The Digital Skills and Training team recently held a lunch to celebrate the success of the past academic year and to thank colleagues in Information Services Group who help in developing the digital skills of our staff and students. Over 40 staff members attended the celebration to enjoy a buffet lunch and the chance to catch up with fellow colleagues. There were speeches from Gavin McLachlan, Chief Information Officer and Librarian to the University, and Jenni Houston, Head of Digital Skills and Training along with some goodies handed out as a token of our appreciation. Fantastic feedback A running slideshow highlighted all of the fantastic feedback that has been received over the past academic year (some examples below) along with some great statistics. The Digital Skills Programme delivered over 70 different courses, with a total of 280 events, resulting in over 780 hours of teaching and more than 2000 attendees being trained. Additionally, the Lynda.com online learning platform now has more than 12,000 users across the University with over half a million videos watched over the past two years. “All excellent, it has encouraged me to put my training into practice and to consider further courses” “Trainers had an interesting and relaxed manner and the course room was modern and up-to-date, very pleasant” Digital skills development With the help of an extended Digital Skills and Training team, including colleagues across Information Services Group, the portfolio of digital skills development is expanding at pace. Along with the core face-to-face and online courses run as part of the Digital Skills Programme and Lynda.com, the team provides training and guidance to support key University software rollouts and upgrades, such as Lecture Recording, Windows 10, BI Suite and Learn Foundations. The online development programme 23 Things looks at a range of digital tools for personal and professional development and continues to increase in popularity. In addition, we are currently supporting staff to become Certified Members of the Association for Learning Technology, using our own MOOCs to develop digital skills and providing maker space via the UCreate Studio. Of course, all of this could not be achieved without the support and hard work of each and every one of the tutors, managers and professional services staff who help make it all possible. Together we can achieve the University’s goals for digital transformation: every student is a digital student; every educator is a digital educator; everyone is constantly planning and updating their digital skills. (Ed. this article was originally published on 4 Sep, 2018) Publication date 04 Sep, 2018
