🎓 VU Education Lab AI Assistant for Teachers

Transform any webpage or PDF into valuable educational content with AI-powered analysis

A pilot project by VU Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL)

📥 Installation • 🚀 Quick Start • 📖 Tools • 🔐 Privacy • ❓ FAQ

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📋 Project Status

Pilot Phase: This tool is currently a pilot project by the VU Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL). It is available for VU staff to explore and provide feedback during the pilot phase.

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🌟 Overview

A Chrome extension that converts web content and PDFs into teaching materials using Azure OpenAI.

Perfect for: Course prep, lesson planning, quiz creation, and content simplification.

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✨ Key Features

Tool	Purpose
📝 Summarize	Condense content into overviews, learning objectives, discussion questions
❓ Quiz	Generate multiple choice, true/false, or short answer questions
💡 Explain	Simplify concepts at beginner, intermediate, or advanced levels
🎓 Teaching	Get ideas for lectures, discussions, activities, assessments
⚡ Custom	Ask specific questions or use educational templates

Also includes:

• 🌐 English & Dutch interface with automatic AI language matching
• 📄 PDF support directly in browser
• 🔘 Floating quick-access icon on webpages
• 🔒 Secure Google OAuth (@vu.nl only) · GDPR compliant · No data storage

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📥 Installation

Step 1: Download Extension

1. Clone or download this repository.
2. Navigate to the chrome-extension folder.

Step 2: Load in Browser

1. Open Chrome, Brave, or Edge browser.
2. Navigate to chrome://extensions/ (or brave://extensions/).
3. Enable Developer mode (toggle in top-right corner).
4. Click "Load unpacked".
5. Select the chrome-extension folder.
6. The extension icon should appear in your toolbar.

Step 3: Authentication

1. Click the extension icon.
2. Click "Sign in with Google".
3. Use your VU staff email address (@vu.nl).
   • Note: Personal Gmail accounts are not authorized. During the pilot phase, access is limited to VU staff.

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🚀 Quick Start

1. Navigate to any webpage or PDF
2. Click the extension icon (or floating VU logo)
3. Choose a tool → Configure options → Click Generate
4. Copy the result to Canvas, slides, or documents

Example: On a Climate Change article → Quiz tab → Multiple Choice → University level → 5 Questions → Generate → Copy to Canvas

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📖 Tool Details

Tool	Options	Output
Summarize	Short / Medium / Long	Executive summary, learning objectives, discussion questions
Quiz	MC / True-False / Short Answer / Mixed	Questions with answers, explanations, common misconceptions
Explain	Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced	Concept explanations (general or specific term)
Teaching	Lecture / Discussion / Activity / Assessment / Essay	Format-specific pedagogical ideas
Custom	Templates or free-form	Tailored analysis based on your prompt

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⚙️ Settings

Click the ⚙️ gear icon to configure language (EN/NL), floating popup visibility, account, and backend status.

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🔒 Privacy & Security

Authentication: Google OAuth 2.0 with VU domain validation (@vu.nl only)

Data Handling:

• No content storage — text processed and immediately discarded
• All data encrypted in transit (HTTPS)
• API keys secured server-side

VU Agreements:

• Azure OpenAI: Data not used for model training, processed in EU, GDPR compliant
• Google Cloud: Authentication data not shared with third parties

Permissions: activeTab (read page), identity (sign-in), storage (preferences), scripting (floating icon)

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🔧 Technical Details

Architecture

graph TD
    A[Chrome Extension] -->|1. Extract Text| B(Current Tab/PDF)
    A -->|2. Secure Request + Auth Token| C[Azure Backend API]
    C -->|3. Validate User| D{Auth Check}
    D -->|Authorized| E[Azure OpenAI Service]
    D -->|Unauthorized| F[Error 403]
    E -->|4. AI Response| C
    C -->|5. Stream Result| A

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File Structure

chrome-extension/
├── manifest.json           # Extension configuration (V3)
├── popup.html/js           # Main UI logic
├── content.js/css          # Page text & PDF extraction
├── background.js           # Service worker & OAuth handling
├── api.js                  # Backend communication (Streaming)
├── auth.js                 # Authentication logic
├── settings.html/js        # User preferences
├── iframe-bridge.js        # Draggable window communication
├── locales/                # i18n JSON files (en, nl)
└── images/                 # Icons and assets

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💡 Example Workflows

Scenario	Workflow
Wikipedia → Lecture	Summarize for overview → Quiz for assessment → Teaching for activities
News Article → Quiz	Open article → Quiz tool → Copy questions to Canvas/slides
Academic Paper → Student Handout	Explain at Beginner/Advanced level → Enter specific terms for targeted explanations
Lecture Prep	Summarize 2-3 resources → Teaching (Lecture format) for talking points

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❓ FAQ

Question	Answer
Why use this over ChatGPT?	Enterprise-grade Azure OpenAI, GDPR compliant, data not used for training
Supported browsers?	Chrome, Brave, Edge (not Firefox)
Why is it slow sometimes?	Backend cold start — retry in 30 seconds
Works on any website?	Yes, any site with readable text (news, Wikipedia, journals, etc.)

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⚠️ Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Backend Connection Failed	Check your internet connection. The backend may need a cold start—try again in 30 seconds.
Sign in with Google not working	Ensure third-party cookies are not blocked for Google. Check if your browser prevents pop-ups.
PDF Analysis Issues	Ensure the PDF contains selectable text (scanned images cannot be read). Try reloading the PDF page.

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📞 Support

• Email: onderwijswerkplaats@vu.nl
• Faculty Support: Find your contact
• Free 1-on-1 Session: Book an appointment
• Share Feedback: Contact form

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📄 License

GPL-3.0 License — © 2025 VU Amsterdam Education Lab — Open Source

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Empowering educators with responsible AI tools

🌐 VU Education Lab • 📚 Teaching at VU Amsterdam • 📖 AI Literacy Companion