Training for Academic Staff: Introduction to the Digital Discovery Tool

The Jisc Digital Discovery Tool will be available to all Foundation Year and First Year students from the start of academic year 2022/23. We will be delivering training sessions in September and October for academic staff who will be supporting their students to review their individual Digital Discovery Tool reports, and facilitating conversations with students about digital capabilities in general.

Sessions will be available in Welsh and English on the following dates:

  • 15 Sep 2022 (11:00-12:00): Introduction to the Digital Discovery Tool
  • 15 Sep 2022 (15:00-16:00): Cyflwyniad i’r Offeryn Darganfod Digidol
  • 19 Sep 2022 (10:00-11:00): Cyflwyniad i’r Offeryn Darganfod Digidol
  • 21 Sep 2022 (14:00-15:00): Introduction to the Digital Discovery Tool
  • 4 October 2022 (11:00-12:00): Introduction to the Digital Discovery Tool
  • 7 October 2022 (14:00-15:00): Cyflwyniad i’r Offeryn Darganfod Digidol

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

1 August: Deadline for downloading existing Digital Discovery Tool Reports

The current platform for the Digital Discovery Tool is being updated on 1 August 2022. If you have used the Digital Discovery Tool previously and have obtained a report, this must be downloaded before 1 August 2022 if you wish to retain a copy of it. 

Please follow these instructions: How do I access my Digital Discovery Tool report and download it as a PDF file? 

If you have any queries about downloading your report, please contact digi@aber.ac.uk.  

LinkedIn Learning Curator Training in June

Are you interested in learning more about becoming a curator in LinkedIn Learning? With curator access, you can upload and arrange content into an intuitive and engaging format, in addition to receiving insights into how your audience is engaging with your content.  

Simon Lee, Senior Customer Success Manager for Higher Education at LinkedIn, will deliver two training sessions for Aberystwyth University staff in June to demonstrate how to make the best use of the curator functionality in LinkedIn Learning. This training has been split into two parts, and staff are welcome to attend either session but are encouraged to attend both.

  • Tuesday 14 June (14:30-15:30) – LinkedIn Learning: Content and Curation (Part 1)* 
  • Tuesday 21 June (10:00-11:00) – LinkedIn Learning: Content and Curation – Learning in discussion (Part 2)*

*Please note that both sessions will be delivered in English. 

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

Earth Day 2022: Invest in our Planet

Today we are celebrating Earth Day, and this year’s theme is #InvestInOurPlanet.

We as individuals can invest our time and effort into learning more about sustainability and the changes that we can make to our daily habits to live a more sustainable life. Remember, small changes can make a big difference to our planet.

We have also created a campaign on LinkedIn Learning for Earth Day and you can access this from the main LinkedIn Learning dashboard. 

FREE Microsoft Cloud Computing Certification for Students

Cloud computing is often rated as one of the most sought-after tech skills, and with the recent shift towards remote working and learning, there’s no surprise that employers are searching for graduates with these skills.

Students, don’t miss out on an exciting opportunity by Microsoft to access their live training webinars, exam practice tests and Microsoft Fundamentals certification exams for FREE!

The three courses available for free are:

  • 5th April 2022 – AI Fundamentals
  • 7th April 2022 – Azure Fundamentals
  • 8th April 2022 – Security Fundamentals

For more information about these free courses, download this information flyer by Microsoft:

You can also register your place for these courses through Cloud Ready Skills.

Popular LinkedIn Learning courses at Aberystwyth University

Productivity seems to be the order of the day, with LinkedIn Learning courses related to Microsoft 365 being the most viewed by staff and students recently. We’re all familiar with Microsoft 365 but how many of us take full advantage of the tools and functionality it offers?   

The use of MS Teams really came into its own during the pandemic across education sectors and the world of work with 91% of Fortune 100 companies using it in 2019. Beyond meeting virtually, MS Teams aids collaboration via chats, file sharing, task management, project planning, to-do lists and more. I recently attended an MS Teams meeting which made excellent use of virtual whiteboards, a tool I wasn’t aware of until then. Deciding which productively tool to use and when can be tricky, so learning more about each will help you in that decision. 

