Our pledge

Welcome to our Digital Skills GitBook community! Here we foster a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone regardless of background or identity. Please respect this community by not using behaviour that is disrespectful to our members or that harasses, belittles, excludes or intimidates others for any reason whatsoever. In order to contribute to the book we ask that you respect this code and behave in an appropriate manner.

Contributing to the book

Do's

😊 Use welcoming and inclusive language 😊 Be respectful to different viewpoints and experiences 😊 Gracefully accept constructive criticism 😊 Focus on what is best for the community 😊 Show courtesy and respect towards other members 😊 Keep all interactions respectful and professional

Don'ts

☹️ Insult, put-down or exclude people on any basis, including membership to specific groups ☹️ Cause someone to fear for their safety, such as through stalking, following or intimidation ☹️ Use violent threats or language directed against another person ☹️ Upload, send or share sexual or violent images ☹️ Make sexist, racist, homophobic, ableist or exclusionary jokes or comments ☹️ Incite violence, suicide or self-harm ☹️ Continue to initiate interaction (including photography or recording) with someone after being asked to stop ☹️ Publish private communication without consent ☹️ Behave in any other way which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting

Scope

This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces, and also applies when an individual is officially representing the community in public spaces. Examples of representing our community include using an official e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event.

What to do if you experience unacceptable behaviour

The Digital Skills GitBook project team have the right and responsibility to remove, edit or reject comments, commits, code, issues and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, and will communicate reasons for moderation decisions when appropriate.

All complaints will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly.

Attribution

The Living Book of Digital Skills (You never knew you needed until now) is a living, open source online guide to 'modern not-quite-technical computer skills' for researchers and the broader academic community.

A collaboration between Australia's Academic and Research Network (AARNet) and the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL), this book is the creation of the CAUL Digital Dexterity Champions and their communities.

Contributors

The Digital Dexterity Champions selected this license for the following reasons:

• A CC-BY-SA licence facilitates community sharing which enriches Digital Dexterity community goal of collaboration and generosity

• A CC-BY-SA licence fosters creation and innovation in developing learning objects and other resources

• By attaching the Share Alike condition, commercial agents would be unable to modify the work and make commercial uses without giving credit to the original authors and attaching a similar SA licence themselves.

Chapter overview

This chapter covers understanding the benefits and risks involved with digital participation, primarily in relation to one’s health and wellbeing.

Topics include:

Balancing work and life: How to support yourself and others to develop safe and responsible digital practices when using technology.

Digital presence and managing your digital reputation: Advice on maintaining a positive digital identity by communicating with respect, displaying critical thinking, and maintaining confidence and good judgment in a digital environment.

Ethical digital data and information: How to collect, evaluate and manage information in a digital landscape; learn how algorithms work; how personal data may be collected; and how digital media can be used as a social, political and educational tool.

Chapter overview

This chapter covers skills and knowledge required for living, learning and working with digital information, media and data.

Topics include:

Information literacy skills and knowledge: How to find, evaluate, manage and disseminate information.

Media literacy skills and knowledge: How to develop skills for the creation and consumption of, and participation in, digital media.

Data literacy skills and knowledge: will support efficient, effective and ethical creation, maintenance, interpretation, dissemination and preservation of data in both personal and professional capacities.

Chapter overview

This chapter addresses the opportunities and unique challenges of learning and teaching online. Get meta - learn online about learning online!

Topics include:

Digital learning preferences: Discover your needs as a digital learner, and how to tailor content to different learning needs and preferences in others.

Digital learning materials and tools: How to choose and use them in your library and institution, and support your communities.

Overview

While the concept of fake news isn’t new, it has become more ubiquitous with the popularity of social media and the increasing reliance on social media in everyday life. Social media gives anyone the power to share information, whether true or false, in many different forms. You may come across fake news in the form of legitimate looking news articles, YouTube and social media videos, memes, infographics, viral content, radio and TV broadcasts, by word of mouth, and more.

This article will cover:

• Spotting misinformation and fake news

• Lateral reading

• Filter bubbles

• Deep fakes

Developing

Fake news involves hoaxes, opinions, scams, or misleading or false information presented as legitimate news stories. It is capable of disrupting elections, economies, social movements, reputations, geo-political conflicts and more. While some fake news may appear fake, others are increasingly more sophisticated.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of fake news, particularly when a piece of media confirms our existing beliefs and ideas. This is known as confirmation bias. However, despite how much we may want something to be true to support our beliefs, it is important to check our biases and critically analyse the information we find online.

There are several common features of fake news that may immediately flag a piece of information as suspicious. These include:

• Provocative or misleading headlines

• Clickbait

• Propaganda or opinion pieces

• Unusual URLs

• Distorted dates

• Fake authors

However, some articles may not immediately strike you as suspicious. When reading news or information online, no matter how sophisticated, you should always check for the following:

Authority

• Is the author qualified to be writing on this topic? Do they possess relevant qualifications or work experience?

• If the author is an organisation, is it recognised and trustworthy?

• Is there an ulterior motive for presenting the information, particularly a financial or political one?

Purpose

• Why was the content created?

• Is its goal to inform (presenting an objective and evidence-based account of the topic)?

• Is its goal to persuade (presenting a biased or one-sided account of the topic)?

• Is the information trying to sell you a product?

Evidence

• If claims are being made, is there evidence to support them, either as references or links to further information?

• If the author is using references, are they from authors who are qualified to write on the topic?

• Can you find corroboration for the points being made elsewhere on the internet?

• Are the quotes or examples used only part of what was said? Have they been taken out of context?

The best way to establish the credibility of information is through a process called lateral reading. The process of lateral reading involves reading across sources, checking information as it’s presented to you. This contrasts from simply reading a webpage's 'About Us' page and taking it at face value, to also searching the rest of the web for more information about the author or organisation who created the information, the date it was posted, what others have to say about the topic and more. As an evaluation method, we recommend the CRAAP method, which checks for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose.

Skilled

Filter bubbles are echo chambers of like-minded views, curated through the personalisation of online services (including news clicks, search behaviour, and social media algorithms). Filter bubbles affect the flow of information that you receive, reducing or preventing exposure to information that may challenge our world view.

Filter bubbles play a large part in online communities where false news can easily spread. Additionally, as you are not getting an accurate view on the world, you may be surprised by certain world events, such as the results of Brexit and the 2016 US elections.

Filter bubbles are therefore the result of both social media algorithms and our own behaviour. Recognising that you are in a filter bubble is the first step to breaking free from it. The next steps are finding ways to actively re-train the algorithm to diversify your feed and the information you receive.

How to ‘pop’ your filter bubble.

• Use ad-blocking extensions

• Use incognito browsing

• Delete or block browser cookies

• Interact with a wider range of people

• Interact with content outside your comfort zone

• Follow differing perspectives

Adept

Deep fakes are a sophisticated form of fake news, where fictional videos or images are created featuring well-known or made-up people doing or saying things that are not real. This advanced form of manipulation is created using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

How to spot deep fakes

• Search for surrounding media or do a reverse image search of a video screenshot

• Unnatural eye movement or facial expressions

• A lack of emotion

• Awkward-looking body or posture

• Poor lip-syncing

• Errors in fine details, such as hair or teeth

References/further reading

Chapter overview

This chapter aims to help you to choose and use relevant ICT-based tools to perform tasks more effectively and productively.

Topics include:

Hardware, software and apps: How to identify and choose suitable tech for your purposes.

‘How it works’: Discover concepts such as how the internet works, how digital systems work (and work together), and basic concepts in coding and information processing.

Digital communication tools: Identify key tools for emailing, engaging and connecting digitally.

Digital formats: Identify the longevity, differences and uses of digital formats.

