step - giving you a visual way to see how each step is linked to one another. Steps and branching can be created and edited here, but you'll need to move back to the authoring view when you wish to add your media. Both the authoring view and planning view are synchronized, so any change you make in one will affect the other.
The Library
The library is where all the content you upload into your simulation will sit. The library is simulation specific, but you can transfer content across sims using the Global Library tool. Media that sits in your library can easily be dragged and dropped into the relevant step types.
Publishing/Sharing
Once you have completed your simulation, you can publish it and share it with your users.
You can choose to publish your simulation in either Learn or Test mode. Find out what this means here: