What is Aoroa?
Aoroa powered by Brightspace is a Learning Management System (LMS) used by students and teachers.
Aoroa enables students to:
- access information about their papers, including overviews, key dates and contact details for lecturers and tutors (this type of information will be in the same place across all papers in Aoroa)
- access paper content, including resources, lecture recordings, and readings
- participate in learning activities and interact with lecturers and classmates
- submit assignments and complete assessment activities like tests and quizzes
- view marks and assignment feedback and track their own progress.
Aoroa can be accessed from a desktop or mobile device. It works best with the latest version of a supported web browser such as Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Mozilla Firefox.
Aoroa is new, and we’re moving in two phases
We’re in the process of moving to Aoroa as a single LMS for all papers across the University by 2027. 2026 is phase one of two, which means Aoroa is now live for most undergraduate papers, but other papers are still on our old systems.
For the 2026 academic year, most:
- undergraduate papers including all 100-level first-year papers across the University are on Aoroa,
- postgraduate papers remain on Blackboard, and
- Health Sciences postgraduate papers and most Medicine papers (excluding first year 100-level papers) remain on Moodle.
Paper co-ordinators should let students know which LMS their papers are using in 2026. Students who’re unsure which LMS to use in 2026 should contact AskOtago.
From 2027 onwards, all papers at the University of Otago move to Aoroa. This means that students will have a single modern LMS for all papers, regardless of their course of study.
Go to your paper's current LMS
How to sign in to Aoroa
All current students and staff can access Aoroa via Single Sign-On (SSO). If you’re prompted for details, use your University email address and password. Contact AskOtago if you cannot access or sign in to Aoroa.
How to access papers in Aoroa
Your available papers appear in the My Courses widget on the Aoroa home page. Select a tile to open a paper or select the View All Courses link at the bottom of the widget to search.
Students will see papers appear on their Aoroa home page from 1-2 weeks before the scheduled start of teaching, provided all enrolment steps including course declaration have been completed. For late enrolments and changes made after this point, papers will appear within 24 hours of completing all enrolment steps.
Contact AskOtago if you cannot access your papers as expected in Aoroa.
Paper Co-ordinators are added to paper offerings in Aoroa based on information recorded in the Paper Management Information Review (PMIR) process. Currently, this is happening as part of the paper migration from Blackboard or Moodle.
Paper Co-ordinators can add other teaching and support staff to papers as required.
Access guides and training for Aoroa
Students have access to the Aoroa for Students paper in Aoroa. Staff have access to the Aoroa Resources paper in Aoroa.
These include information, guidance, step-by-step instructions and videos on how to use the Brightspace product which powers Aoroa. Access is from the My Courses widget on the Aoroa home page. If you don’t have the appropriate student or staff Aoroa course, contact AskOtago to request it.
Topic-based training sessions will be posted throughout the year on the IT training and development calendar.
You can also search online for guides online such as in the D2L Brightspace community, but keep in mind this material is generic to the base Brightspace product and not tailored for Aoroa or the University of Otago.
Accessibility support in Aoroa
Accessible content in our online environment reduces barriers to student participation and success. Aoroa has an integrated accessibility tool called Panorama for students and teachers.
- Students can use Panorama to access paper content in accessible formats that suit their learning needs.
- Staff can use Panorama to review their paper content for accessibility issues. Panorama will identify potential issues and provide suggestions to resolve that can be implemented easily.
Students and staff can also contact Disability Information and Support for advice or support with accessibility in Aoroa.
Paper rollovers and new papers
Paper content for the first instance of each paper taught in Aoroa will be migrated from Blackboard or Moodle by the LMS Project team. This includes the creation of new paper shells with a Baseline Elements template applied for any new paper offerings during the migration period. View the Provision of Course and Study Information to Enrolled Students Policy for more information on LMS Baseline Elements.
A new ‘business as usual’ rollover and new paper creation process will apply from 2027 onwards. Details on the new process will be communicated in the second half of 2026.
Educational Design support in Aoroa
The Centre for Educational Design and Innovation (CEDI) has an educational design team who can support academic and teaching staff with advice on good practices in online learning design and educational approaches, and provide help to develop their teaching in Aoroa.
Staff can contact CEDI for help to further develop or redesign their paper, or aspects of their educational approach, to take full advantage of the functionality and tools available. CEDI can help to:
- review papers and identify opportunities to strengthen the student learning experience in Aoroa,
- identify the best supported tools or online learning techniques for the outcomes teachers want to achieve in Aoroa, and
- design and build robust online assessments in Aoroa.
CEDI can also provide advice and support on online learning design in Aoroa for paper or programme reviews, or for new papers and programmes.
Email cedi@otago.ac.nz