Overview

Searching for information can feel a little like drinking from the proverbial firehose. While relying on search algorithms to interpret your quick and dirty search will usually do the trick for lower-stakes day-to-day searches, when it comes to in-depth searching for professional or academic purposes, you need to do a little bit more work constructing your search to track down the resources you need.

Developing

A search for information starts with a need for information. Sometimes it helps to have this need phrased in the form of a question if it isn’t already. This can help you identify the concepts within your need, and it’s the concepts that drive your search term selection.

Identifying concepts

Look at this research question:

How does diet affect the symptoms of people with depression?

What are the concepts the above question touches on? Which of them are actually useful in a search?

“Diet” and “depression” are the two major concepts that jump out immediately. They are the crucial elements of this question, and someone searching on this question would definitely be interested in papers that mentioned both of these concepts.

The concept of “affect” or something being affected by something else is certainly important to how you end up answering this question but is it actually helpful for a search aimed at gathering literature related to the question? For example, if you had this question would you still be interested in papers that discussed changes in diet for people with depression, even if the paper didn’t use the word "affect" in it? And wouldn’t using “improve” also lend bias to your search in that requiring it to appear in a paper would rule out papers that found dietary change made no difference? With this in mind, “affect” is less important and possibly detracts from the quality of the search.

Finally, “symptoms” and “people” are both too general and vague to be useful as search terms. Adding “symptoms” to the search may mean you miss papers where the word “symptoms” isn’t used; also, a search for “diet” and “depression” implies some relationship between the two, so the search doesn’t need to be so specific about what that relationship is (i.e. that it relates to symptoms).

Key point:

From your research question, consider which concepts are the most important and practical to search with.

With a database search, sometimes less is more!

Generating keywords

Once we have identified the concepts that are useful for our search, the next step is to generate some search terms for each. While each concept is a useful search term on its own, we need to consider other ways the concepts could be expressed and other words that are associated with them in order to capture as much of the relevant literature as possible.

Continuing with our example, we can generate these additional search terms by thinking about them ourselves and by looking at the words used in the relevant resources we find. Often it helps to put these into a table or some other kind of search planning document in order to keep track of what you’re finding.

Here’s an example of such a table for tracking purposes; note that below the concepts appear as search terms along with a couple of additional search terms related to each:

Key points

Your concepts are a starting point for search terms that help you find relevant records in a database. Possible search terms include synonyms, antonyms and other related terms for each concept.

Keep track of your search terms using a search planner.

Identifying where to search

Once you have a set of search terms generated, it’s time to start putting them to work. This makes choosing which database(s) to search in is the next step.

Depending on the nature of your question you may be looking at discipline-specific databases or multi-disciplinary databases. Generally, discipline-specific databases have very good depth of coverage on a narrow field whereas multi-disciplinary are more broad as they attempt to cover many fields. It may also be important to consider if the database focuses on a particular geographical, historical or other area, and how that fits with your search in terms of what you could expect to find within the database.

Key point

You will need to understand a little bit about the database in order decide whether to use it for your search.

Examine the database’s Help or About sections, or the database information or guides provided by the library that is faciliating access to the database.

Using database search interfaces

While some databases can infer the relationship between your search terms, it is best to be as direct as possible and tell the database what you want. A fundamental method of doing this is to use the words AND, OR and NOT. These are common search operators (AKA Boolean operators) which tell the database how to treat the search terms within a search:

• Putting AND between search terms tells the database that you want to see records that feature both of the terms; in other words, if only one term appears in a record, you don’t want to see it. Using AND narrows your search by putting extra requirements on it.

• Putting OR between search terms tells the database you’d be happy to see records that feature either of the search terms; in other words, if either term appears in a record, you want to see it, even if the other term(s) don’t appear. Using OR broadens your search as it gives the database more options for records to show you.

• Putting NOT before a search term tells the database that you don’t want to see any records containing that term. Using NOT narrows your search by removing irrelevant results. However, NOT should be used very cautiously as it could remove relevant results that also feature (perhaps inadvertently or as a comparison) the search term you have used NOT with. While it’s good to know about NOT, it’s unlikely you’ll use it very often in your searches.

It can also be helpful to use parentheses to group together your search terms. This isn’t always necessary but is a useful way to control the relationship between the search terms so that the database doesn’t do something unexpected.

Continuing with our diet and depression question, this example search uses AND, OR and parentheses to tell the database what you’re looking for:

(diet OR nutrition OR food) AND (depression OR depressed OR mood)

In the above, we’re asking the database to show us records that feature any one or more of the search terms within each set of parentheses (or each concept group). That is, if a record has any one of the search terms from the diet concept group, as well as any one of the search terms from the depression group, the database will show it to us. If a database record features a term from one group but not another, it will not be shown in the search results for the above search.

Key point

When needed, using AND, OR, NOT or parentheses to control the relationship between your search terms is a useful way to tell the database exactly what you’re looking for.

Skilled - Contribution needed

• Field codes

• Subject headings

• Trunctation, wildcards, phrase searching

Adept - Contribution needed

• Proximity searching

• Search filters

• Citation searching

Further reading

Overview

Web information can vary in format from text to images, videos, audio transcripts and much more. Accessibility is about providing equitable access to web content by catering to different learning and processing needs. This is achieved by incorporating design features into web content so it can be used by everyone, but particularly those with disabilities.

This article will cover:

• Basic accessibility measures

• Web Content Standards (WCAG)

• Accessibility statements

• Accessibility review tools

Developing

Basic accessibility measures include providing different formats for the same material so that it can be used in different ways. Basic elements include:

• Text transcripts or closed captions for audio-visual content;

• Text descriptions of visual images or content;

• Colour and contrast considerations for visual content;

• Readable and consistent font sizes.

These elements mean that web content can be used by people with disabilities and learning differences so that information can be equally accessed.

More advanced features incorporated into the design of webpages and tools can be found in the Advanced section.

Skilled

Coming soon:

• Standards (WCAG)

• Accessibility statements

Adept

Coming soon:

• Accessibility review tools

Overview

When we use the Internet, we leave a trail of where we’ve been, what we’ve said, how we feel. You can leave a positive impression of yourself just as easily as you can leave a negative one.

In this article we look at:

• Why it’s good to have a positive digital presence

• How to build a positive digital presence

• Tips for staying safe and respectful

Developing

Having a positive digital presence, online presence or digital identity, is part of being a good digital citizen. It includes what you write and share, websites you visit, the usernames and profile pictures you use, and your behaviour toward others.

You should think about how you appear to others online as early as possible. A photo of you getting drunk when you’re 18 could be found by a potential employer years later. Even if you delete something you’ve posted, there will be a digital footprint (it will be archived somewhere) and others might have clicked 'share' or taken a screenshot.

When you create an account, such as for a social media platform, think about your username. BoofHead might seem funny now, but you may regret it later. Usernames are usually not able to be changed. Think about your profile picture – if you don’t want your face shown, that’s ok.

Respect others – don’t make your profile picture one with you and your friends, or you and your children. Likewise, don’t tag someone – they might not want their family or friends knowing they were at the pub or at a concert. Make sure when you post, only your friends can see it. People surfing the Internet shouldn’t be able to see what you’ve been up to.

Skilled

You should occasionally check the settings of your online accounts. The owners of online platforms often change how the platform works, and you might have no idea your settings now give them permission to give your details to advertisers, or that the platform now owns the photos you shared.

Be aware of copyright. Much of what you see or read online is covered by copyright. Get to know about Creative Commons – images, words and more for which the copyright owner has given users certain permissions.

Treat others courteously. You wouldn’t abuse someone in the street, and neither should you be rude or bullying to someone online. If you see a flame-war online, walk away or report it to the owners of the platform.

