Category: Digital Capabilities Framework

Tick and Go: Your Guide to ‘To Do List’ Apps ✅ 

Shân Saunders Digital communication, collaboration and participation, Digital creation, problem-solving and innovation, Digital proficiency and productivity Leave a comment

As exam season approaches, it can become difficult to stay on top of every task, and it can become overwhelming with everything that needs to be done. With this blogpost, we’ll introduce four different To Do List apps to help you manage your workload and organise your days.  

Microsoft To Do 

Microsoft To Do is a planner app provided by Microsoft and as such is an app you can have on your phone that is also linked to your Teams. You can also access Microsoft To Do through the ‘Planner’ option on your desktop Teams. Some of the key features of Microsoft To Do is ‘My Day’ where you can arrange all the tasks you need to complete for the day but also ‘Planned’ where you can set due dates for future tasks. If you have chosen to link Microsoft To Do to your Teams account under ‘Assigned to me’ you will be able to view all tasks assigned to you through Teams channels task boards which can be helpful for group projects. There is also the feature to create new lists such as if you want a specific to do list for all tasks that need to be created for a project.  

Todoist 

With Todoist you can create and view your daily tasks while also creating and viewing upcoming tasks with deadlines. You have the option of setting recurring tasks such as drinking water everyday with the choice of setting different levels of priority to each task to help with prioritisation. The app also has a notification reminder option for tasks that you have either not completed or reminders for upcoming tasks that you have set in advance.   

Lists To Do 

Lists To Do is a basic To Do List app that is best for tasks within a task for example, items needed within a grocery list or items that need to be packed. Lists can be given emojis to help with differentiation. You can also create as many different lists as you would like as well as duplicating lists! This app also has the option to sort lists in alphabetical order or manually.  

Structured – Daily Planner 

Structured – Daily Planner is more focused on individual tasks you need to complete within each day. There are two main areas on this app, the first being ‘inbox’. The ‘inbox’ allows you to add quick thoughts and tasks where you can later add them to your ‘timeline’. Your ‘timeline’ displays your planned out day from when you wake up to when you need to start winding down! You can tick off your tasks as you go and this app also has the option to colour code tasks and automatically adds emojis based on your task.  

International Day of Forests 🌲

Shân Saunders Digital creation, problem-solving and innovation, Digital proficiency and productivity, DigiTips, LinkedIn Learning Leave a comment

Today – 21st March 2025 – is International Day of Forests and to celebrate we’re revisiting all our blogposts and DigiTips related to nature! 

  1. Plant your Productivity with the Flora app! 🌼: Available on iOS and Android, Flora is an interactive productivity app where you can store to-do lists and build positive habits.
  2. DigiTip 40: Get More Connected to Nature with Seek by iNaturalist 🔎🌼: You may come across birds, plants, fungi, and amphibians that you can’t identify. Using image recognition technology, the Seek by iNaturalist app will help you take your knowledge of nature to the next level! 
  3. Nature at your fingertips: My favourite apps for exploring the outdoors 🍃🌻: To enhance your outdoor adventures, I’ve compiled a list of my favourite free apps that will hopefully spark your curiosity and deepen your appreciation for nature.
  4. DigiTip 4 – Increase your productivity whilst helping the planet with the Forest App 🌱: Do you want to increase your productivity whilst helping the planet? The Forest App will help reduce your procrastination and distractions whilst giving you the extra incentive to stay productive, by growing trees and earning virtual coins to unlock new plants depending on how long you have stayed productive for.

DigiTip 55: Focus Mode in Windows 11 ⏱️

Shân Saunders Digital proficiency and productivity, DigiTips Leave a comment

Struggling to focus when you’re trying to get work done? DigiTip 55 has what you are looking for with focus mode in Windows 11. Focus mode is a new feature for Windows 11 that has multiple features to help you try to concentrate on your work. These include: a timer that can be set to whatever time you need with the default set to 30 minutes, hiding the badges on taskbar apps, hiding the flashing on taskbar apps and turning on do not disturb. 

To use this feature, you need to go to Setting -> System where you should see Focus. Once the options are selected as how you want them you just need to click ‘start focus session’ and a timer should appear in the corner of your screen which you can cancel or pause at any time. 

To follow our DigiTips, subscribe to our Digital Skills Blog. Or alternatively, you can bookmark this webpage, where a new DigiTip will be added each week!

Our Graduates Top Skills 🎓

Shân Saunders Digital creation, problem-solving and innovation, Digital learning and development, Digital proficiency and productivity, Graduate Digital Skills Profile Series, LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Support, Microsoft Teams Leave a comment

In 2024, our Student Digital Champions conducted interviews with eight Aberystwyth University graduates to understand what skills they now use after graduating and skills that they wished they had learnt and developed while at university. Below are the top five skills across all the profiles that the graduates now use and how you can develop these skills: 

  1. Microsoft Excel 
  1. Microsoft Teams/Online Meeting Platforms 
  1. Photoshop and Editing Software 
  1. Outlook 
  1. Microsoft PowerPoint 

If you would like to read the Graduate Digital Skills Profiles, you can view them here or you can download them here.  

