With exam season upon us, the need to revise and be productive can be a struggle and it can be tempting to procrastinate with scrolling through social media. But with the Flora app, this can be a lot easier! Available on iOS and Android, Flora is an interactive productivity app where you can store to-do lists and build positive habits. You can set focus and break timers to remind you when to step away from your task and when to start again. The Flora app allows you to plant a seed at the beginning of your task that slowly grows the longer you remain focused and if you go onto your phone to go onto other apps such as social media or games your tree will die! Other features include the ability to unlock different species of trees the longer you don’t break your focus timers or complete challenges, the option to create to-do lists to manage your tasks, notifications on your locked phone to remind you to take a break, the ability to have friends and challenge each other to grow trees and stay off your phones. Download now and start planting in your productivity garden!
DigiTip 48: Select a Shortcut! 🖥️
Time to learn a new shortcut with DigiTip 48!
An easy shortcut to selecting an entire row in Excel. Simply be in the row you’d like to select and use the shortcut: Shift + Space bar.
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!
Study Buddy! A collection of resources to help you prepare for exams 📚
As we approach exam season, please see below a collection of resources to help you prepare for exams. The resources include organisational tips, study skills as well as suggestions to support your digital wellbeing during stressful times.
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).
Return to the World of DigiTips! 💡
Welcoming in the New Year and Semester 2 also means welcoming our next batch of DigiTips. DigiTips began in September 2023 where the Digital Skills Team post a short quick tip to help with your digital lives. You can view all our previous DigiTips here and starting from 14th January 2024 you can view our new DigiTips being posted every week. Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out!
Resources Wrap up: Merry Christmas from the Digital Skills Team! 🎅🏻🎄
2024 has been a productive year for the Digital Skills team! Below is a list of the favourite things we’ve created in the last year including new formats, events, and resources:
- 👩🏻💻 New webpages to help you work in a step-by-step process to develop your skills
- 💼 Employer Digital Skills Profiles (Student Digital Champion project)
- 💡 Return of weekly DigiTips
- 🗣️ AberSkills week including a session with Jisc’s Senior AI analyst on Everyday AI Tools
- 🧘🏻♀️ Digital Wellbeing Series (Student Digital Champion project)
- 📂 New AI collections on LinkedIn Learning for students and staff
- 📂 New Microsoft collections on LinkedIn Learning: Excel, Teams, Word, and PowerPoint
- 💻 “What are Digital Skills?” course for all learners
- 💻 “Getting started with LinkedIn Learning” course
We hope that you’ve enjoyed using these resources as much as we’ve enjoyed making them. We’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we look forward to supporting your skills in 2025!
DigiTip 47: Whats Up WhatsApp – What can you do in the chat? 📲
Personalising your text can be a fun way to emphasise a point and now with DigiTip 47, you can learn how to format your text in WhastApp.
| Italicise | _text_ |
| Bold | *text* |
| ~text~ | |
| Add a quote | > text |
| Create bullet point lists | * Text or – Text |
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 46: Match colours on your PowerPoint slides with the Eyedropper tool 🎨
When creating a PowerPoint presentation, there may be occasions when you want to match the colour of the background or an object to a very specific shade. While the colour options available are extensive, there’s an incredibly useful tool called the eyedropper, which allows you to match a colour perfectly!
Follow the video below to learn how to use this feature. In the video, we’ll show you how to change the colour of a shape, but the same steps apply to changing the colour of your background, a border, and much more.
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!
Employer Digital Skills Profile Series – Week 7 – Chester Zoo
Today is our final profile in the Employer Digital Skills Profile Series and it is from Chester Zoo. In their profile, Chester Zoo says that they value data literacy, especially Excel and working with large data sets. As well as digital problem solving within coding, knowledge of AI, and digital learning and creativity such as PowerPoint or MS Teams. See the resources below to help develop these skills:
- Digital Skills Festival 2023: Mastering Group Work with Online Tools and Strategies
- Digital Skills Festival 2023: Unlocking Tech Careers for All with Code First Girls
- Digital Skills Festival 2023: Excel for Large Datasets!
- LinkedIn Learning: AI for Students
- LinkedIn Learning: Microsoft PowerPoint Tips and Tricks
- LinkedIn Learning: Microsoft Teams Tips and Tricks
- LinkedIn Learning: Microsoft Excel Tips and Tricks
Text Version
Company: Chester Zoo
Company Size: 1,000 people
Founded: 1931
Where is the company based: Chester but research and academic connections across the world
Examples of typical graduate roles:
- Finance and Accountancy
- Marketing
- Creative Content Development
- Education Ranger
- Hospitality
- Scientists and Lab Technicians
- Guest Operations
Essential Digital Skills We Value:
Data Literacy – Statistical analysis ranging from managing excel all the way up to R coding, using coding language, working with large data sets, predictive modelling, understanding the influence of software and hardware, and data organisation.
