Explore our new Digital Skills collections in LinkedIn Learning

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Do you want to develop your digital skills further? Are you struggling to find courses and videos from LinkedIn Learning related to those specific skills you want to develop? If so, our new digital skills collections may be just what you need!

All students and staff at AU have free access to LinkedIn Learning, an online learning platform. Read our previous blogpost to find out more about the platform.

We have developed 30 new collections (15 for students and 15 for staff) to support you to find the most appropriate content from LinkedIn Learning so you can develop a range of digital skills. Each collection contains 9 resources and these can range from short 3-minute videos to more in-depth courses.

Here’s an example of 6 resources you’ll find and which collection they come from:

Editing and Proofreading made simple (39-minute course)

Collection: Information Literacy for Students

Distractions caused by devices (4-minute video)

Collection: Digital Wellbeing for Students

SPSS Statistics Essential Training (6-hour course)

Collection: Digital Proficiency for Students

Organising your Remote Office for Maximum Productivity (26-minute course)

Collection: Digital Productivity for Staff

Foundations of Accessible E-learning (51-minute course)

Collection: Digital Teaching for Staff

Team Collaboration in Microsoft 365 (1.5-hour course)

Collection: Digital Collaboration for Staff

If you want to find additional resources to help you develop your digital skills, take a look at our student Digital Skills Library which we launched last week (please note that the staff library will be available in June 2023).

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

What can I learn in the new Digital Skills Library?

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We wrote a blogpost earlier this week introducing you to our new Digital Skills Library. The Digital Skills Library contains six collections of AU and external resources to support students at Aberystwyth University in developing a range of new and existing digital skills.

We have been launching these collections on our IS social media channels throughout this week, but you can also take a look at the images below to find out the range of digital skills you could learn in each of the six collections.

Please note that the Digital Skills Library for staff will be launched in June 2023. If you have any questions or problems accessing the Digital Skills Library, please contact the Digital Skills Team (digi@aber.ac.uk).  

Introducing the Digital Skills Library! 💻🔎

Shân Saunders Digital Skills Library, Students Leave a comment
Yellow and Blue banner with laptop, AU logo, and the text Digital Skills Library

We have been working on bringing together a collection of AU and external resources for all students at Aberystwyth University to help develop a range of new and existing digital skills. These resources include teaching you about your digital footprint; and helping to improve your digital identity and wellbeing through providing resources to help with exam stress and information on ‘netiquette’ (online etiquette).  

In addition to this, our Digital Skills Library contains resources to help with your digital learning and development. We have resources available on using specific software, for example how to code using Python, as well as using graphic-design and image-editing software such as Adobe Photoshop and Canva.

We have also kept in mind that there may be some digital skills that you would like to enhance and so we have made sure to include resources to help you learn new tips and tricks in familiar software like Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and much more!  

Visit the student Digital Skills Library today and you can also visit our stand on Level D (ground floor) of the Hugh Owen Library this week if you want to learn more.

Please note that the Digital Skills Library for staff will be launched in June 2023. If you have any questions or problems accessing the Digital Skills Library, please email digi@aber.ac.uk.  

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A second opportunity to discuss digital skills at the LTEU’s Academy Forum

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We are very pleased to have been welcomed back by the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit (LTEU) to deliver a second session on digital skills 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.

We delivered the first session on 7 December and you can read a summary of our discussion. During this second session, taking place online on Wednesday 19 April ’23 (10:00-11:30), we will build on our discussions from the first session and further explore how we can support our students to make the most of technology.

Please visit the Staff Training Webpage for further details and to register your place. For all enquiries, please contact the Digital Skills Team (digi@aber.ac.uk).

RB&I Seminar (28 March): Mobile apps for research, assistance or profit

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Person Holding Silver Android Smartphone with apps displayed on the screen

On Tuesday 28.03.23 (12:00-14:00), the Research, Business and Innovation department have arranged an in-person seminar to help researchers decide whether their app idea is feasible and how to go about making it happen.

The seminar will be led by Professor Chris Price from the Computer Science Department.

For further information, and to book your place, please visit the event page.

New Team Member!

Shân Saunders Other Leave a comment

Hello everyone, my name is Shân Saunders, and I am the new digital capabilities and skills development coordinator. I completed my undergraduate and MPhil at Aberystwyth and since graduating in 2022 I have been looking to work with student engagement and satisfaction. I have also been a member of the Your Voice Matters team since September 2021. I have been working with the digital skills team since August 2022 and have so far worked on JISC’s Digital Discovery Tool and the Digital Skills Library. I’m really looking forward to working on the Digital Skills Festival in November 2023 and overall discussing what we offer to students and how we can improve the delivery of our resources. I am also looking forward to the opportunity to conduct more focus groups and training with students and staff surrounding digital skills and resources.

International Women’s Day #EmbraceEquity

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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?

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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.

Using Primo Effectively 📚

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Blogpost by Jeffrey Clark (Student Digital Champion)

Banner with Student Digital Champion

Introduction to Primo

It can be challenging to go into any library and find what you’re looking for. Most libraries contain hundreds of books, and the Hugh Owen library has THOUSANDS of books. If you want to find what you’re looking for with clinical precisions, then I recommend you give Primo a try. Primo is a digital library catalogue used by Aberystwyth University. It’s a massive database that allows students to search for books to loan from the University, make lists of books to check-out, and access online versions of reading materials. It has tonnes of features which have made my time at Aberystwyth that much easier. While it’s easy to see it as ‘just Google search for the library’, it’s much more than that. From saving lists of books to requesting books I need for my course, Primo has saved me time and from many headaches during my studies. In this blog post I’ll be going over Primo, what it does, and how to make it work for you.

Using the search function

Using Primo’s search function is easy. Simply type the name of the item you wish to find and Primo will tell you where it is in the Hugh Owen library or if you can access it online (some items have both online and physical copies.) Primo’s search function is set to search for ‘all items’ by default, which can muddy your search results a bit by giving you too many options.

At the bottom of the search bar, there are three drop-down menus which have options to help you find EXACTLY what you’re looking for. For example, let’s say that I want to search only for books by John Steinbeck. From the bottom of the search bar, I would select ‘Books’, then ‘with my exact phrase’, selecting ‘as author/creator’ and finally searching ‘John Steinbeck.’

Screenshot of Primo showing how to insert text in the search bar and the different filters

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Discover your Digital Skills at the CareerFest!

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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.

We hope to see you there!

Promotional poster with text: How are your digital skills? Friday 17 February, 10:00-13:00 at Level D of the Hugh Owen Library