Adept

Your digital presence can be your brand. On sites you use professionally, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, use a single profile image. Keep information up to date when you change workplaces, finish courses or if your Interests change.

Network with others, sharing their posts and making a thoughtful comment. Read anything before you share. For example, if you’re sharing a news headline, go to the news site and read or skim the article before sharing.

Know how to use online platforms for conferences. Know how hashtags and tagging people work.

Before signing up for paired sign-ins, where you give one site permission to access one of your other accounts, think about what they could learn about you. It might be better to create an account on each site and not link them for the convenience of not having to sign up or login as much.

Helpful resources

Overview

To effectively work, study and live in a digitally-connected world we regularly need to use platforms and software that require password-protected logins. The proliferation of these logins raises two important issues for passwords:

• The reuse of passwords across logins for different platforms

• The use of insufficiently complex passwords that are therefore vulnerable to unauthorised access

Password management software aims to overcome both of these problems by creating complex passwords and storing login details. This means you no longer need to think of (and remember) multiple passwords, you just need to remember the main password for your password manager and then use it when you come to login to a particular platform.

In short, the benefits of using password managers include:

• No longer having to remember which password goes with which login

• Greater security through the use of complex passwords which are hard to guess and resistant to ‘brute force’ hacking attempts

• Time savings through the use of password manager’s automatic or copy and paste password filling capabilities

• Being able to access all your passwords via one strong main password that you decide for yourself

Sounds simple, right? Well, with a little bit of work, you can have a password manager set up and running across multiple devices, keeping your passwords for your personal and professional life at hand as you need them.

This short, entertaining video from ABC TV’s The Checkout in 2017 explains more about why password managers are such a great idea.

Getting started

There are many different password management software options available, including:

The main thing to remember is that using a password manager will keep your important personal login details more secure while making your life easier. While there is a time investment in transitioning to a password manager, it is well worth the cost for the peace of mind and convenience.

Making a password

Key points:

Using a password manager means you can make very long and complex passwords and not worry about forgetting them. Long and complex passwords are more secure. It is therefore a good idea to update any existing short or simple passwords that you bring into the password manager. Your password manager software will likely indicate how weak or strong a password is; take its advice and update your password as required.

Using multifactor authentication with a password manager

Activating multifactor authentication is a highly recommended step to make your passwords more secure

The most common multifactor authentication method is SMS, but this can commonly be hacked. Authenticator apps such as Google Authenticator can also generate passwords that will only work for a short period of time, but these can also be hacked. Mobile apps that send a verification prompt can also be used, but require a working phone with Internet access. The most secure method is a physical security key, although they have not been widely adopted. (Nanda et al., 2022)

The following password managers all have options for additional authentication beyond just the main password: There are many different password management software options available, including:

References

Chapter overview

This chapter covers digital skills calling for creativity and innovation.

Topics include:

Digital creation: How to design and make different forms of digital media; including websites, video, audio and interactive presentations. This covers specific digital tools and methods or broad concepts, including sharing content legally and openly.

Digital problem-solving: Using digital tools for research, for working with data, answering questions and presenting evidence.

Digital innovation: Examines adopting digital tools and finding new ways to work with digital technology by combining creative knowledge and problem-solving skills.

Chapter overview

How can we use digital tools to build networks, influence social behaviours, to effectively share and participate in digital spaces?

Topics include:

Digital tools participation: How to use tools to enhance your communication, collaboration and participation with colleagues both in your workplace and across your extended digital network.

Scaffolded learning: Learn how each of these tools enables all who engage an opportunity to learn at different skill levels, whether you are a novice or expert.

Overview

Collaborative documents allow multiple people to work on the same document at the same time. Users can see what others are doing in real time.

Developing

Different platforms provide ways for users to work on collaborative documents. Some are free to use while others require you to pay a subscription. Examples of collaborative software include Google Docs, Microsoft Word online, Dropbox Paper, and ClickUp but there are many more available.

Some work better if all users have an account with software provider. For example, if you are using Google Docs, it is recommended everyone has a Google account (eg Gmail address).

The benefits of working with collaborative documents include:

• Saves you time as everyone can work on a document together and you do not have to wait for someone to close the document before are able to start editing it

• Avoids long email communication chains. Users can put feedback directly into the document and everyone can view it.

• Remote access allows you to collaborate with others from anywhere.

Skilled

Features of collaborative documents include:

Sharing permissions: This allows you to control who can edit the document and who can only view the document.

Auto save: Any changes are automatically saved as you write, allowing others to see updates as they happen.

Version control: This allows you to revert back to previous versions of the document, thus giving you confidence you won’t lose any information by it being overwritten.

Edit tracking: You can set the document to show what edits have been made and what the original text said. It also records who made the changes. Then once everyone agrees on an edit, you can accept changes and make the new text final.

Comments: You can highlight text and add a comment, explanation or tag a colleague for follow up. This does not change the text. Once a comment or action has been read or completed, you can resolve the comment and it disappears from the screen. The resolved comments are still available to viewing the comments history.

Saving and sharing: You can email the document directly from the software. No need to go to your email and attach. You can also download the document in other formats, eg save a document file as a PDF file.

Adept (coming soon)

Helpful resources

#

A

B

• branch - a contained area of your repository, where you can work on new features without affecting other branches in the repository.

C

• cell - a single datapoint within a spreadsheet – the intersection of a row and a column. It can contain explanatory information like headings or labels, or the data of the spreadsheet. The data in a cell can take many forms including words or letters, numbers, dates, currency, percentages. A cell can also contain a formula, if this is the case it will display the result of the calculation.

• clickbait – content designed to attract attention and encourage traffic.

• column - a vertical collection of cells in spreadsheet. Labelled with numbers: 1, 2, 3 etc.

• commit - saves all changes, along with a brief description from the user, in a “commit” to the local repository. A commit gives a snapshot of your project, where a new version of that project is created in the current repository.

• confirmation bias – the act of searching for or interpreting new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.

• cookie - a small file created by a web server while a user is browsing a website and placed on the user's computer or other device by the user's web browser. They have many uses, including authenticating that a particular user is logged in, (e.g. keeping you logged into your account when you browse Facebook), or to track your use of a website. Often used in online shopping carts.

D

• deep fakes – fake videos or images created using AI and machine learning that feature well-known or fictional people doing or saying things that are not real.

• doxing or doxxing – gathering someone's personal information and publishing it with the intention of harrassment, or having your personal information shared in such a manner.

E

• Excel - a spreadsheet program that is part of the Microsoft Office suite. Excel can be installed onto a computer (PC or Mac) or used in a web browser window.

F

• fake news – hoaxes, opinions, scams, or misleading or false information presented as legitimate news stories.

• filter bubbles – digital echo chambers of like-mided views and ideas, curated through algorithms, user behaviour, and the personalisation of online services.

• fork – a copy of a repository that you manage. Lets you make changes to a project without affecting the original repository. You can fetch updates from or submit changes to the original repository with pull requests from your fork.

• formula - a mathematical calculation within a spreadsheet. The answer to the calculation will be displayed in the spreadsheet. Some formulas will refer to the data in a different cell. This means that if the data in that cell is changed the answer displayed will change as well.

• free and open-source software or FOSS - software that is licensed so that anyone can use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source code is openly shared and volunteers are encouraged to improve the software.

G

• Google Sheets - an online spreadsheet program.

H

I

• issue - track ideas, give feedback, suggest tasks, or identify bugs that need fixing in a repository.

• IP address - a numerical label such as 192.0.2.1, connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication, useful for identifying the host and providing the location of that host in a network.

J

K

• knowledge management - the methods used in an organisation to create, share, use and manage the knowledge and information about the organisation and its operations, often with a focus on knowledge as a strategic asset and sharing that knowledge within the organisation.

