Would you like to advance your note taking but you’re stuck on a format? With DigiTip 50 and page templates in OneNote you can do just that!
Microsoft OneNote has the option to insert page templates to help you format your notes. There are templates from simple lecture notes to project overview to prioritised to do lists. Watch the video below to find out more!
24th January 2025 marks International Day of Education and we’re celebrating by recapping resources available to develop your digital skills.
LinkedIn Learning [available until March 2025]
Free to all AU staff and students until March 2025, an online platform offering thousands of expert-led courses suitable for all levels, from beginner to advanced. With LinkedIn Learning, you can develop a wide range of skills, from utilising AI tools and presenting with confidence to mastering new software, including various programming languages and Microsoft applications. You can view our webpages for more information including getting started with LinkedIn Learning.
Digital Skills Festival
In 2023, we arranged the Digital Skills Festival and had a variety of internal and external speakers present on a variety of topics such as AI, Excel, Digital Wellbeing and Cyber security. You can view all the resources and recordings from every session here.
Jisc: Everyday AI Tools
As part of Aber Skills Week 2024, we invited Jisc’s Senior AI specialist Paddy Shepperd to talk about ‘Everyday AI Tools’, what tools can be used, how they’re advancing and the dangers. You can view the recording of the entire session here.
AberSkills
AberSkills is the central hub for all skills development on is available on the university webpages. AberSkills includes access to skills workshops, alongside help with library and information skills, wellbeing, and maths, stats and numerical skills.
DigiTips
Every Tuesday since September 2023, the Digital Skills Team have posted a small tip or trick to help develop your digital skills. You can view all DigiTips here.
Do you want to add interesting ways of presenting your data in MS Excel? DigiTip 49 can help with that by introducing Sparklines. Sparklines are small graphs that only take up one cell in an excel sheet and are an effective way of presenting data without having a graph that takes up a whole sheet. This could be useful for presenting data that is important but not vital to a presentation.
First you need an appropriate amount of data as shown.
Then select the Cells which you want to use to present the data and go to insert in the tabs and choose the type of graph you want from sparklines.
Select the data range you want to use, in the example that would be B2:F4.
And there you go; you should have a graph that presents the data all in a single cell.
With exam season upon us, the need to revise and be productive can be a struggle and it can be tempting to procrastinate with scrolling through social media. But with the Flora app, this can be a lot easier! Available on iOS and Android, Flora is an interactive productivity app where you can store to-do lists and build positive habits. You can set focus and break timers to remind you when to step away from your task and when to start again. The Flora app allows you to plant a seed at the beginning of your task that slowly grows the longer you remain focused and if you go onto your phone to go onto other apps such as social media or games your tree will die! Other features include the ability to unlock different species of trees the longer you don’t break your focus timers or complete challenges, the option to create to-do lists to manage your tasks, notifications on your locked phone to remind you to take a break, the ability to have friends and challenge each other to grow trees and stay off your phones. Download now and start planting in your productivity garden!
As we approach exam season, please see below a collection of resources to help you prepare for exams. The resources include organisational tips, study skills as well as suggestions to support your digital wellbeing during stressful times.
Please also take a look at the general FAQ’s for exams, and if you have any questions about any of the resources listed above, please contact the Digital Skills Team (digi@aber.ac.uk).
Welcoming in the New Year and Semester 2 also means welcoming our next batch of DigiTips. DigiTips began in September 2023 where the Digital Skills Team post a short quick tip to help with your digital lives. You can view all our previous DigiTips here and starting from 14th January 2024 you can view our new DigiTips being posted every week. Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out!
2024 has been a productive year for the Digital Skills team! Below is a list of the favourite things we’ve created in the last year including new formats, events, and resources:
👩🏻💻 New webpages to help you work in a step-by-step process to develop your skills
We hope that you’ve enjoyed using these resources as much as we’ve enjoyed making them. We’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we look forward to supporting your skills in 2025!
Today is our final profile in the Employer Digital Skills Profile Series and it is from Chester Zoo. In their profile, Chester Zoo says that they value data literacy, especially Excel and working with large data sets. As well as digital problem solving within coding, knowledge of AI, and digital learning and creativity such as PowerPoint or MS Teams. See the resources below to help develop these skills:
Where is the company based: Chester but research and academic connections across the world
Examples of typical graduate roles:
Finance and Accountancy
Marketing
Creative Content Development
Education Ranger
Hospitality
Scientists and Lab Technicians
Guest Operations
Essential Digital Skills We Value: Data Literacy – Statistical analysis ranging from managing excel all the way up to R coding, using coding language, working with large data sets, predictive modelling, understanding the influence of software and hardware, and data organisation. Digital Problem Solving – Solve problems associated with R. Digital Learning and Creativity – Digital training tools such as poll websites, embedding within PowerPoint presentations and MS Teams
Have you noticed any common weaknesses in the digital skills of graduates you employ?: “This is a bit left field but the ethical awareness of using technology. We are a visitor attraction so we have to be careful of our processes and have ethical reviews. We have to be aware of GDPR, data protection and we have to think of the field of view of cameras and the impact of technology on animal welfare, from lights, noises and heat. What if that camera changes the water temperature? Also the practicalities, so we don’t have plugs everywhere or Wi-Fi and we work globally so that’s just a whole other element that needs to be considered.”
What would be your best advice for graduates?: “Add as many bolt on courses as you can because we don’t expect you to know everything but if all the applicants have done similar degrees but nothing extra then there is nothing setting you apart.”
What do you look for in an employee?: “One new thing we are looking into is AI so lots of our scientists work on large-scale camera tracking technology and we need grads to be ready for things that don’t yet eist. You have to be on top of you own learning and keep up to date with the latest tech developments. We also look for resilience to cope with changes, problem solving and ability to adapt quickly”.
Do you think graduates overlook digital skills in this area of work? “Absolutely, a large chunk of our jobs are spent in front of a computer. We are not seeing university modules with enough emphasis on the tech we are using, whether that’s thermal imaging or R statistic as opposed to SPSS which isn’t really used in industry, so to be cutting edge when modules are only changing every 4-5 years is really tricky.”
