Digital Skills Newsletter Issue 18 - September 2023

New format for the Digital Skills Programme

The Digital Skills Programme is a free skills development offering, open to University of Edinburgh students and staff, running throughout the academic year. The programme consists of over 140 courses on a variety of digital skills topics, delivered by trainers and experts from across the University.

This Semester, we have structured the Digital Skills Programme around a number of themed training blocks, focusing on specific audience groups and spotlighting various digital skills topics.

• 25th September - 6th October: We are kicking things off with our popular Student Focus Fortnight, encouraging new and returning students to build a solid foundation of digital skills for studying and research.
• 9th October - 20th October: We are celebrating Ada Lovelace Day (10th October) with our Data and Programming Fortnight, spotlighting the various data and programming courses we have on offer. You can read more about our student-led programming courses later on in this newsletter.
• 23rd October - 27th October: Get innovative with our Media and Creativity Week. Learn about TikToks and Instagram reels, or get skilled in mobile phone film making.
• 30th October - 10th November: We are supporting the Library Dissertation and Thesis Festival with a number of relevant digital skills courses.
• 20th - 24th November: Our Digital Skills for Staff week focuses on courses suitable for our academic and professional services colleagues from across the University.
• 27th November - 1st December: Last but not least, to mark International Computer Security Day (30th November), our Information Security and Digital Safety Week highlights courses and resources around information security, and digital safety and wellbeing.

If you are unable to join a course during one of the dedicated blocks, don't worry - most of our courses run regularly throughout the academic year.

Introducing student-led programming courses

Maksims Galkins, Digital Skills Trainer (Student Intern)

We are delighted to introduce a suite of programming training, developed and delivered by our student interns. The Digital Skills student interns have worked diligently over the summer to prepare a solid offering of introductory and intermediate level programming courses that are now available to book for Semester 1 2023/24.

For complete beginners interested in programming, we offer Introduction to Programming – a 1.5 hour course, delivered in a classroom or as a webinar, that introduces programming concepts and - importantly - encourages learners to think about problem solving in a programming-aligned way.

For those looking to learn a new programming language, Introduction to Python and Introduction to R both present the theory, and how to apply it, with a series of practice tasks interspersed between course sections. Please note that these courses are available for students only.

For people torn between Python and R, Python vs R is a 1 hour webinar that explains the strengths of each language, and their differences, as well as explaining some of the fundamental concepts of both languages. This course is best suited for learners trying to decide which language would be best suited to their needs.

For general programming help in Python, R or Java, students are invited to attend the Coding Club, which runs in the Main Library. Instructors will be able to answer specific questions learners might have on their own coding projects, provide general exercises, and help to improve learners' knowledge of the different languages. Each Coding Club session is themed with a specific language - please check before you book.

We look forward to seeing you on one (or several) of the courses.

Safety in a world of uncertainty – Some initial reflections

Shivani Rao, Digital Safety Officer

Initially, I thought this would be an opportunity for me to reflect on my first three months as the Digital Safety Officer at the University – but it hasn’t been quite as straightforward.

I have thought about a lot more than digital safety and wellbeing in the last couple of months – I have been compelled, in fact, to reflect on the very essence of safety itself, and what it really means for all of us in the university community today. My term as the Digital Safety Officer is shaping up to be an inquiry into the experience of coming of age in a world that is potentially already experiencing collapse; about what it must be like to grow older in parts of the world where shootings on campus are a chilling reality for some and a haunting specter for many others; and about being a young person in a world in which existential fears are normalised by the minute.

What does safety mean in this world? It might resemble the 'hope' described by Gail Bradbrook, co-founder of the Extinction Rebellion, as something "insipid if it merely implies seeking comfort in the belief that everything will be fine, or that someone else will resolve the issues." How do you ensure the university community feels safe then, when as a generation and as a species, all the safeties we culturally took for granted are, in fact, proving not to be so?