L

• lateral reading – the process of reading across sources and checking information as its presented to you.

M

• markdown – a language used for formatting plain text. You use markdown to indicate where words should be in bold, italics, headings, etc.

N

• numbers - a spreadsheet program only used on Mac devices.

O

P

• password manager - a computer program that allows users to store, create, and manage their passwords for websites and software.

• phishing - a type of scam where criminals will try to trick you into giving away personal information, including credit card numbers or bank account details. The most common method of contact for phishing scams is phone, email and text message.

• pull request – when you request changes that you have made to a repository be merged into the original repository.

Q

R

• repository – contains all of your project's files and each file's revision history. You can discuss and manage your project's work within the repository.

• row - a horizontal collection of cells in a spreadsheet. Labelled with letters: A, B, C etc.

S

• search engine optimisation (SEO) - the practices of improving a website's content, formatting and style to try to appear in the first few results for a search on the subject of your website.

• spear phishing - a targeted type of phishing scam where criminals will use genuine information to make the phishing attack seem more legitimate.

T

• table - a grid where information can be displayed within the boxes in a logical layout of rows and columns. Part of a spreadsheet can be turned into a table or tables can be inserted in word processing documents.

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Phishing

Phishing is a type of scam where criminals will try to trick you into giving away personal information like credit card details, passwords or bank account numbers. The most common method of contact for phishing scams is phone, email and text message but they can also come through the mail, mobile apps, social media or webpages. Phishing scams may claim to come from a bank, telecommunications company, delivery company or other organisation you deal with regularly. They can look real and be difficult to tell apart from genuine communication. Signs to look for:

• The email, text message or caller does not address you by name

• Email addresses or URLs are slightly different from what you would expect

• There is a sense of urgency, e.g. “Click this link within 24 hours or your account will be shut down”

• Insecure websites will begin with http:// rather than https://

If you are not sure if something is a scam you can contact the organisation directly and ask them to confirm the details. Scams may also be identified by an internet search for the names, phone numbers or exact wording used.

If you think you have given away personal information to the wrong person contact your financial institution immediately.

Identity theft

Phishing can lead to identity theft but your identity can also be stolen by hacking, malware, document theft or fake online profiles. Criminals may use your identity to:

• Steal money from your bank account or superannuation

• Apply for loans or lines of credit

• Take out phone plans or other contracts

• Purchase expensive goods

• Access social media or email accounts to scam your friends and family

These are some of the signs that your identity may have been stolen:

• Purchases or withdrawals that you did not make

• You can’t log into email or social media accounts, or you are notified you logged in from a location you do not recognise

• You are refused credit because of outstanding debts you did not accrue

• You are contacted by debt collectors

Spear phishing

Spear phishing (also known as whaling) is a more sophisticated type of phishing scam. Criminals will use genuine information about people or organisations to target them specifically. The information they use may be publicly available or may have been stolen. They will spend a lot of time and effort into engineering messages to make them seem legitimate and manipulate people to act.

Protect yourself

Some of the ways you can help protect yourself from phishing scams and identity theft are:

• Do not click links or open attachments unless you are certain who they came from

• If you are seemingly contacted by an institution you have a business relationship with, look up their usual contact details online (independently of the suspicious message) and contact them through there to confirm if the message is genuine or not. Do not engage with the suspicious message, but seek confirmation directly from the institution.

• Discuss suspicious messages with a friend or family member

• Keep informed of common types of scams

• Beware of offers that seem too good to be true

• Use strong passwords and update them regularly

• Do not use the same password for all accounts

• Secure computers, phones and wifi networks with password protection

• Do not use wifi hotspots to access online banking

• Review your social media privacy and security settings

Want to increase adult learners’ motivation? Check out this advice from Saunders & Wong (2020):

1. Emphasise the relevance of the content.

2. Make the content appropriately challenging.

3. Give learners a sense of choice and control (e.g. options in types of activities and assignments, or in research topics).

4. Set learners up for success by setting clear expectations for class or assignment.

5. Guide self-assessment so that learners can make reasonable predictions of the likelihood of their success.

Use low-stakes pre-assessments to find out your learners’ level of knowledge/ability, to preview content, and to find out how to connect new knowledge with what they know already.

References

Saunders, L., & Wong, M. A. (2020). Instruction in libraries and information centers: An introduction. IOPN. https://doi.org/10.21900/wd.12

Most of us recognise that students in higher education in the 2020s are very different from the full-time school-leavers accessing their education for free which made up most university populations in the late 20th century. Students now are often working full-time, coming back to (or starting) university after years in the workforce, supporting families, and coping with all of these distractions to study. And of course we had the huge upheaval of COVID-19 and the changes it made to university education in 2020 and 2021, which will never go ‘back to normal as we knew it’.

This is a great list of reasons for us to ensure that any online learning we offer is engaging, supportive, and inclusive. Online learning needs to grab and hold our learners’ attention, it needs to encourage and facilitate deep cognitive engagement, and it should also take into account the aspects of andragogy, or adult education, as described later in this chapter (see Pedagogy and andragogy in an online environment).

Student engagement is also related to student retention, another argument for ensuring that online offerings comply with best practice. Think of how grateful our institutions will be …!

Based on the literature, and on colleagues’ practical experience, there are four key principles for creating engaging online learning:

1. Presence

2. Interactivity

3. Need to Know v. Nice to Know

4. Accessibility (Irwin and Nance 2021).

We go into more detail about these principles later in this chapter.

The above principles support the following elements of engagement for online teaching and learning, guided and facilitated by educators but ultimately the responsibility of the learners themselves (Redmond, Heffernan et al. 2018):

1. Social engagement (building community, creating a sense of belonging, developing relationships, establishing trust). It can be fostered through online social forums and open communication platforms.

2. Cognitive engagement (thinking critically, activating metacognition, integrating ideas from multiple sources, justifying decisions, developing deep discipline understandings, distributing expertise, aligning new information with previous knowledge).

3. Behavioural engagement (developing academic skills, identifying opportunities and challenges, developing multi-disciplinary skills, developing agency, upholding online learning norms, supporting and encouraging peers, communicating an interest in learning).

4. Collaborative engagement (learning with peers, relating to faculty members, connecting to institutional opportunities, developing professional networks). It can be fostered through study groups, group activities and/or assessments, and discussion forums.

5. Emotional engagement (managing expectations, articulating assumptions, recognising motivations, committing to learning). It can be observed from learners’ “… attitude, enthusiasm, interest, anxiety or enjoyment in the learning process….” (Redmond, Heffernan et al. 2018)

In the online environment, student engagement is as important as the content (Ziegenfuss and LeMire 2019).

Presence

Use teacher presence to create a connection with students – this is the key to successful online pedagogy.

How do you create teacher presence in a virtual classroom? Demonstrate that there’s a person behind the content by using one or more of these strategies:

• use ‘talking head’ videos throughout your resource. Try to keep them under 5 minutes where possible, and it’s fine to use your computer’s camera and mic. Do test your audio though, and if necessary use headphones and an external mic. Record in a quiet place. Make sure your face is lit well – don’t record with a window behind you.

• incorporate screen recordings which show you doing things – use a tool such as Panopto which can record your screen activity and your face (and voice) in a smaller window as you navigate. This format is perfect for demonstrations of navigating websites or drawing simple diagrams. Students learn better when they are actively engaged in tracking movements. Accessibility note – talk through and describe any visual elements.

• use podcasts or audio recordings if relevant (for example, an interview or discussion between two people). (Irwin and Nance 2021)

Think carefully and purposefully about where a video of you talking through something might be more useful than text or images on a page.

