International Women’s Day #EmbraceEquity

Today we are celebrating International Women’s Day! The theme this year is #EmbraceEquity and it provides an important moment to celebrate the cultural, political and socio-economic achievements of women, and is a call to action for us all to fully embrace equity.

Female students talking whilst walking on campus

Here is a selection of short LinkedIn Learning videos, all under 5 minutes, inspired by International Women’s Day. You can access these videos with your free Aberystwyth University LinkedIn Learning account.

  1. What is equity? (3m 48s)
  2. Equity in the workplace (2m 18s)
  3. Inclusive and equitable behaviours (3m 44s)
  4. The challenge of equity (4m 23s)
  5. Equity makes organisations stronger (5m 43s)
  6. Why you should care about allyship (3m 6s)
  7. How equity fosters fairness (4m 52s)
  8. Equitable leadership (3m 7s)

Students 📣 What do you think of LinkedIn Learning?

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.  

These focus groups will take place online on the following dates:

  • Tuesday 14 March, 11:00-12:00
  • Friday 17 March, 15:00-16:00
  • Wednesday 22 March, 11:00-12:00
  • Wednesday 22 March, 15:00-16:00

To take part, please complete this short form to sign-up. Please feel free to contact digi@aber.ac.uk with any questions.

Microsoft Word Tips and Tricks 💡

Blogpost by Jeffrey Clark (Student Digital Champion)

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Making things easier

Microsoft Word is perhaps the most used and widely recognized computer program in all of academia. Virtually every course you can take at Aberystwyth University uses Microsoft Word to some degree, with some courses requiring you to do more with it than just type out an essay. In this blog post, I’ll tell you about some shortcuts in Microsoft Word that have helped me during my studies.

Tip 1: Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are a combination of keys that you press to perform a function. For example, press control (ctrl) and C at the same time while highlighting text copies that text onto your clipboard. Instead of right-clicking and scrolling down the drop-down menu to ‘Paste’, you can press ctrl + V to paste the text instead.

The ALT key can also be used for shortcuts. Specifically, the ALT key is used for shortcuts as they relate to the top task bar. By holding down the ALT key for a few seconds, the keys for each shortcut will pop up. For instance, on my keyboard, pressing ALT and 2 will save my document.

But if we press ALT + S to go to the References tab…

We get an entirely new set of ALT keyboard commands to use!

By holding down the ALT with a different tab open we can see what shortcuts are available for each tab on the taskbar. If you forget what ALT key shortcuts do, holding the ALT key down will give you a helpful reminder of your keyboard shortcuts!

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LinkedIn Learning Collections to support students preparing for their exams

As exam season approaches we have put together a couple of collections on LinkedIn Learning to help you banish the stress of exams and to help you revise more effectively.

This collection has some tips and advice to help you revise and study for your exams.

Exam season can be a challenging time for students, this collection gives you some strategies and advice for managing your stress levels around exams.

All Aberystwyth University students and staff have free access to LinkedIn Learning. Please see our login instructions and more general FAQ’s to help you during exam time

Digital Capabilities Training: January 2023

Orange banner with Aberystwyth University Logo, and Digital Capabilities Training text

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.

Welsh-medium sessions:

English-medium sessions:

Finally, we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and we look forward to continuing to support you in the new year!

My review of LinkedIn Learning

In this blogpost, Jeffrey Clark, a Student Digital Champion within our team, provides his review of LinkedIn Learning.

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LinkedIn Learning: An Introduction

At Aberystwyth University there are plenty of books and learning materials to sink your teeth into. But what about when you’re on the go? Or you want to explore other topics that pique your interest but don’t know where to start? Founded in 1995 as Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning is an online learning platform with thousands of courses to choose from. The courses are designed by industry professionals and credible experts in fields ranging from business studies to personal wellbeing. While this service would normally require a paid subscription, students and staff at Aberystwyth University can enjoy access to LinkedIn Learning for free across any device!

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Join our Christmas Learning Challenge!

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
  • Or you can follow our Christmas Learning Challenge Learning Path (which will also display at the top of the LinkedIn Learning homepage when you login).

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!

Free access to LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning, a third-party E-learning resource, is available for free to all students and staff at Aberystwyth University.

LinkedIn Learning Logo

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:

Opportunity to win a £20 voucher

Activate your account 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. 

Further information

If you experience any issues logging in to LinkedIn Learning, please contact Information Services (is@aber.ac.uk). For any other general queries, please email digi@aber.ac.uk or visit our LinkedIn Learning FAQ pages.

LinkedIn Learning: What new skills could you learn?

Blog post by Laurie Stevenson (Student Digital Champion)

LinkedIn Learning is a free online learning platform with over 16,000 courses on everything from personal development, design, creative activities, study skills, technical support and so much more! Take a look at this content from our Information Service Instagram @ISAberUni account for some tips and tricks to get you started.

Activate your account by 6 January 2023 to be entered into a raffle where you will have the opportunity of winning one of three £20 vouchers!

Click Read More below for the text version of these visuals.

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Top Tips and Technology to Support Students Living Independently

Blog post by Urvashi Verma (Student Digital Champion)

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As Welcome Week came to an end recently, I hope that you have all settled in comfortably and are getting to grips with your new schedules. This means changing some of your habits and lifestyle to accommodate your university schedule. For a student living independently for the first time, these changes can be even more difficult. From managing money to living with new people, it isn’t always plain sailing. For example, when I started living independently for the first time, I managed to turn all my white clothes into a bright shade of pink!

Through this blog post, I’m going to share with you some useful tips from my own experiences, and especially different apps and technologies that have helped me to feel more comfortable living independently.

Get enough Sleep

Trying to get enough sleep whilst also juggling your life between lectures, assignments and work can be very stressful, and it can take a long time to get used to it. Try maintaining a proper sleep cycle by going to sleep at the same time every night.

Technology: I would recommend a free app called Sleep Cycle: Sleep Recorded.This app will help you record your sleeping pattern, and you can use it to wake you up at just the right time by using an intelligent alarm clock.

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