Your favourite blogposts in the last year! 🥇

In the last year, the Digital Skills Team including the Student Digital Champions have published many blogposts covering a lot of digital topics and issues. Here are the top 5 blogposts from 2023/24! 

  1. My experience with Code First Girls: Read about one of our experiences in taking a course with Code First Girls and why you should consider joining a course too! 
  2. Begin a new chapter- Apps to help your reading habits: Learn more about the types of apps available to help encourage your reading habits as well as maintain your reading goals.  
  3. Take control of your phone with ScreenZen: Discover ScreenZen and how it can benefit you with a post by our Student Digital Champion after their digital detox.  
  4. Introducing the new AI coaching chatbot in LinkedIn Learning: In case you missed it – a new feature introduced on LinkedIn Learning where an AI coaching chatbot can now provide recommendations and help improve your LinkedIn Learning experience.  
  5. Digital Decluttering: A Student Guide To Organising your Digital Spaces: Clean up your digital spaces with some tips and tricks from our Student Digital Champion. 

To keep up to date with the Digital Skills Blog make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any posts!  

AberSkills Week 2024 🎉

As part of Aberystwyth University’s extended induction, next week is AberSkills week! There are several events running, you can view all events being held on the AberSkills site but the Digital Skills team are a part of three sessions! These are: 

  • Everyday AI Tools: Presented by Jisc’s Senior AI Specialist Paddy Shepperd, this session will consider the practical use of AI in daily tasks, focusing on productivity-enhancing tools like Microsoft Copilot, Google Docs, and ChatGPT. We will look at AI’s role in education through applications such as Bodyswaps and Anywize and discuss how these can be integrated into learning strategies to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and overall productivity. 
  • Getting Started with LinkedIn Learning: During this session, we will demonstrate how to: 
    • Navigate the platform and search for relevant content 
    • Display certificates for completed courses and your personal LinkedIn profile 
    • Group content based on a particular topic, or content you want to watch at another time, as personal collections 
    • New features recently added to LinkedIn Learning 
  • Digital Skills Workshop: Hands-on experience for new international students here in Aber on the systems that you will use (e.g. Blackboard, Panopto, Turnitin, Student Record, Primo, etc) and some external systems also (e.g. Office 365 software like Word, PowerPoint, LinkedIn Learning etc). 

You can book all sessions through the AberSkills site, you can also view all recordings and resources from the 2023 Digital Skills Festival.  

Delve into Development: Learn more about AI through LinkedIn Learning 🧠

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

AI and generative AI have become increasingly more ingrained into our lives whether through personal or professional use. LinkedIn Learning has a variety of information to help you learn more about AI including how to use AI responsibly. See below for the top 10 courses available on AI and generative AI on LinkedIn Learning. Please note that currently LinkedIn Learning does not support courses in Welsh.  

  1. Understanding the Impact of Deepfake videos (48m) 
  2. What is Generative AI? (1h 3m) 
  3. Introduction to Prompt Engineering for Generative AI (44m) 
  4. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (1h 34m) 
  5. Get Ready for Generative AI (5m 26s) 
  6. Digital Marketing Trends (2h 30m) 
  7. Ethics in the Age of Generative AI (39m) 
  8. Generative AI: The Evolution of Thoughtful Online Search (26m) 
  9. Artificial Intelligence Foundations: Thinking Machines (1h 36m) 
  10. Generative AI for Business Leaders (57m) 

LinkedIn Learning is a free resource available to all Aberystwyth University students and staff. If you need help accessing your LinkedIn Learning account, please view our FAQ’s or you can email us at digi@aber.ac.uk.   

                    We’re halfway through our Summer Learning Challenge! ☀

                    We’re halfway through our Summer Learning Challenge, but don’t worry it’s not too late to join us!

                    For our Summer Learning Challenge, we’ve put together 14 short courses and videos from LinkedIn Learning for you to watch over 5 weeks. This content ranges from 3-8 minutes and will help you to develop a range of skills – from writing effective prompts for AI, landscape photography on your phone, to developing better sleep habits.

                    How do I join the challenge?

                    1. If you haven’t done so yet, activate your LinkedIn Learning account (please login with your AU email and password).
                    2. Take a look at the list of short courses and videos from the PDF below
                    3. Choose one short course or video to watch each week (there are 5 weeks in total) and click on the links in the PDF below to start

                    How can I get support?

                    If you have any questions about the challenge, or about LinkedIn Learning in general, please email the Digital Skills Team (digi@aber.ac.uk), and we hope you enjoy your summer of learning!