Make sure all of your videos are captioned, and always provide a transcript of your audio or video recording – this is good not just for people living with disabilities but also for learners who might be watching on a train or bus! Ensure also that vision-impaired learners will be able to use a screen reader and audio descriptions.

Interactivity

Include ‘doing work’ wherever possible, to act as concept checks to reinforce understanding. Supply the answers or models for students to check their answers – remember with asynchronous learning, you won’t be in the ‘room’ to provide feedback.

Try using “formative assessment with performance-based tasks ….” (Tao Testing 2021)

Need to Know v. Nice to Know

Keep things short and sharp – include only ‘need to know’ information on the main pages of your resource. You don’t want your resource to look onerous! Provide achievement markers, complemented by your concept checks, along the way.

Accessibility

It’s not all about high contrast and font size. Accessibility relates to cognitive and emotional circumstances as well as physical, and these can change from day to day (as we all know!). Our student cohorts and their situations are diverse, so our online teaching needs to address as many of those situations as possible. For example:

“Keep activity and assignment instructions simple and brief. Written directions … will support learners with attention or memory difficulties while also helping all students stay on task ….” (Saunders & Wong, 2020, Accessibility and Universal Design for Learning section).

Bibliography

Irwin, E. and S. Nance (2021). Online pedagogy principles and practice, University of Newcastle.

Overview

Internet or web browsers are programs that you can use to navigate to and view content that exists on the internet. Where the internet is a network of digital webpages and content sitting in a database in a far away physical location, the browser is the interface that you, the user, will be using to display and access those webpages on your own computer. You are probably using one right now to view this article!

In this article we'll be looking at:

• Popular internet browsers

• How to download and install your web browser of choice

• Browser functionality

• Browser settings and customisation

• Add ons and tools

Getting started

What browser should I pick?

There are various types of browsers out there. Each of them have their own strengths and weaknesses. Depending on what type of computer operating system you have and what you might prefer in functionality, or if you are just picking on looks, there are a many choices out there. One of these will already come with whatever device that you have purchased.

Some of the more popular browers that you will encounter are:

• • Note: Only compatible with Apple devices, pre-installed on most Apple products.

• • Note: Already installed on new Windows computers and devices

Some considerations that you should make when choosing your browser would be:

• What operating system do you have on your computer?

  • Safari usually comes with an Apple computer, Microsoft Edge is provided with Windows, and if you have a Chromebook this will come with Google Chrome.

  • Most browsers are compatible with all systems. Just be sure to download the right version for your device.

• Have you already set up an account with Google, Microsoft, or Apple?

  • Each browser allows you to set up an account so that you can sync your browsing history and settings across multiple devices.

  • For example: if you are part of the Google Space you might consider Google Chrome as that will allow you to use your account to sync with your phone and access documents and services run through Google.

• Are you concerned about website tracking?

  • Some browsers like Firefox have additional settings included that focus more on privacy and security.

  • Other browsers like Google Chrome may focus more on personalisation and customisation of content based on your interactions.

• Do you have specific websites that you use that recommend a particular browser?

If you choose to switch to another browser from your current one you will need to download and install it on to your computer. If you click on the links in the browser list above, or go to the application store or website of another browser that you wish to use you will be able to download and install the browsers from there.

Installing the browser

To install a browser you can do this through a couple of methods depending on your device.

On Windows Computers

You will need to use your default browser (Most likely Microsoft Edge) to navigate to the site of your desired browser. If you want to keep using Edge then you can skip this section.

Look for the Download button on the page. This will start the process of downloading the installer onto your computer to run and install the program.

Locate the new program icon from your Start Menu. When it asks you to set it as your default browser say YES.

On Macs (coming soon)

On Android (coming soon)

On iOS (coming soon)

Browser functionality

The internet browser isn't just a program to display websites. Modern browsers can do a lot more when it comes to productivity, customisation, and personalisation.

Some of the things a browser can do are:

• Personalise and save settings between computers using the same browser*

• Share web pages between devices*

• Add on tools like password managers, citation tools, and colourblindness assistance

*These require a personal account set up with the browser

Parts of your browser (Draft)

The browser has a lot of parts attached to it. Each of them work together to help you work with the complexities of the internet. When you think of a web page you might notice there's a lot of layers to it. The first part will be your browser or user interface. This is the browser's global navigation and will stick with you no matter where you go on the internet (Garsiel & Irish, 2011).

The Address Bar

This is where you will put the address of the website that you want so the browser knows what to bring back to you.

The address bar also doubles as a search function. If you put in a search or some words instead of a web address it will use it's default search engine (Google, Bing etc.) to look up those words on the internet.

Navigation Buttons

These are located just to the left of your address bar. Usually you would have 3:

• Back ←

• Forward →

• Refresh/Stop ↻

Browser Menu Options

In the top right you will find the browser menu indicated by the 3 dots.

In the browser menu you will find options to log into your account (if not located next to the menu), browsing history, saved bookmarks or favourited pages, browser customisation such as zooming or colour themes, add ons, and settings.

Bookmark Bar and Tool Bars

Tabs and Windows

A lot of browsers will support having multiple tabs or pages open at the same time. You will find them all laid out across the top of your browser. To add a new one press the + icon at the end of the tab list or use the menu to open up a new tab.

Website Content

The main space of your browser will be made up of the content space. This is where your web page is displayed. Anything that falls inside this area will change depending on how the website is designed. Any buttons, links, text, and images is content from that website you have visited. All your browser is doing is displaying the content that website has delivered to you over the internet.

Helpful resources

References

The Digital Skills GitBook is an open source project and like many projects on GitHub we welcome your contributions.

There are other ways to contribute too. For example, you might:

• have a great idea for a new topic to be included in one of our chapters (make a new page)

• notice some information that’s out-of-date or that could be explained better (edit a page)

• come across something in the GitBook that’s not working as it should be (submit an issue)

By working through this topic, you’ll learn how to:

• set up your own GitHub repository

• contribute to an open source project on GitHub, and

• submit a bug

Setting up and becoming familiar with your GitHub repository

2. Click on the button to Start a project.

3. Spaces in repository names will be replaced with hyphens, ie, your-repository-name.

Getting started with contribution

Before you can get to contributing to the book you will need to set up your contribution area.

2. If you’d like to leave it there, you can submit your content via the form and we’ll add it to the GitBook on your behalf. But we really hope you try submitting via a GitHub pull request as this project is all about learning new things!

Setting up your Digital Skills GitBook fork

2. In the top right-hand corner of the page, select Fork. By ‘forking’ the repository, you’re creating a copy of our code and editing it in your own account. You can’t break the Digital Skills GitBook or make any unintended changes by doing this.

3. You are now working in the cloned version of the repository you have just created. The folders match the chapter headings in the GitBook.

Selecting your topic

Before you begin let us know what you're working on!

1. From your copy of the GitBook find the requested-articles.md file.

2. On this page you'll see a pencil icon. Click this to start editing the document.

3. Find the article that you want to write and edit the All proficiency levels next to your topic to In Progress. You can use the Preview tab to see your changes before you save them.

4. Once done click the green Commit Changes box at the bottom of the screen to save your changes. This will save the changes to your copy of the book.

6. Ensure the base repository is AARNET/Digital-Skills-GitBook and head repository is your forked repository. Then click on Create pull request. This will let us know what subject you have chosen and it will update the GitBook page so everyone else knows you are working on it.

Editing a page

To edit any page on the GitBook it's the exact same process as the steps you took under Selecting your topic.

Find the page you want to edit and once you're done editing it on your master copy you can send a Pull Request to the AARNET/Digital-Skills-Gitbook to merge the changes.

Adding a new topic to the Digital Skills GitBook via GitHub

If your topic of choice is not available in the GitBook you can create your own topic file.