If you want to learn more about Microsoft 365 tools here are the top five LinkedIn Learning courses viewed at Aberystwyth in the past 30 days. To activate your LinkedIn Learning account, which is free to all AU staff and students, check out our ‘getting started with LinkedIn Learning’ pages.

  1. Microsoft Teams Essential Training (2h 21m)
  2. Learning Office 365 (57m)
  3. Microsoft Planner Essential Training (1h 27m) 
  4. Outlook Essential Training (2h 13m)
  5. Modern Project Management in Microsoft 365 (1h 39m)

International Women’s Day 2022 #BreakTheBias

Today we are celebrating International Women’s Day! IWD provides an important moment to celebrate the cultural, political and socio-economic achievements of women, and is a call to action for equality and gender parity, raising awareness against all bias.

The theme this year is #BreakTheBias, focusing on tackling systematic barriers which hold back women’s careers and highlighting the importance of flexibility at work.

Here is a selection of videos and courses taken from LinkedIn Learning, covering bias and its harms, becoming an ally, and the importance of listening to women’s voices to create an equitable workplace.

  1. Fighting Gender Bias At Work (14 minutes)
  2. Unlocking Authentic Communication In A Culturally Diverse Workplace (49 minutes)
  3. Leadership Strategies For Women (course) (1 hour 6 minutes)
  4. Becoming a male ally at work (41 minutes)
  5. Women Transforming Tech: Breaking Bias (22 minutes)
  6. Men as allies (2 minutes 27 seconds)
  7. Unconscious Bias (23 minutes)

We have also created a campaign on LinkedIn Learning for International Women’s Day and you can access this from the main LinkedIn Learning dashboard.


University Mental Health Day: Digital Wellbeing Resources

It’s #UniMentalHealthDay today! A day to bring together the University community to make mental health a University-wide priority.

An important element of the Jisc Digital Capabilities Framework is Digital Wellbeing, a term used to describe the impact that technologies and digital services can have on people’s mental, physical, social and emotional health.

Here are some short videos and courses that we’ve pulled together from LinkedIn Learning that could be of benefit to both staff and students on digital wellbeing, mental health and wellbeing in general.

  1. Supporting your mental health while working from home (17 minutes)
  2. Wellbeing in the workplace (23 minutes)
  3. What is mindfulness? (7 minutes 8 seconds)
  4. Sleep is your Superpower (34 minutes)
  5. Balancing Work and Life (28 minutes)
  6. De-stress meditation and movement for stress management (36 minutes)
  7. How to set goals when everything feels like a priority (15 minutes)
  8. How to manage feeling overwhelmed (43 minutes)
  9. How to support your employees’ wellbeing (34 minutes)
  10. Mindful Stress Management (36 minutes)

If you need support remember there are a range of services able to help.

Upcoming LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning Webinars (February and March 2022)

Would you like to learn how to improve your digital identity by making the most of your LinkedIn profile? Or perhaps you’d like to learn how, as a student or staff member, you can make the most of LinkedIn Learning? Take a look at the following webinars which will be delivered directly by LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning experts. Click on the title of each session to learn more and to register your place.

  1. Rock your profile (available live each week) – Suitable for staff and students: Take a step to make the most of your LinkedIn profile. Join this session to learn what it takes to build a great profile that speaks directly to your ideal audience and get your questions answered by a LinkedIn expert.
  2. Student Success with LinkedIn Learning (16 February ‘22; 13:00) – Suitable for students: During this session we will explore how students can leverage the LinkedIn network and other powerful tools to prepare for the workforce, as well as focus on the most on demand skills for 2022.
  3. Academic Success with LinkedIn Learning (16 March ’22; 13:00) – Suitable for staff: This webinar will focus on how academics can make the most out of LinkedIn Learning and successfully embed it in their curriculum. Tips, best practices, and insights into the skills which are of most demand will be shared during this session.

All Aberystwyth University students and staff have free access to LinkedIn Learning. Visit this blog post to learn more about LinkedIn Learning. Login instructions can be found here and follow this video to learn how to get started with LinkedIn Learning.