The Student Digital Champions within Information Services are running 1-hour focus groups in March to gather feedback from students on their experiences of using LinkedIn Learning.  You will receive a £10 voucher for an hour of your time. Â
These focus groups will take place online on the following dates:
Come and say hello to our Student Digital Champions tomorrow, Friday 17 February, at their “How are your digital skills?” stand on Level D of the Hugh Owen Library from 10:00-13:00!
The stand is part of an exciting programme of CareerFest ’23 activities, including skills workshops, employer events, webinars, networking opportunities and in-department sessions.
Want to learn how you can use digital marketing to promote your Business or Social Enterprise?
AberPreneurs, part of the University’s Careers Service, are running an exiting online event on Wednesday 8 February (2pm), Digital Marketing Masterclass withFrancesca Irving from ‘Lunax Digital’.
Are you interested in learning what resources are available to help you assess and develop your digital capabilities? Or, perhaps you’re interested in learning more about how you can support your students to develop their own digital capabilities?
We will be delivering several training sessions for staff throughout January. If you are unable to attend any of these sessions, please feel free to email digi@aber.ac.uk to arrange a conversation with a member of our team.
We’re fast approaching the end of semester 1 and that also marks the halfway point for this year’s Student Digital Champions. We’re catching up today with Laurie Stevenson and Jeffrey Clark to hear about their experiences in the role this semester, to see some of the wonderful resources they have produced and to learn what they hope to achieve in the new year.
Firstly, can you explain what a Student Digital Champion is?
Jeffrey: A Student Digital Champion is someone who can help others with their digital learning and developing their digital capabilities.
Laurie: It is somebody who bring their own experiences as a student to promote and assist others with the skills and knowledge needed online.
What have you enjoyed most about your role?
Laurie: The ability to express myself creatively and learn new skills whilst being able to help other students.
What do you feel has been your biggest achievement this semester?
Jeffrey: My biggest achievement this semester has been creating high-quality blogposts which have gained a significant amount of traction.
Laurie: Creating my Ten Top Library and Information Services Tips display and bookmarks (see blogpost) which I really believe will be a beneficial resource for students now and for years to come.
Laurie’s top tips display in the Hugh Owen Library
Laurie’s top tips bookmark
What new skills have you learnt from this role?
Laurie: I’ve learnt a lot, including media content creation, graphic design skills and communication skills.
Jeffrey: I’ve developed my communication skills, organisational skills, research methods, and fact checking through this role.
What do you hope to achieve next semester?
Jeffrey: I hope to reach more students with my posts so I can help as many students as possible.
Laurie: A continued sense of achievement and enjoyment in the role as well as gaining more insight into how digital capabilities can help students at the university.
Thank you to Laurie and Jeffrey for all their hard work this semester, and we look forward to learning more from them in the new year!
Our Christmas Learning Challenge begins tomorrow, Wednesday 7 December! We have put together 12 short courses, videos, and audio content for you to view and listen to over the next 12 days from LinkedIn Learning. This content ranges from 2-8 minutes and will help you to develop a range of skills – from using keyboard shortcuts in MS Teams to developing your self-confidence.
How do I join the challenge?
There are two ways for you to join the challenge:
You can either follow the links on each day of the challenge from the calendar below
Finally, if you haven’t activated your LinkedIn Learning account yet, remember to do so before 6 January 2023 and you will automatically be entered into a raffle where you will have the opportunity of winning one of three £20 vouchers. For any queries about the challenge, please email the Digital Capabilities Team (digi@aber.ac.uk), and we hope you enjoy your 12 days of learning!
LinkedIn Learning, a third-party E-learning resource, is available for free to all students and staff at Aberystwyth University.
What is LinkedIn Learning?
The online learning platform has an extensive digital library of expert-led courses and short videos, ranging from business courses to creative and technology-related content. This provides you with an opportunity to develop your professional skills, learn new software, and explore other areas as you plan for personal development, academic and career growth.
Getting started
Accessible 24/7 from your desktop or mobile device, visit LinkedIn Learning by logging in using your Aberystwyth University username and password. Please take a look at our login instructions.
Our Student Digital Champions have been busy producing a number of collections to help students find LinkedIn Learning content related to various topics, including:
The IS User Survey gives you the chance to have your say about library and IT services at Aberystwyth University. It is also a chance to win a voucher worth £100 for only 10 minutes of your time!
Let us know what you think by completing the User Survey online by 30 November 2022.
We are very pleased to have been welcomed by the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit (LTEU) to lead two sessions on Digital Capabilities as part of their Academy Forum programme this academic year. The Academy Forum provides a platform for staff and students to share good practice in learning and teaching. For announcements and more information about upcoming sessions, you can follow LTEU’s Academy Forum Blog.
Part 1 will run on Wednesday 7 December (2-3:30pm), and during this session, staff will be invited to share the different practices they currently have to support their own students to feel confident and capable in using various digital technologies, in addition to the challenges this may entail and approaches to overcoming these.
Please visit the Staff Training Webpage for further details and to register your place. Please keep an eye out for details of Part 2, which will be published soon! For all enquiries, please contact the Digital Capabilities Team (digi@aber.ac.uk).
Aberystwyth University’s 10th Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, which ran from 12-14 September 2022, brought together a community of teaching and learning practice from across the University, to celebrate, share, and showcase the exciting and innovative approaches that are taking place.
We held a panel discussion (Supporting the development of students’ digital capabilities) on the final day of the conference, with Saffron Passam (Department of Psychology), Megan Williams (Aberystwyth Business School) and Panna Karlinger (School of Education), the wonderful academic staff who were involved in our student pilot of the Digital Discovery Tool last year.
Panel Members: Megan Williams (top-left), Saffron Passam (top-right), Panna Karlinger (bottom-middle). Panel Facilitator: Sioned Llywelyn (bottom-left)
If you missed our panel discussion, you can watch a recording of it here. We gave on overview of the pilot and Saffron, Megan and Panna shared their valuable insights into what did and didn’t work well for them during the pilot, their top tips for helping students to use the Digital Discovery tool, and we also discussed the wider challenges and successes of embedding skills such as digital capabilities within the curriculum.
Further Resources & Support:
If you will be supporting students to use the Digital Discovery Tool this year, please see the new bank of Teaching Resources for Staff (staff login required). You can also book a consultation with a member of our team by emailing digi@aber.ac.uk.