1. Navigate to your repository in GitHub to find your Fork of the GitBook. If you haven't forked the GitBook please see Setting up your GitBook Fork above.

2. Select Add File > Create new file. Use the format xxxx.md to create a Markdown file.

3. This file will be a new page in the GitBook. Now, add your content using Markdown to format your headings and links. You don’t need to spend hours learning code to be able to contribute! Most pages in the GitBook will only use some basics:

   • Headings – use # to indicate your main heading

   • Bold – add two asterisks before and after your word or phrase

   • Hyperlinking - [Text to be linked](URL)

4. Commit your changes directly to the master branch.

5. Then open SUMMARY.md and select Edit this file. This file is the GitBook’s Table of Contents. Add your page by copying the existing format and structure.

6. Commit your changes directly to the master branch.

8. Ensure the base repository is AARNET/Digital-Skills-GitBook and head repository is your forked repository. Then click on Create pull request.

9. You will need to add a Title for your pull request. You will also need to leave a comment. This can be a short description of the changes you have made. Then click on Create pull request to finalise the request.

Editing topics and raising issues

If you see anything that you think needs to be fixed or changed in the book and it is not your own article you can:

2. If you are comfortable with editing and adding content then edit the page in your own repository and submit a pull request with the new edits. We'll review and consult the original author of the page if needed to put forward the edits.

When submitting a content update issue please put "Content Update" and the title of the page in question in the issue title so we are aware of what is being discussed and address it accordingly.

Other useful resources

Getting started: What is data?

• a known or assumed fact that is used as the basis for calculation or reasonings

• a collection of facts used as information or for reference

• “quantities, characters, or symbols” in the form of electrical signals that can be used, stored, or transmitted with computer equipment

The first two are general definitions that apply equally to the real and digital worlds, but we are most interested in the digital data that is represented by the third definition.

To complicate things further, data can be structured or unstructured. Data that is ready for analysis is structured, so let’s talk about that first. More information about unstructured data has been included in part three of this topic.

This chapter will give you a general understanding of what is meant by the term “data” and some context for thinking about your own use of data.

A bit more info: Two types of data

There are two basic types of structured data: qualitative and quantitative. In this article, we will discuss both data types, some of the different forms they might take, and give some examples of ways in which that data might be analysed.

Let’s discuss qualitative data in a bit more detail. Qualitative data is data that refers to the quality of something - it is generally not an objectively defined measurement but an opinion or generalisation which is often text based. There are generally three subtypes: binary, nominal, ordinal.

• Binary data records something that has two mutually exclusive traits (ie. true or false).

• Nominal data describes objects using categories and/or labels (ie. colours of cars). It can also be used to give counts of a particular attribute.

• Ordinal data records the order or ranking of something (ie. Education systems have ordered primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, however the difference between each level cannot be quantified specifically).

Now let’s talk more about quantitative data. Quantitative data is based on an objective measurement of something and is numerical in nature. It can be easily used for mathematical and statistical calculations and those results then used for further analysis. Many scientific studies make use of quantitative data. Generally, the sorts of data collected are either measurements or counts.

• Measurements are taken according to a specified scale such as length, weight, and currency. Interval scales and ratio scales describe the different measurement types in more detail but we don’t need to delve into that much detail for this example.

• Counts are the frequency of which something occurred (7 lightning strikes) or answers how many of something (5 frogs).

A good way to remember the difference between the two types of data is that qualitative data is indicative of the qualities and characteristics of something, whereas quantitative data is all about recording the quantity or measurements of something!

Diving deeper: Structured vs Unstructured Data

Each of the two data types discussed above are generally considered in terms of structured data. The main thing to keep in mind with structured data is that it has already been sorted into a predefined format and there should only be one subtype of one data type recorded in each column of the dataset. Below is an excerpt dataset example of structured data, and you will notice that there are both qualitative and quantitative data.

Each row of the dataset is the information collected about one iris flower. Each number in the first column “Dataset Order” is ordinal qualitative data: the number identifies the sample in the dataset, no calculations can be based on that number. Columns two to four are all quantitative measurements (in centimetres): parts of sampled iris flowers that could potentially be used in mathematical calculations to compare samples. The last column is nominal qualitative data: the “Species Name”.

The example above specifically shows tabular data as it is human readable or easy for a person to visualise. However, there are ways to structure data without putting it into a tabular form. Examples of this include JSON files and markup languages which structure data in a machine readable form. It can be challenging to decipher the structure of such data without the aid of a computer program to parse it into a human readable form. For example, remote sensing data is generated by machines and includes things like seismic and atmospheric measurements, digital surveillance photos and videos, and satellite imagery. This output is structured and readable for machines, but can be difficult for a human to decipher. It often requires a specific program to output the data in a human readable form.

Unstructured data has not been sorted or formatted and may even be in a narrative form. The primary source can take many different forms including text and media.

Text data could be a journal entry of someone’s observation of something, an opinion, an experience, a narrative. Media that may take the form of photos, videos, or sound files.

The data extracted from the primary source needs to be transformed into a coherent structure to allow for computational analysis. The extracted data could be comprised of counts specific words in a particular collection of texts or digital surveillance photos that contain a particular object. Whatever the data is, it must be organised, or structured, so that individual attributes are grouped with similar, comparable attributes. Whether the dataset needs to be structured to be machine- or human-readable depends on the project and the types of analysis to be performed on that dataset.

More information:

Overview

Ahhh! You know that feeling of satisfaction when that digital file you looked for is exactly where you expected it to be, i.e., in the 'right' place? That satisfaction may be on a micro or macro scale, but it reinforces a crucial point about being digitally organised.

Being organised helps us feel less stressed in work and personal lives. If you find yourself in spaces where you need to work with an ever-growing number of files, then having a system for organising them is a small but significant way to making your day much easier.

Additionally, if you are working with others and need to share files or at least share the location they sit in, having a clearly understood structure that is easy to stick to will mean less confusion in your group.

Simply put, having a consistent, logical structure means one less thing to think about and one less roadblock between you and getting the work done! Following are some principles to follow for organising those files.

Getting started

Definitions

First, let us define some terms:

• File: these are the digital items you create, use and share. They could be text-based files (e.g., Word documents), image files (e.g., JPG files), video files (e.g., MP4), audio files (e.g., WAV), or something else. Either way, these files need to be stored somewhere that is easily accessible and the name of the files needs to effectively communicate what the file is for.

• Folder: Folders are the places where files are stored. A folder can contain one or multiple files, or even none (i.e., the folder is empty). The folder needs to be in a logical place with a name that immediately communicates what the user can expect to find inside.

• Subfolder: A folder that sits within another folder, indicating a hierarchical relationship where the folder that is within the other folder is related to but narrower or more specific than the containing folder. Both folders may contain files or not.

• Structure: a. Structure here relates to the concept behind how the files, folders and sub-folders are named and arranged, i.e., organised.

Creating folders and subfolders

Creating filenames

There are several best practice principles for filenames that help provide clarity, consistency, and logic to this potentially highly subjective task. Keep the below in mind when you are creating your own files and you’ll find yourself falling into ‘good’ habits!

You may like to put the date at the start of your file. This will help put the ‘newest’ version of a file at the top of a folder’s directory. This is because the default sort option for most folders is to sort by filename (i.e., alphabetically, A-Z), which means that ‘bigger’ numbers will automatically be at the top of a folder’s file directory.

Keep filenames short but descriptive and specific “Project.pdf” is short, but could it be perhaps a little more descriptive? It might make sense as a filename in its context (e.g., if the folder the file sits in has a clear, specific name) but otherwise it’s hard to know exactly what it is – it seems that it relates to a project (which one?) but what is actually in that project file? The only way to know is to open it and that is an unnecessary waste of time.