I came of age on social media. I started a secret blog and an Instagram account and connected with other anonymous poets and writers like me, who wrote in the shadows of the night. I am thankful for social media - it helped me understand my life’s purpose and it gave me a community that allowed me this exploration.

Social media and the internet as a whole are different today. More and more of our digital spaces are undertaking a subscription-based model, and the early 2000s’ idea of the internet as a space for stumbling upon the most unexpected, cool, random things and characters is disappearing fast.

All this change in cultures and climates is making me think that maybe it is time for us to embrace some radical acts. Perhaps it's time to turn towards nature and work on repair instead of trying to sustain a world that may not be designed to sustain. Maybe it’s time to revive the forgotten project of spiritual exploration and understand our purpose, and most importantly, maybe it’s time to return to community.

In this age of digital interconnectedness, we have the tools to nurture a community that transcends differences and unites in a shared endeavour – digital citizenship. It's about not just safeguarding ourselves but also extending a hand to others grappling with the same existential dilemmas that we all face in private. It's about understanding that our actions online have consequences, and our digital presence actually does shape the world we will live in. Our online actions can contribute to chaos, or foster a sense of belonging, empathy and understanding.

In future articles and blogs, I will delve deeper into the nuances of digital safety and wellbeing, offering practical guidance and resources to navigate the digital realm as a member of the university community. But for now, I would like to leave you to reflect on the profound interconnectedness of our digital lives and the power we hold to make this world a safer, more empathetic place.

Developing Your Data Skills Programme - Graduation and news for 2023/24

Tracy Steinberg, Developing Your Data Skills Programme Manager

On July 14th 2023, 77 Developing Your Data Skills Programme completers graduated and received their BadgEd digital badges and certificates for completing the six-month development programme. Congratulations again to all completers!

The Developing Your Data Skills Programme is about to begin its sixth year. This year the programme will be run across two platforms. Student learners will follow the programme in Learn Ultra, while staff will be enrolled in the People & Money Learning app. If you are interested in joining a cohort starting between September 2023 and January 2024, please register your interest by emailing the Digital Skills and Training team. We will then contact you to let you know more about the programme, and allocate you a cohort and start date.

The Developing Your Data Skills Programme offers three capability levels to make it suitable for a variety of staff and students, irrespective of their prior data knowledge. For each level, content is divided into three topics: Introduction to Data Skills and Programming (including Excel, R, SQL, or Python pathways), Statistics and Data Analysis and Presenting Your Data. The time commitment for the programme tends to be 1-2 hours per week, depending on the level followed. The flexibility of the programme makes it possible to work around existing work and study commitments.

We are also delivering a number of introductory data skills webinars during Semester 1:

Machine Learning - the basics: Machine Learning is an umbrella term for solving problems for which the development of algorithms by human programmers would be cost-prohibitive. Instead problems are solved by helping machines discover their own algorithms.

Data and AI ethics: Introduction to the basic concepts of data and AI ethics, looking at five case studies and focusing on three philosophical viewpoints.

Data literacy for beginners: Introduction to data literacy, and the ability to read, understand, argue with, and make decisions from information. It will help you to spot misleading and exaggerated statistics by others and make you aware of the potential pitfalls involving data.

Introduction to data science: Introducing learners to the world of data science, covering topics from big data to data visualisation.

Digital Skills Edinburgh Awards – Register your interest

Jonathan Mori, Digital Skills Trainer

Are you a student who wants to strengthen your digital skills and stand out to employers?

If the answer is yes, keep on reading.

Our Digital Skills Edinburgh Awards are back for their third year. Students have two options to choose from; the Digital Skills Specialists Edinburgh Award and the Digital Volunteering with Wikipedia Edinburgh Award. Both help students develop and demonstrate a wide variety of digital skills. Both Awards are officially recognised with an entry on your Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR) and a BadgEd digital badge.

Please click on the links above to find out more about each award, and their associated timelines.

We are looking forward to welcoming our two new cohorts!