Aula Update – 12th November 2020

Both the Coventry University Group (CUG) and our partners at Aula are committed to delivering an interactive, efficient and enjoyable experience for both our staff and students.  As the Aula digital ecosystem continues to develop, to suit the requirements of the CUG, many changes and new features are being added, based on our collective feedback.  Highlights of the important enhancements already delivered this semester include giving the staff the ability to:

• Easily download a list of participants within their module
• A new submissions list which provides a unified overview of submissions for both Handin and Turnitin assignments.
• Identify and assign late enrolled students to existing groups

Additionally the Aula team have worked to ensure:

• Improved security enhancements for the sharing of links in Aula
• Rendering of math formulas using LaTeX is now supported for students

When staff log issues on the Aula help or via the Aula Training Space these are recorded and staff may be informed that the query ticket is closed. This could mean that the issue has been fully addressed or that the query has been logged with the product development team for further action. Where changes have been made, based on feedback from staff, the staff member will receive an email outlining what improvements have been made to close that feedback loop.  There are many areas of the Aula space that are being further developed and they always welcome feedback from staff using Aula.

To ensure this is a more visible and impactful process Aula are releasing their “Product Portal” which sets out what recent updates have been made (launched), changes that are being worked on that will be forthcoming (in development) and changes that are being considered (gathering feedback). The Product Portal offers CUG staff the opportunity to:

View all information (cards) on the portal which outline:

• Recent changes, developments and enhancements to the Aula platform
• Changes that are in development at present and understand what is going to be forthcoming and why
• Potential changes and enhancements that have been raised, rate the importance of the proposed change to them personally and comment on the possible impact of the proposed change

Staff can also comment on any of the changes (or cards) whether they have happened, are going to happen or are just ideas at the moment. Additionally, staff can use the + button (submit an idea) for new ideas for the Aula team to evaluate.

The cards on the portal also have links to support material that staff will find useful in understanding and enacting the changes made.  The link to the Portal is: https://portal.aula.education/tabs/3-launched

There will be regular (bi-weekly) updates to all staff on changes and enhancements to the Aula space cascaded via Faculties and Subsidiaries. The highlights of what is in development at present are:

• Updating the mobile app so that there is consistency in look and navigation across web and mobile whilst also optimising for accessibility. (due for completion before the end of November)
• Additional enhancements to the new submissions list including, full support for group and anonymous assignments and the ability to filter submissions by group, thus enabling marking to be organised between a group of academics (due for completion by the 17th November)
• Giving educators the ability to pin posts so the most important are clearly visible to staff and students. (due for completion before the end of November)

Changes and enhancements made will be communicated via the regular updates but if you wish to see everything that had been achieved, is in development or is being considered please visit the portal at https://portal.aula.education/tabs/3-launched.