Specificity helps with the above as well – terms like “general” or “miscellaneous” don’t tell someone much about what that file is for.

Avoid special characters To control for variations in software (including versions), it is usually best to stick with alphanumeric characters in filenames, i.e., letters and numbers. Using other characters like # % ^ $ etc. may cause problems when moving between software or devices.

Version numbers Version numbering might be a useful component of your filenames, even if you aare working on something solo. This could be communicated through the inclusion of “V” somewhere in the filename followed by the version number; for example: 20220831 Project Update V01.docx.

Note that the use of two-digit numbers after the V (e.g., 01, 02, etc.) means that the files will stay in the ‘right’ order (like with the use of dates as the first part of a filename, as above).

Discuss and document conventions When collaborating, it is important that everyone understands how filenames will be created. Having everyone in the team understand and use the same filename conventions will make for a more efficient workplace. Therefore, it makes sense to communicate in the team about filenames and come to an agreement on what protocols will be followed. As part of this communication process, these protocols should be documented and shared with the team, so that they are available for reference when needed.

If you are working on files as part of a larger team there may be local conventions which you will of course need to follow, even where they conflict with the above principles – or you could perhaps take the initiative and use these principles as a chance to suggest improvement! Communication is always an issue in teams or organisations, and filenames are a form of communication, so why not seize the opportunity to improve team communication by getting everyone on the same page, filename-wise?

Tips for organisational hygiene

Principles for file and folder organisation

Be consistent and logical There are several options for organising files. One of these is to use a hierarchy, where files sit within folders. These folders may have subfolders within them which relate to the folder but are intended to contain narrower or more specific files.

Avoid duplication or ambiguous naming

Make a decision and make it clear, so that future you will be grateful This requires some self-discipline, in the sense of sticking to a goal that you set previously. Keeping yourself ‘in line’ and following the principles will be a time saver later on.

Plan ahead

Spending some time now could save you lots of time later When creating a new folder – perhaps you have just started a new project? – spending some time at the beginning to anticipate the folders and sub-folders you might need, and then actually creating them so that they’re empty and ready to go when needed, will help with creating a structure that is logical and organised.

The siren’s call of Documents (or Desktop or Downloads or…)

Promise yourself that temporary truly is temporary This refers to the temptation to put files in either the ‘closest empty space’ (e.g., Documents or Desktop) or to leave them where you found them, even if these places are intended as temporary storage spaces or otherwise do not contain related files or folders.

Clean up after yourself

Archive or delete as necessary Your organisation may have policies around retention of files, and these may be driven by legal requirements. It is a very good idea to follow those policies! However, this doesn’t stop you from cleaning up as you go along. Instead of allowing a folder to become filled with old files that you are unlikely to open again any time soon, put them into an Archive folder so you have space to focus on what you are using now. In addition, take a good look at what is there. Is some of it OK to delete? Perhaps there are initial drafts of reports that have been superseded, or maybe you have screenshots that are now out of date, or a spreadsheet you started but never finished and then ended up doing something else anyway?

References and further reading

Developing

The QR in ‘QR code’ stands for ‘Quick Response’. QR codes are square barcodes that enable people to use their device to scan the image for quick access to a URL on the spot without having to type the full URL out. QR codes are popular on marketing posters and other print collateral where you may wish to direct people to more information than can fit on the poster or handout.

Skilled

Using a QR code

Most modern smartphones have a QR code scanner built into their camera app so you won’t need to install any additional apps to start using QR codes. The steps for reading a QR code may differ slightly between models.

• Ensure your device has an internet connection.

• Open your Camera app.

• Using the rear camera, hold your device up to the code. Don’t take a photo, just let it focus on the code. You will need to hold your device quite still.

Tip for iPhone/iPad users: If it’s not working, check the Settings on your device. Scroll down to the Camera settings and ensure ‘Scan QR codes’ is enabled. Tip for android users: You can also use the Google Lens tool to scan QR codes on an Android device.

Adept

Creating a QR code

There are a number of free, online QR code generators available. Some options include:

They all work in a similar manner in that you can simply copy and paste your URL into the webpage and it generates the QR code. Each of these tools enables you to customise the size of your QR code and other settings.

Tip: Think carefully about the size of your QR code. A code that’s too small will likely be too small for smartphone cameras to focus on. Be aware that reflection can impact on readability of the QR code.

QR codes can also be generated on devices by downloading the Google Chrome app and opening the URL you wish to use. On an iPhone, click the share icon in the search bar and ‘Create a QR code’. You can then download the QR code or send it to someone else. On an Android phone, click the three dots on the toolbar and click Share.

Overview

Most of us use the internet every day, but not all of us take the time to think about how it works. In fact, many of us will only notice when it doesn’t work. So what is the internet?

This article will cover:

• Networks and the internet

• Measuring internet speeds

• Uploads and downloads

• Cable or wi-fi?

• Networks and connections

Developing

What is a network?

In computing, a network comprises two or more devices that can communicate. A computer network is made up of a number of different computer systems connected by physical and/or wireless connections. The size of a network can range from a single home computer linked to other devices like a printer, to huge data centers that connect across the world, and to the whole of the Internet itself.

All networks allow computers to share information and resources.

What is the internet?

In simple terms, the internet can be defined as a group of interconnected networks. More specifically it is now the global network of computer networks using standard rules for how information is exchanged through the internet, also known as protocols.

Skilled

How does data move around the internet?

A protocol is a set of rules that computers can follow to complete tasks. The Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) are the ones used by computers to communicate with each other. These protocols were defined in 1980 and they are what helps the Internet to move data from one place to another. Data moving over the Internet is called “packet switching.” Packet switching sends data in separate pieces (these are the “packets”) which are tagged with your intended destination.

In 1989 Tim Berners-Lee proposed a new information management system at CERN. In 1991 it was launched as the World Wide Web (WWW, aka 'the web'). The Internet can be seen as the backbone of the web – what makes the web possible.

Both hardware and software support the Internet. Types of hardware include routers, servers, phone towers, satellites, and smartphones. Types of software include browsers, such as Explorer or Chrome. Introduced in 1993 the browser made the internet and web available to a mass audience.

Measuring internet speeds

You can measure the connection speed and quality of your connected device to the internet with an internet speed test. There are a few different ones available online. For example, test the speed of your connection by clicking on this link: http://www.speedtest.net/ Make a note of the speeds then check wi-fi, mobile phone and cable differences, both at home and on campus. Compare the speeds when you change your access type. Consider the difference between these speeds and the different networks described below.

What would you consider a 'fast' connection? A 'slow' one?

Uploads and downloads

Pay attention to upload vs download speeds - these can be quite different and will affect your experience of the internet, as most domestic internet connections limit upload speeds.

Network contstraints

Networks have physical properties. Look at these websites that address some of the factors that affect network speeds:

• Time of day - https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/internet-landline-services/broadband-speeds (go to section 'Network limitations that affect speed')

• Physical interference - https://www.performancenetworks.co.uk/blog/post/5-factors-can-affect-wifi-signal/ Think of a standard network connection like rope where you unwind it and hand out each strand (as users log in). The more users, the less and less rope there is to hand out. Many laptops link to an access point on the network and that access point divides up the traffic to each laptop user. Even the placement of the cables can make a difference, as interference can come from different places, such as lifts and fans. The age and quality of the cable can also have an impact on connection speeds. Speed is constrained by the slowest part of the link, which may be the connection of your laptop to the network, or the campus LAN, or even the firewall at the campus boundary. Many factors can influence the capacity of a wi-fi connection too. Can you think of any times when your wi-fi has become unstable?

Adept

Here is a list of different technologies used in Australia for connecting computers and the internet:

• ADSL – domestic, small business, faster download than upload

• NBN – domestic (being rolled out), CBD, schools

• NREN – universities, CSIRO & some GLAM, research institutes, hospitals, schools

Each of these has different properties.

