Digital Learning

Hi, my name is Milena, I am going into my third year studying English Literature and I am a Digital Student Intern at Edge Hill University. I am based in the Language Centre, which includes the Foreign Language side and also the English Language side. In this blog, I am going to show you what I get up to in a week, as a Digital Student Intern. This week I am also setting myself a goal to do something good for my physical and mental wellbeing every day, even if it is only something small.

Monday:

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I worked with James in the English Language side of the Language Centre department, 8:45 until 17:00, with an hour lunch break (which we can pick to have at any time). The first thing I did in the morning was open up Microsoft Teams on my laptop and make sure my status says available, so everyone knew that I could be contacted and that I am at work, and then the rest of the apps that I needed for the day. This included opening up Excel, where I log what I do throughout the day and also an changes that I make to the level of accessibility on the module that I work on in the day. This morning, James had uploaded some voiced-over PowerPoints, and I was in charge of making sure the captions all made sense, in terms of correct spelling and punctuation. This is one of my favourite things to do, despite being quite time consuming, as it is satisfying to see it all done at the end. I had five different videos to edit captions for, all between fifteen and twenty minutes, and therefore it took me the majority of the day! After my lunch break, I worked on making different documents (mostly PDFs) as accessible as possible through Adobe Acrobat DC, on a specific module.

My wellbeing task of the day – I started my week off by having a really healthy and filling breakfast of porridge with banana, blueberries and chia seeds, and did not forget my vitamins!

Tuesday:

On Tuesday morning, I carried on making the module accessible. A lot of documents started at under 50% and ended up being 100% accessible!

It is important to take breaks and therefore my wellbeing task of the way was to spend as much time as I could outside, as well as doing my work. I made a set up outside in the 30 degree sunshine, although in the shade, got Weeks 5-10 completely accessible by the end of the day. In the evening, just before finishing work, I also filled in my daily timetable, where I write down the hours I worked.

Wednesday:

This morning, it was my last day working in the English Language sector with James, and so I wanted to finish making the module as accessible as possible (aiming for all of the documents to be 100% accessible by the end of the day). I spent the morning working on accessibility through Adobe Acrobat DC and then uploading them onto our University’s VLE system.

I completed all of the weeks, and the still had an hour to spare, so I thought I would get on with a LinkedIn Learning course on proofreading and editing, as I thought it would benefit my work now, and also in the future as I am planning to pursue a career in that sector once graduating and taking on a Masters in Publishing. That course took me to the end of the day, where I logged the hours I worked and signed out.

My wellbeing task for the day was to go for a walk, and because it was cooler than most days in the evening, I took my dog on a sunset walk in the park, and it was so lovely to get some fresh air, other than the garden – and movement is also so important for you mental and physical wellbeing.

Thursday:

On Thursday I worked with Lucy in the Foreign Language sector. I was making documents accessible, which included editing Italian PowerPoints, Word documents and PDFs.

I continued making documents accessible throughout the day, completed a LinkedIn Learning course and also wrote more of my blog when I had time. Then, as my wellbeing task, I read a book in the evening and made sure I got a really long, good night’s sleep – as that is what your brain needs the most after sunshine and working all day!

Friday:

Today, on the last day of the week, I worked with Lucy to make an additional module accessible, including a series of documents focused on the Mandarin language, which was exciting! I did that for majority of the day, and then had a meeting at 15:30 with the Language Centre to let them know what I have been working on all week and for them to let me know what I will be doing next week. I wrote up my weekly reflection and then finished off my blog, before going to enjoy the sunshine. My wellbeing task of the day was to get some sunshine, before it rains next week, and to socialise with a friend – which I did!

By Milena Bittmar (Student Intern)

What is LinkedIn Learning?  

LinkedIn Learning is an online skills development website ran by LinkedIn.  

All the courses are developed by experts.  It provides an extensive library of online training videos and exercise files for users to be able to develop their skills further.  

LinkedIn Learning is a free service for any student with a @edgehill.ac.uk email address and can be linked with your own personal LinkedIn account too. 

Many of the courses the University offers have Linkedin Learning courses that complement the module to allow you to further study and helps encourage self-learning.  

Why use LinkedIn Learning?  

LinkedIn Learning can offer users the chance to:  

• Develop digital skills 
• Keep up to date with training  
• Further develop professional skills  
• Encourages Self-learning 
• Flexible around your lifestyle  
• Provides you with a history of courses you have took/skills 
• Encourages career development 
• Encourages professional development  
• Lots of course to go alongside your degree! 

Courses to help you land your prefect job 

Maybe you are looking for something new, maybe you have new goals, new opportunities you want to apply to help you find that exciting new job you have always wanted. To help with this we are presenting you with many of the best LinkedIn Learning courses which not only helped us but the millions of professionals that got hired last year. It is always important to brush up on your interview and CV skills and this is what many of the professionals generally focused on, first impressions matter. Getting your CV and interview stage done correctly sets yourself up for a much better chance in the hiring process as it allows your skills to stand out above the rest.  

Interview and CV courses 

• Expert Tips for Answering Common Interview Questions by Jenny Foss, LinkedIn Learning Instructors, and Linda Raynier 
• Effective Listening by Tatiana Kolovou and Brenda Bailey-Hughes 

• Creating Great First Impressions by Vanessa Van Edwards 
• Resume Makeover by Jenny Foss 
• Mastering Common Interview Questions by Valerie Sutton 

There is also a course on LinkedIn Learning called Career Advice from Some of the Biggest Names in Business. It consists of collective advice from some of the world’s most influential thinkers, leaders, and innovators. They have run some of the biggest companies, created the biggest and most loved brands and changed the world. This course brings together the best insights from interviews with LinkedIn Influencers such as Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Meg Whitman and many more.  

However, you need to do more than just get the interview questions right. You will need to demonstrate that you have the skills for the specific job. Especially nowadays with the ongoing pandemic, skills such as software development, marketing, project management and data analysis are all in demand, and software such as Excel and Microsoft Teams are becoming common knowledge as we all come to terms with working from home. Therefore, it is important for applicants to watch these courses to not only brush up on any new skills they might offer but to stay updated on new developments within the industry allowing you to stay ahead of the competition. 

Here are our top recommendations for LinkedIn Learning courses for your departments:  

Software Development 

• Programming Foundations: Fundamentals by Annyce Davis 
• Programming Foundations: Algorithms by Joe Marini 
• Programming Foundations: Databases by Scott Simpson 

Marketing  

• Social Media Marketing Foundations by Brain Honigman 
• Digital Marketing Foundations by Brad Batesole 
• SEO Foundations by David Booth 

Project Management 

• Project Management Foundations by Bonnie Biafore 
• Project Management Simplified by Chris Croft 

Data Analysis 

• Learning Data Analytics by Robin Hunt 
• Learning Excel: Data Analysis by Curt Frye 

General Courses 

• Learning LinkedIn for Students by Oliver Schinkten 
• Excel Essential Training (Office 365/Microsoft 365) by Dennis Taylor 
• Microsoft Teams Essential Training by Nick Brazzi 
• The Six Morning Habits of High Performance by Pete Mockaitis 

• Develop Self-Awareness by Gemma Leigh Roberts 
• Time Management: Working from Home by Dave Crenshaw 

More information and support with LinkedIn Learning can be found here – https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/ls/linkedinlearning/

By Katie McCarthy and Daniel Bresnahan