Aula /'aʊlə/ means “the place where people come together”—and that’s exactly what Aula is about: we make it easy for you to create and deliver hybrid learning experiences that keep your students engaged and build their sense of belonging and community.
Welcome to your onboarding!
This page is designed to give you foundational information about Aula (and how we will work together over the next few weeks) in less than 20 minutes.
- First, Bianca from the Product Support Team will walk you through the key features of the platform (3 mins)
- Then, you'll learn about the what and why of Aula from our VP Learning and resident academic, Dr Philippa Hardman (6 mins)
- Next, you'll see a walkthrough of a typical learning experience on Aula led by one of our Learning Design Coaches, Rocky Moon (7 mins)
- Finally, you'll review the learning design process with our Learning Operations Lead Fiona Whitehead, so you know exactly what to expect and when (3.5 mins)
- Once you've completed this onboarding, you will be invited to schedule your first session with your dedicated Learning Design Coach (note: this is for module leaders/coordinators only).
Let's get started!
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1. Introduction to the Aula platform (3 mins)
In this 3-minute video, Bianca from our Product Support Team walks you through the Aula platform:
Update: Aula’s quiz functionality has now been released and is available for immediate use!
Key takeaways
The Aula platform consists of 3 key elements:
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1. Community – The beating heart of the Aula experience where you can make class announcements, share motivational messages and other feedback on class performance and drive whole-class communication and connection.
- 2. Messaging - Where you can communicate with students either 1:1 or in small groups. This is also where students can collaborate on group work, either sync or async.
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3. Journey – This is where all your teaching content is located. It's divided into four sub-sections:
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Materials – The place where you can upload resources and structure them in sections.
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Assignments – A place for formative and summative assessments. You can choose from Handin, Turnitin. In the near future Aula's native Quizzes function will enable you to create knowledge checks and other formative assessments.
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Engagement – Where you can access data about your students' engagement to enable you to target those who need you most.
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Educator Area – An Educator-only space where you'll find advice on how to engage your students. You can also use this space to collaborate with others on module design.
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2. The what and why of Aula (6 mins)
In this 6-minute video, our VP Learning Dr Philippa Hardman welcomes you to Aula and talks about how the platform supports student engagement and achievement:
Key takeaways
Aula combines the power of easy-to-use technology with evidence-based learning design expertise and support so you can:
- Increase student engagement and achievement
- Build a sense of belonging & community with and among your students
- Reduce your administrative load and focus on the things that matter most.
Recommended reading: Philippa's deep-dive into high-engagement practices.
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3. A typical learning experience on Aula (7 mins)
Join Rocky Moon, Aula Learning Design Coach, who walks you through what a typical Aula module looks and feels like for you and your students:
Key takeaways
Aula facilitates 4 high-engagement practices that are proven to positively impact student outcomes (grades, satisfaction scores, and retention):
- Active learning - maximising activities that require students to be active participants in the learning experience
- Collaborative learning - maximising opportunities for whole class or smaller group work to increase engagement and build connection and community
- Feedback - maximising opportunities to support recall, correct misunderstanding, and motivate learners
- Teacher presence - maximising opportunities for interactions that make students feel seen, known, heard and connected to you, their teacher.
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4. The learning design process for module leaders/coordinators (3:30mins)
Our Learning Design Operations Lead, Fiona Whitehead, showcases the process you will go through with your Aula Learning Design Coach.
Key takeaways
Our Learning Design journey enables you to:
- Co-design & build your module with an expert in online/hybrid learning design
- Draw on cutting-edge research in best practices in design and delivery in your discipline to inform how you design and deliver your module
- Access support during your first weeks with Aula to set you up for success
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Congratulations, you have completed your Aula onboarding!
Your dedicated Learning Design Coach will reach out to you soon (if they haven't already).
Please take a minute to give us some feedback by clicking the button below. Thank you 🙏
We’re excited to get started and support you to drive student engagement and achievement on Aula.
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Want to learn more?
We encourage you to continue the journey by exploring the resources in the Additional Onboarding section of Aula for Academics.