International Day of Education 🏫

Shân Saunders Digital learning and development, Digital Skills Festival, DigiTips, LinkedIn Learning, Students Leave a comment

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.  

Plant your Productivity with the Flora app! 🌼

Shân Saunders Digital Identity and Wellbeing Leave a comment

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!  

Resources Wrap up: Merry Christmas from the Digital Skills Team! 🎅🏻🎄

Shân Saunders Digital learning and development, Digital Wellbeing Series, DigiTips, Employer Digital Skills Profile Series, LinkedIn Learning, Student Digital Champions, Students Leave a comment

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:  

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!  

Next in the Series: New updates to our favourite reading apps 📚

Shân Saunders Digital Identity and Wellbeing Leave a comment

Blogpost by Shân Saunders (Digital Capabilities and Skills Development Coordinator)

In February we wrote a blogpost about apps to help with your reading habits. As it’s National Book Lover’s Day, there are new updates to one of the apps mentioned – Fable. Fable is a combination of a reading app and social media where you can see updates from other readers including opinions that they have on your previously read and want to read books.  

Recent updates include having your reading streak and progress update bar on the homepage for easy access. Additionally, Fable is now branching out from books with the option to mark your progress and join clubs for TV shows meaning you can watch episodes and discuss your favourite shows with other fans. Fable is also currently testing a new AI chatbot called Scout where you input prompts for suggestions and recommendations for your next reads based on tropes and genres or if you’re looking for something similar to another read.  

The main new feature is the stats page. Under your user profile, there is now a reader summary, a little AI summary which automatically updates after every read. Within this there is also a graph of the books you have read this year with a reader insight into when you’re due to reach your reading goal. Along with the reading streak widget on the homepage, you can view how much you read in previous months including your longest reading streak. You can also view a graph with your most read genres and underneath this you can see your average rating of books you have read.  

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Master your tech skills with LinkedIn Learning’s new Complete Guide Courses 👨‍💻

WordPress User [sil12] Digital learning and development, LinkedIn Learning, Training Leave a comment

Blogpost by Sioned Llywelyn (Digital Skills Lead)

Complete Guide Courses are now available in LinkedIn Learning to all at Aberystwyth University. These courses are fantastic for those that want to delve into developing specific tech skills with expert instructors. Whether you’re a beginner aiming to learn a new programme from scratch, or someone with more experience looking to progress further, these courses could be for you.

Here’s an example of some of the available Complete Guide courses with new ones being released each month:

Screenshot from the Complete Guide to Power BI course

What are the advantages of Complete Guide Courses?

  1. They are 5 or more hours in length, ensuring that you’ll gain a depth of knowledge in that chosen topic
  2. They are organised into manageable short videos and chapters meaning that you can look at only a specific piece of the course if needed
  3. Many of these courses include hands-on practice features, providing you with the opportunity to practice what you’ve learnt

If you have any questions about LinkedIn Learning, please contact the Digital Skills Team (digi@aber.ac.uk).

Explore your Digital Wellbeing on Global Wellness Day 🧘🏻‍♀️

Shân Saunders Digital Identity and Wellbeing, Digital Wellbeing Series Leave a comment

Blogpost by Shân Saunders (Digital Capabilities and Skills Development Coordinator)

8th June 2024 is Global Wellness Day, a day to reflect on your wellbeing and mental health. This year our Student Digital Champions introduced a Digital Wellbeing Series that covered a wide range of digital life to help improve others digital wellbeing with tips and tricks.  

They explored digital ergonomics including creating a LinkedIn Learning collection about the best set up for your desk and advice on how to reduce eyestrain through the 20-20-20 rule and enabling dark mode. One of our student digital champions embarked on a digital detox which included deleting all social media apps, disabling notifications, replacing Face ID with a deliberate password and being more mindful of their purpose of being on their phone. They recounted their pros, cons, and advice for anyone else looking to indulge in a digital detox.  

As well, our digital champion found that the app ScreenZen was a blessing during their digital detox to help enforce better boundaries while interacting with apps and becoming more mindful of your digital consumption. The Digital Wellbeing series also looked at the importance of digital decluttering and organizing your digital spaces, including creating better folders, customising your home screens, and clearing out your downloads folder.  

Other digital wellbeing resources include a blogpost for any iPhone user about the inbuilt features in settings to help with your screen time limit and a feature to help distance your phone to reduce eyestrain.

If you would like to look at further resources, feel free to explore the digital wellbeing section on the Digital Skills Library or in the LinkedIn Learning collection. You can also view the digital wellbeing session that we held in the Digital Skills Festival 2023.