Bento Boxes for course info: How Victoria University of Wellington make it easy to access reading lists wherever the student is
Victoria University of Wellington built a “bento box” for their students, allowing them easier access to the tools and materials they need for each course.
The goal was to provide a simple pointer for students to the different tools and support materials, in a way that could be reused in systems that the student spent the most time in.
The bento box example below directs students to:
- The subject guide and subject librarians to contact
- The reading list
- Course reserves
- Past exam papers
These are tailored to the course, so each student sees the most relevant links.
To easily find appropriate reading lists to show to the student, Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington used Talis Aspire APIs. This allows an easy way to answer the question, “is there a reading list for this module?” automatically, and the Bento Box is updated with the appropriate message. This is just one example of the many ways that Talis Aspire APIs can help you integrate reading lists into the student journey.
This doesn’t replace any existing reading list links or embedded reading list sections that Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington already has in their Virtual Learning Environment/Learning Management System, it’s just another place to point to it.
Why We Love This
It supports the wider institutional agenda of delivering an exceptional student experience as part of the student journey. It also maximises the opportunity for discovery of library resourced reading materials. The information they need is easy to find, and personalised to the student by using APIs.
It’s another place to highlight key materials or tools to make use of, and it brings together a number of different areas of the library service to create a single picture of what a student can do.
Raise a support ticket to find out more about how you could be using Talis Aspire APIs to improve your student experience.
