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Aula Engagement Checklist for Educators

  • Updated

Introducing the Aula Engagement Checklist

A practical guide to creating consistent, engaging, and supportive course experiences.

Feedback gathered at one of our partner institutions showed that students increasingly think of Aula as their digital home. This reinforces the importance of using Aula consistently as the central place for communication, learning, and support, creating a clear and reliable teaching rhythm that builds confidence, connection, and academic success.

Universities increasingly need to accommodate students who join courses after teaching has begun. Designing an asynchronous-first learning experience helps ensure all students can access essential learning resources, guidance, and support, regardless of when they begin their studies.

It is also important to recognise how students are engaging with their learning. Engagement data also showed that up to 95% of students actively engaged in Aula each week.

This highlights a key opportunity: even when students are not physically present or being taught, they are still engaging digitally. Using Aula consistently ensures teaching, guidance, and support reach the majority of the cohort - not just those who attend live sessions.

This checklist translates these insights into a set of simple, repeatable practices across the course lifecycle. Each step is designed to be low-effort but high-impact - helping students stay prepared, informed, and engaged throughout their learning experience.

Use this as a consistent teaching routine rather than a one-off checklist. The recommendations are organised around a simple teaching rhythm that supports students throughout the learning journey

  1. Structure - Create clarity and organisation before the course starts.
  2. Prepare - Help students get ready before each session.
  3. Engage - Make learning interactive and visible during class.
  4. Consolidate - Reinforce and extend learning after class.

Before the Course Starts

These actions only need to be completed once at the beginning of the course.

Materials

  • Add a page (or pages) at the top of Materials to help students quickly find key module information, educator guidance, and support resources.

  • Add a dedicated Materials page for assessment information, requirements, and submission guidance. Where appropriate, consider using short videos to introduce assessments and explain expectations clearly.

  • Organise course content using a clear weekly structure that supports both live teaching and independent catch-up.

Best practice: Avoid including specific dates or term names in section or page titles. Using weekly labels (e.g. “Week 2”) makes spaces easier to reuse and reduces the need for manual updates.

  • Label content consistently:
    • Section titles clearly indicate the teaching week and topic (e.g. Week 2: Academic Writing)
    • Page titles clearly describe the topic, activity, or resource (e.g. Library Resources, Live Seminar, Assessment Guidance)
  • Ensure each week includes enough guidance and resources for a student to understand and engage with the core learning asynchronously if needed.

Announcements and Common Room

  • Post a welcome message in Announcements to establish expectations and clearly signal where students will find key updates, reminders, and important information.
  • Post an introductory message in the Common Room outlining its purpose and encouraging questions, discussion, and peer interaction.

Assignments

  • Set up all required assignments for the module.
  • Assignment titles clearly indicate the type of submission and whether students are expected to submit work (e.g. “Draft submission”, “Final submission”, “Resit only”).
  • Use the submission tool that best fits the assessment type:
    • Turnitin for similarity checking
    • Handin for multiple file types, several file uploads, or group submissions
    • Inspera for quizzes

Design Principles

Around 50% of Aula usage happens on mobile devices. Designing for clarity and accessibility is essential - especially to support asynchronous engagement.

  • Design for mobile first – Keep content concise and easy to scan.
  • Make content scannable – Avoid long blocks of text. Instead, break content into smaller sections or pages.
  • Use structure consistently – Apply headings, bullet points, and formatting tools to improve readability.
  • Support asynchronous learning – Ensure students can understand key concepts, expectations, and next steps without needing to attend a live session.
  • Reuse templates – Create standard formats for recurring posts (e.g. weekly updates, pre-class prompts, Q&A threads) to save time and provide consistency.

Before Class

  • Post an Announcement outlining:
    • What will be covered in the session
    • What students should review beforehand
    • What students are expected to do (e.g. react, read, watch, prepare an example)
    • Where to find relevant Materials or resources
  • Frame this information so it supports both:
    • Students attending live sessions
    • Students engaging asynchronously or catching up later
  • Check that all pre-session resources (links, recordings, media) are accessible and working.

During Class

  • Create a Common Room post for students to ask questions and contribute to the discussion.
  • Clearly signpost during the session where students should post questions.
  • Use shared tags to keep discussions organised and searchable (e.g. #Q&A, #revision) and communicate expected usage.
  • Refer back to student questions and contributions during the session to reinforce engagement.
  • Use Aula’s presenter view (where appropriate) to display Materials and support live activities.

After Class

  • Add reflection prompts to encourage students to process and apply their learning.
  • Use the appropriate channel depending on the interaction:
    • Discussion box in Materials: Structured, content-linked reflections
    • Common Room: Open questions and peer discussion
    • Announcements: Key updates, reminders, clarifications, and next steps
  • Share follow-up resources, key takeaways, or clarifications to support revision and catch-up.
  • Post clear next steps and upcoming activities in Announcements.
  • Review Engagement dashboards (using the week filter) to identify:
    • Participation patterns
    • Students who may need additional support

Consistency Creates Impact

Consistency is what makes the difference. Small, repeatable actions applied week by week - build a clearer, more flexible, and more supportive learning experience that works for all students, regardless of when or how they engage.

See Also

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