                    Join our Summer Learning Challenge! ☀

                    Blogpost by Sioned Llywelyn (Digital Skills Lead)

                    Our Summer Learning Challenge begins this week! We have put together 14 short courses and videos from LinkedIn Learning for you to watch and learn from over the next 5 weeks. This content ranges from 3-8 minutes and will help you to develop a range of skills – from writing effective prompts for AI, landscape photography on your phone, to developing better sleep habits.

                    How do I join the challenge?

                    1. If you haven’t done so yet, activate your LinkedIn Learning account (please login with your AU email and password).
                    2. Take a look at the list of short courses and videos from the PDF below
                    3. Choose one short course or video to watch each week (there are 5 weeks in total) and click on the links in the PDF below to start

                    How can I get support?

                    If you have any questions about the challenge, or about LinkedIn Learning in general, please email the Digital Skills Team (digi@aber.ac.uk), and we hope you enjoy your summer of learning!

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

                    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).

                    Sunshine, Summer, and LinkedIn Learning ☀

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

                    As the summer break approaches, did you know that if you are a current AU staff or student you can continue to learn and develop new skills with LinkedIn Learning. There may be a particular skill that you are looking to develop, or you might be interested in searching for specific skills you may need for future employment. And now, with the LinkedIn Learning app, you can learn wherever you are and while on the go. The app includes the ability to download courses to continue learning while offline or to engage with courses as audio only. For more information on the new features and how to learn on the go, read our previous blogpost: Get mobile with the LinkedIn Learning app! 📲 | (aber.ac.uk)

                    Note for graduating students: you will have access to your LinkedIn Learning account while you are still a student, but you will lose access once you graduate, so make sure to download your certificates while you can. Learn how to do this by reading our previous blogpost about adding certificates to your personal LinkedIn account.

                    You can learn more about the features on LinkedIn Learning including adding certificates to your LinkedIn profile and more through the Digital Skills Festival session:  Getting Started with LinkedIn Learning – Digital Skills Festival 2023 (6 – 10 November) (aber.ac.uk)

                    If you have any questions about using LinkedIn Learning please contact the Digital Skills Team at digi@aber.ac.uk or view the LinkedIn Learning FAQ: How do I use LinkedIn Learning? (aber.ac.uk)

                    Stand out from the crowd with LinkedIn Learning Certificates 🏆

                    In today’s competitive job market, it’s important for university students to stand out. One way to do this is by earning certificates for completed courses on your Aberystwyth University LinkedIn Learning account and adding them to your personal LinkedIn profile.

                    But why does this matter? Adding certificates increases your chances of being found by recruiters looking for specific skills, showing them your commitment to ongoing learning and career development, making you a more appealing candidate.

                    Watch the video below to learn how to add LinkedIn Learning certificates to your personal LinkedIn profile

                    Learn more about LinkedIn Learning from this session at the Digital Skills Festival ’23 (Welsh session; English session)

                    If you have any questions about adding LinkedIn Learning certificates to your personal LinkedIn profile, please contact the Digital Skills Team (digi@aber.ac.uk) or view the official LinkedIn Learning Certificate FAQ page.

                    Make the most of technology as you prepare for your exams 💻📚

                    As we near towards the start of the Semester 2 examinations, we’ve put together a range of resources to help you make the most of technology as you prepare and revise for your exams.

                    (Please login with your AU email and password)

                    (Please login with your AU email and password)

                    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).  

                    Develop your AI Skills with hands-on practice in LinkedIn Learning 👩‍💻

                    Back in October 2023, we wrote about an exciting new partnership between LinkedIn Learning and CoderPad, which brought forth the addition of Code Challenges to LinkedIn Learning. These challenges are tailored to assist learners, from beginners to advanced, in developing their coding skills through interactive exercises and real-time feedback. You can revisit our previous blogpost on this collaboration here.

                    AI and Generative AI are swiftly becoming the cornerstones of innovation. To support your development in these skills, LinkedIn Learning has expanded its collection to include 73 courses with hands-on practice for AI and Generative AI skills. You can find all of these courses on this webpage or explore a selection of them below.

                    Beginner

                    Intermediate

                    Advanced

                    All students and staff have access to all courses on LinkedIn Learning, including those with hands-on practice, through your free Aberystwyth University LinkedIn Learning account. If you have any queries about LinkedIn Learning or accessing any of the content mentioned in this blogpost, please contact the Digital Skills Team (digi@aber.ac.uk), or come along with your questions to one of our weekly drop-in sessions!