Digital Problem Solving – Solve problems associated with R.
Digital Learning and Creativity – Digital training tools such as poll websites, embedding within PowerPoint presentations and MS Teams
Have you noticed any common weaknesses in the digital skills of graduates you employ?:
“This is a bit left field but the ethical awareness of using technology. We are a visitor attraction so we have to be careful of our processes and have ethical reviews. We have to be aware of GDPR, data protection and we have to think of the field of view of cameras and the impact of technology on animal welfare, from lights, noises and heat. What if that camera changes the water temperature? Also the practicalities, so we don’t have plugs everywhere or Wi-Fi and we work globally so that’s just a whole other element that needs to be considered.”
What would be your best advice for graduates?:
“Add as many bolt on courses as you can because we don’t expect you to know everything but if all the applicants have done similar degrees but nothing extra then there is nothing setting you apart.”
What do you look for in an employee?:
“One new thing we are looking into is AI so lots of our scientists work on large-scale camera tracking technology and we need grads to be ready for things that don’t yet eist. You have to be on top of you own learning and keep up to date with the latest tech developments. We also look for resilience to cope with changes, problem solving and ability to adapt quickly”.
Do you think graduates overlook digital skills in this area of work?
“Absolutely, a large chunk of our jobs are spent in front of a computer. We are not seeing university modules with enough emphasis on the tech we are using, whether that’s thermal imaging or R statistic as opposed to SPSS which isn’t really used in industry, so to be cutting edge when modules are only changing every 4-5 years is really tricky.”
Produced by the Student Digital Champions
DigiTip 45: Shift+F3 is on the case! A capitalisation shortcut ⌨
If you have ever begun writing a sentence and realised, you were in the wrong case – this DigiTip is for you! Did you know that you can change the case of your word in Office 365 by selecting the text and then using Shift + F3? Watch the short video below to see this week’s DigiTip in action.
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!
Employer Digital Skills Profile Series – Week 6 – Aled Ellis & Co. Estate Agency
Our sixth Employer Profile is with the estate agency Aled Ellis & Co. based in Aberystwyth. In the profile below, Aled Ellis & Co. state the importance of social media and marketing in their business as well as digital identity. View some resources below to develop these skills.
- Digital Skills Festival 2023: Improving your Digital Footprint and your Online Shadow
- Digital Skills Festival 2023: Digital Marketing with Clicky Media
- LinkedIn Learning: Digital Skills for Work
Text Version
Company: Aled Ellis & Co.
Company Size: 4 members in the core team
Founded: 1998
Where is the company based: Aberystwyth-based but covers from Tywyn down to New Quay across mid-Wales
Examples of typical graduate roles:
- Sales negotiator
- Admin assistant
Essential Digital Skills We Value:
Digital Identity – Very important to present a welcoming, helpful identity to clients and this extends to how prospective employees present themselves through their communication.
Digital Communication – Contact with vendors, buyers and sellers via email, WhatsApp and voice notes.
Digital Creation – Splice, Canva and other video editing software.
Did Covid change the company and the way it is run?:
“Before Covid we hardly used our WhatsApp group but now we use it all the time and it allowed us to work remotely which is something we still do. Another thing is being able to communicate with sellers abroad and that is only possible with video calls or messages.”
What are the key personal skills in Estate Agency?:
“For anyone who wants to go into any sales role then customer service is so important. Making sure that your client is 100% satisfied is the key. Communication skills are the most important part of our jobs. Some clients prefer to communicate via certain platforms, or only in Welsh, so being across all various different communication platforms and then being willing to communicate with clients in their preferred manner is great.”
Are there any digital skills weaknesses in your team?:
“Definitely social media. There was no social media presence when the business first started but now we do virtual tours, we post all our properties on Facebook and Instagram ad we have a YouTube channel. It is so key to the estate agency industry and the graduate generation are more up to date with using it, so to be able to have that ability to use social media, along with maybe marketing skills too, will go a long way.”
Do you think people overlook digital skills in estate agencies?:
“Without a doubt. As well as social media just being computer literate is so important. We use a system called Vebra to upload all of our properties and contacts so to be able to use and navigate these digital tools is vital. Being able to pick up a new system quickly will get you really far in our business!”
Produced by the Student Digital Champions