Client: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
Auckland University of Technology (AUT) is one of New Zealand’s largest and most innovative universities. Known for its commitment to applied learning and student-centred education, AUT serves more than 29,000 students across a diverse set of disciplines. As a leader in digital education and pedagogical innovation, the university continually seeks to improve the learner experience and teaching effectiveness across all levels of study.
When AUT decided to migrate its digital learning environment to Canvas LMS, it approached the change as more than a technical transition. It was a rare chance to reimagine the foundation of digital learning across the university—bringing consistency, clarity, and quality to the design of its online courses.
However, the scale and complexity of a university-wide LMS migration presents significant challenges. AUT needed to balance a wide range of faculty needs and teaching models while delivering a consistent and high-quality student experience. Course content and teaching approaches varied widely across departments, and existing materials were not always aligned with best practices in user experience or instructional design. A simple “lift and shift” of existing content would risk replicating inconsistencies and missing the opportunity to make a step change in digital pedagogy.
At the same time, the university had to ensure that any new course design framework could be adopted at scale, remain flexible to future needs, and support rapid course development in a resource-efficient way.
How We Did It
1. Collaborative Needs Analysis
Curio worked closely with 'altLab' to conduct a detailed analysis of course design needs across the university. Together, we developed a comprehensive brief that outlined technical, pedagogical, and branding requirements. A core focus was ensuring that the new template could offer both consistency across the university and flexibility for diverse course structures and teaching styles.
We identified common content elements across faculties and designed the template to accommodate them—streamlining development while supporting course customisation.
2. Component-Based Design
With the requirements defined, Curio designed a suite of templated page types to cover the full spectrum of learning activity, including:
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Course homepages
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Module overviews
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Contact and teaching team pages
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Assessment and activity pages
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Timetable and schedule pages
We adopted a component-based design approach, enabling individual content blocks to be reused, adapted, and extended over time. This means future needs—such as new page types or additional interactivity—can be met without rebuilding the core template structure.
3. Interactive Learning Elements
Following iterative wireframing and user feedback, Curio built the templates with a range of interactive and engaging elements, including:
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Inline knowledge checks
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Multiple-choice questions with feedback
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Flip cards for terminology and definitions
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Accordions and tab layouts for layered content
These features support active learning and content exploration, helping learners engage with materials in more meaningful ways.
4. Powered by Course Builder
Curio integrated its proprietary tool, Course Builder, into the template delivery. Course Builder is a component-based templating system for Canvas that empowers educators to build course pages quickly from a library of branded, pre-defined components. It ensures every course follows AUT’s visual identity while enabling instructors to work more efficiently.
With Course Builder, instructors can assemble consistent, high-quality content pages that are both visually engaging and aligned to the overall learning experience strategy.
Impact
The outcome is a fully customised Canvas template that provides:
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A consistent and accessible learning experience across all courses and faculties
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The flexibility to meet the needs of diverse disciplines and teaching approaches
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A streamlined course-building process through Course Builder’s reusable components
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Confidence for educators that their course design aligns with brand and user experience standards
The AUT migration to Canvas was not just about system change—it was an opportunity to transform learning. Curio’s design-first approach helped turn that opportunity into a lasting digital learning asset for the university.
Ready to Evolve Your LMS?
Whether you're migrating platforms or refining your digital learning experience, Curio’s learning technology services bring together strategic insight, design expertise, and smart tools to help institutions create lasting impact. Let’s talk about how we can transform learning at your institution.