Category: DigiTips

DigiTip 11: Introducing the self-care app Finch 🐥

Shân Saunders DigiTips Leave a comment

Finch is a self-care app designed to help you set realistic wellness goals to achieve throughout the day.  

The app includes features such as a focus or meditation timer, reflection diaries, quizzes, and soundscapes.  

Help your Finch avatar grow by earning points through completing your daily goals. The daily goals can be remembering to drink water, taking a walk in nature to taking part in the apps movement section which holds a collection of stretching and yoga movements.  

You can download the Finch app on Apple and Android devices. 

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! 

DigiTip 10 – Brainstorm new ideas using the whiteboard in MS Teams 💡

WordPress User [sil12] Digital communication, collaboration and participation, DigiTips, Microsoft Support, Microsoft Teams Leave a comment

Do you need to brainstorm new ideas with your peers for a group assignment? Or perhaps you have a work project that you want to discuss new ideas for with colleagues? The whiteboard in Microsoft Teams is a fantastic tool for this and provides you with a range of templates to choose from.  

Watch the video below to learn how to get started, or please click on this link if you wish to view the below video with closed captions.

We’ll also be showing how to use the whiteboard during our Mastering group work with online tools and strategies session this afternoon (7 November, 15:00-16:00) as part of the Digital Skills Festival! You can join this session directly from the festival programme.

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!  

DigiTip 9 – Record your screen directly in PowerPoint 🎥

WordPress User [sil12] Digital creation, problem-solving and innovation, Digital proficiency and productivity, DigiTips, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Support Leave a comment

If you need to include a screen-recording in your PowerPoint presentation, you can do this directly in PowerPoint without having to use any other software! Open PowerPoint and then watch the video below or follow these instructions: 

  • Select Record 
  • Select Screen Recording 
  • Open the page that you want to record 
  • Click on Select Area and choose the exact part of the screen that you want to record 
  • Select Audio if you want to record audio with your video 
  • Select Record (you should see a countdown before your recording starts) and complete your recording 
  • Once you’ve finished your recording, hover your mouse over the top of the screen and select Stop 
  • Your screen-recording will be automatically pasted into your PowerPoint presentation 
  • You can edit your recording by clicking on your recording and selecting Playback 

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!  

DigiTip 8: Limit your scrolling time on Instagram 🤳

Shân Saunders DigiTips Leave a comment

Are you struggling to concentrate on your work? Are you procrastinating on social media?  

Do you need to limit your scrolling time? 

Did you know you can now limit your Instagram scrolling time through the Instagram settings.  

Go to: 

  • Settings, 
  • Time spent, 
  • Set daily time limit. 

You can set these limits so that a reminder appears after your chosen time suggesting you take a break.  

To reset the timer simply close down the app and reopen it.  

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! 

DigiTip 7 – Learn new digital skills for free with our digital skills collections from LinkedIn Learning 💻

WordPress User [jpl11] DigiTips Leave a comment

Do you want to learn or develop your digital skills but not sure where to start? With our LinkedIn Learning digital skills collections, you can now develop your digital skills further with easily digestible courses and videos that are tailored more specifically to what you are looking for. With a variety of content to choose from in LinkedIn Learning, we have developed 30 new collections (15 for students and 15 for staff) to support you all at Aberystwyth University to find the most appropriate content suited for what you want to learn most. Each collection contains 9 resources, and these resources can range from short 3-minute videos to more in-depth courses. 

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

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! 

DigiTip 6: Set your status for a set time in MS Teams to show that you’re busy 🔕

WordPress User [sil12] Digital proficiency and productivity, DigiTips, Microsoft Support, Microsoft Teams Leave a comment

Sometimes, you may need to set some time aside to concentrate on a particular piece of work, but how can you show other people who are also online that you’re busy? Microsoft Teams allows you to set your status to Do not disturb, meaning that you won’t be interrupted by Teams notifications or calls (unless you choose to receive these from specific people), but it can be too easy to forget to turn this status off once you’re finished.  

Luckily, Teams allows you to set your status for a set duration. Take a look at the video below or follow these instructions:  

  • Open MS Teams and click on your profile picture 
  • Click on your current status 
  • Select Duration 
  • Choose Do not Disturb (or whichever status you want to appear) 
  • Choose for how long you want this status to appear
  • Click Done 

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!  

DigiTip 5: Split your screen and multitask 💻

Shân Saunders DigiTips Leave a comment

Are you working on one screen and struggling? Are you tired of swapping between two windows? 

Did you know that you can split your screen to view two things at once making it much easier to view two windows at the same time. This means that you can work on documents, tabs and much more side-by-side.  

  • On your keyboard, to the left-hand side of the space bar there is the Windows button. 
  • Hold the windows button and then tap any arrow key you would like. For example, hold the windows key and then tap the left arrow key.  
  • This will move your document to the left-hand side of your screen.  
  • You will be shown all the open windows you have to fill the remainder of the screen. Simply select which window you would like to open.  

Please note, these instructions are for Windows PC only. If you are working on a Mac, please view split screen instructions here: Use two Mac apps side by side in Split View – Apple Support (UK) 

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!  

DigiTip 4 – Increase your productivity whilst helping the planet with the Forest App 🌱

WordPress User [jpl11] DigiTips Leave a comment

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.

As your forest grows, you can see what your focused time distribution looks like over time, with various detailed charts included in the app. 

With the Forest App partnering with a real-tree-planting organisation, when users spend their virtual coins on planting new trees, the Forest team can donate to the real-tree-planting organisation to create planting orders!

You can download the Forest App through the App Store on iOS and Android devices. 

For a quick preview, take a look at these screenshots to see what the Forest App may look like on your mobile device.

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!  

DigiTip 3 – Organising your Outlook 📧

Shân Saunders DigiTips, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Support Leave a comment

Do you have too many emails coming into your inbox? Are you struggling to find a specific email you need, or are you lost in all your emails? 

Time to organise! 

Did you know you can create subfolders in Outlook to help organise your emails.  

You can use these folders to clear your inbox so only unread or important emails remain. You can also use this to group emails together that will make them easier to find in the future. You can name folders whatever you like and can even create sub-folders within these folders.  

Either watch the below video or follow the instructions below: 

Simply: 

  • Go to your inbox 
  • Right click and select new folder 

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!  

DigiTip 2 – Check your Welsh text using the Cysill app 📝

WordPress User [sil12] Digital proficiency and productivity, DigiTips Leave a comment

Cysill is part of a language software package called Cysgliad that you can download on your PC, and Cysill will be able to identify and correct Welsh-language errors in your text. You can use the online version of Cysill, but you can check your text much easier if you download the app (how do I do that?).

Once you’ve downloaded the Cysill app, take a look at the video below or follow these instructions: 

  • Open the Cysill app and your Word document (or wherever your Welsh-language text is located) 
  • Highlight the text you want Cysill to check 
  • Type Ctrl+Alt+W on your keyboard (this will copy and paste your text directly into Cysill) 
  • Check all the errors that the app suggests need changing 
  • Click Cywiro (Correct) if you’re happy with a correction that the app suggests
  • Once you’ve worked through all the suggestions, the app will automatically copy and paste the corrected text back into your Word document 

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!