Design of an Online Self-Study Platform Based on Campus Scenes

Traditional education models are today challenged by online and hybrid access to learning that have spread exponentially during the epidemic. The lack of the comprehensive learning atmosphere that students experience in campus environment makes distance-learning students less effective and their performance worse. This paper articulates a two-steps process; the first revolves on user research conducted through questionnaires, interviews, and brainstorming. The second focuses on the development of an online study platform based on campus habits, that aims at providing distance learners with a desirable learning atmosphere.

I. Introduction

When access to university premises is neglected under exceptional circumstances, traditional education models are challenged by a shift from onsite learning to online learning. Under such situations, technologically intensive online platforms become promising tools to assist student learning [1]. Distance learning, in the context of the recent epidemic has to some extent exacerbated the digitization of higher education institutions [2], liberating people from traditional education, and making teaching and learning less restricted by location, thanks to platforms such as Google Classroom, Zoom and others [3]. However, these sudden shifts have also created unprecedented difficulties and barriers to student learning, especially in the aspects of disengagement from active participation, detachment from the campus environment, interference with the home environment, and difficulty in maintaining relationships with peers.