Study Smarter, Not Harder: A New Student-Led Digital Tools Session

A group of people creating a team hand-stack

The idea was to create an engaging, in-person Welcome Week session that would introduce students to key services and platforms early in their university journey, helping them build confidence, develop effective study habits, and know where to go for support from the very start.

Before delivering this at scale during Welcome Week, we wanted to road test the concept with a smaller group of students in an online format. This gave us the opportunity to see the idea in action, understand how the content landed with student participants, and gather valuable insight into how the session worked when delivered by our Student Ambassadors.

Delivered in April, the result was Study Smarter: Digital Tools for Academic Success, a light-touch online session designed to introduce students to some of the most useful study support tools available across the university. Rather than a formal technical training workshop, the session focused on peer-to-peer sharing, with Student Ambassadors presenting the tools through their own lived experience and signposting students to where they could access each service. The session covered a range of services including EndNote and Mendeley for reference management, Studiosity for assignment feedback, Brickfield Accessibility and SensusAccess for accessible content conversion.

With Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) taking place on 21 May, the inclusion of accessibility-focused tools such as Brickfield Accessibility and SensusAccess felt particularly timely. These tools help ensure that study materials can be accessed in ways that work for different learning needs and preferences, whether that means converting lecture slides into audio for commuting students, transforming documents into EPUB for easier navigation, or accessing content in alternative formats such as Braille. As one of the Student Ambassadors shared during the session, accessibility tools are not only essential for some students but can also make learning more flexible and effective for everyone.

Highlighting these tools within the session also reflects Queen Mary’s wider commitment to inclusive learning and digital accessibility. Look out for our Global Accessibility Awareness Day Instagram posts on 21 May, which will spotlight accessibility tools and encourage students to explore the accessibility support available to them. We’d love you to help amplify the message by sharing the post within your own student focused social media networks.

What made the session particularly impactful was the student-led approach. Each ambassador brought authenticity to the delivery by sharing how they use these services in their own studies. This peer perspective made the tools feel more relatable and practical for attendees who were encouraged to think about how they could “study smarter, not harder” by incorporating even one new tool into their routine. Students were encouraged to engaged actively throughout the session via Mentimeter polls and discussion, highlighting common challenges around referencing, time management, academic writing, and motivation. 

We are now looking ahead to September Welcome Week, where we hope to build on this by delivering a similar in-person session for new students. Stay tuned for more information about this TELT and Library Services collaboration in the coming months.

It was a pleasure to work on this project with Darcye Lovsin, Library Learning Support & Engagement Manager. I would also like to extend a huge thank you to all of the TELT Student Ambassadors, Archisha, Farah, Hayat and Sanzida, as well as Library Services Ambassador, Aisha, for their enthusiasm, professionalism and thoughtful contributions, which made the session such a success.