ADSL

A digital subscriber line (DSL) service provides a connection to the Internet through the telephone network. Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of DSL technology. In ADSL, bandwidth and bit rate are said to be asymmetric, meaning greater toward the customer premises (downstream) than the reverse (upstream). ADSL2+ extends the capability of basic ADSL by doubling the number of downstream channels. The data rates can be as high as 24 Mbit/s downstream and up to 1.4 Mbit/s upstream.

ADSL2+ service is most commonly offered in highly populated metropolitan areas and subscribers must be in close geographical locations to the provider in order to receive ADSL2+. The further the subscriber is from the telephone exchange the slower the connection.

ADSL2+ has a maximum potential download speed of 24Mbps. Most ADSL2+ connections are much slower: the average Australian ADSL speed is just 8Mbps.

NBN

The National Broadband Network (NBN) is an Australian national wholesale open-access data network project. It is a government initiative to upgrade Australia’s broadband infrastructure to provide consumers with faster broadband connections.

Using a variety of broadband network technologies including running fibre all the way to the consumer’s premises (‘fibre to the premises’ or FTTP), or running fibre to a nearby box or apartment block and then using the existing copper telephone wire (‘fibre to the node’ or FTTN, and ‘fibre to the building’ or FTTB). The aim is to bring data closer to the end user on optical fibres. The differences between the methods have mostly to do with how close the delivery on fibre is to the end user.

NOTE: The main difference for the consumer between the NBN and ADSL is speed. There are various options for speed, depending on requirements.

This video helps explain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=31&v=L3QJLEbUj94

NBN evening speeds

Maximum speeds are not always available due to high traffic. This table shows 'evening speeds', which is what is expected at peak usage times between 7pm and midnight.

Remember!

The download and upload speeds of the domestic broadband speeds factor for more download than upload. That is, it is assumed that people download more than they upload.

NREN

The National Research Network (NREN) provides advanced research network infrastructure.

It is fast, with connections from 10 Gbps to 40 and 100 Gbps.

It is high capacity, catering to 1 million + users and is tailored for research, teaching and learning. It has low latency (lag) providing consistent connectivity and response times because it is designed to have ‘headroom’ or allow for bursts (elephants) of large data moving through the network.

Australia is a large continent, and the networks AARNet provides enable data capture and research to be conducted in major cities and in regional areas, where universities and research facilities and infrastructure are located, e.g. the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) in Canberra and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in Murchison (WA).

Australia lies at a distance from research conducted in other parts of the world, like the northern hemisphere, and the networks AARNet provides aid in removing distance as a barrier to research collaboration.

Click here to learn more: https://www.aarnet.edu.au/our-network

Remember!

Headroom: By capping utilization at less than link capacity, the AARNet network leaves room for latency sensitive traffic in order to avoid buffering and the associated large delays.

Helpful resources

Topic overview

This page briefly explains Git and GitHub and how they are related. It supplies further learning by means of videos and links to the official Git and GitHub websites, plus other CC-licenced sources. The developing section explains what some terms mean and gives links to learning for getting started with GitHub.

Expertise needed

Skilled and Adept sections on using GitHub.

Developing

Git

...is a system that is widely used by developers who write code. It may be used by any people who build coding or complex non-coding projects together.

This is the workflow of all these people as they work with their digital files:

Every time a file is edited a different version is saved. This is where Git comes in.

Git is a version control system. This means it records changes made to files as people work on a project. Every Git project is made up of many files, called a repository or repo.

Other things about Git

• Git is open source. This means anyone can use it (download it), modify it, and distribute it for free. All documentation is freely available online

• Git is a distributed version control system. This means users don't need to be connected to the main repo to work on it. They clone a complete version of the main repo to their local computer to work on files. When they are ready, they share their changes.

GitHub

...is a cloud-based platform where people can work on, share, and manage projects using Git. GitHub started mainly for sharing code for software development but it can also be used (as we have here) for developing long complex documents like training manuals. GitHub is owned by Microsoft (they bought it in 2018).

GitHub makes it easy for people to collaborate on projects by

• Providing a platform to work together using Git

• Allow for review of contributions from different people

• Resolving conflicts between contributions

This is the basic GitHub workflow, or flow:

This page will discuss what screencasting is and how it may be used. It will outline some tools and techniques that you can use for screencasting.

Overview

A screencast is a video of your computer screen or of the screen of your mobile device. Usually it has audio with it. Sometime screeencasts may be called screen recordings.

How people use screencasts

Screencasts are frequently used as instructional tools, for example, to communicate how to use a computer programme or how to navigate a website. They may also be used to record data, for example if doing user testing of a website it may be valuable to do a screencast recording to see how the user navigates around the site.

Screencasts usually have audio. If instructional this will be the person explaining what they are doing as they show the steps on screen. If user testing, it may involve the user explaining their thought processes as they navigate a website.

Because screencasts take a video of what is on your screen, you can screencast any media that you show on screen. For example you may screencast a slide presentation, combined with showing websites. You can also often have video of the narrator or instructor to add extra personality or data to the screencast.

Developing - tools, software, a place to record

Software used to make screencasts consists primarily of the screen recorder tool. However audio, video and editing tools are also a consideration. Where you will record is important and a final important consideration is how you will share your screencast (if required) with others.

Panopto is a popular tool for universities because it can capture several streams of content. For example, you can have a lecture capture stream (view of the instructor), a slide presentation, and a computer screen. It has functionality to insert quizzes into the video and has simple editing features that are easy for a beginner or non-professional to learn.

PowerPoint is also popular with instructors as it provides a quick way to record a slideshow with audio, plus it has transitions and you can embed mini screencasts of your computer screen. It can then be exported as video.

Extra tools you may need depend on your aims and your exisiting computer set up. You may want or need an external microphone for audio or to improve audio quality. You may need a webcam.

A quiet place to screencast is a must. It does not have to be a professional studio, but less background noise means that audio quality improves greatly.

Skilled - Planning a screencast

The amount of planning for a screencast depends on what you are trying to achieve with your screencast. Here are some possible scenarios of screencasts and preparation required.

• If you are recording someone using your website, it may be useful to have a series of tasks or questions for the user to work their way through.

• If you are planning to screencast an online lesson, ensure your lesson plan is prepared and that you ideally have a space to use that is quiet and free of distraction.

• It is also useful to ensure that your status is ‘do not disturb’ on your phone, close programs that have pop-up notifications, hide links on browser toolbars, and even clear the memory and cache of your browser windows and use incognito mode. You never know what random auto-completes are in your history or personal information may be revealed.

• If you are planning on a screencast that will serve as a generic standalone video on a platform like YouTube, more work will be required to prepare.

  • Source video editing software and audio editing software.

  • Develop a script for the voice over. It is worth reading the script aloud as what looks good on paper may be a tongue twister when spoken. Also consider your audience and keep the video short and possibly informal.

  • You may want to identify a person who is willing to do voice over for the video. Often this type of screencast requires video editing, and it can be confronting editing to the sound of your own voice.

  • Test audio recording methods and listen to the quality of the play back. Listen carefully for background machine hum, doors, echo in the room, other people talking, voice over volume and anything else that may be distracting from a good quality recording. Good results can be achieved with a smart phone and/or headphone and a microphone.

  • You may need to consider creating a storyboard of the visuals. Storyboards are used by film and television to visualise the story. You could use storyboards to identify what is important to see on screen, like a close-up on part of a webpage. Identify and source additional artifacts to illustrate your video such as photographs of a space, images of a resource, a file of a logo. Make sure you attribute

Adept (coming soon)

Helpful resources

Overview

A README file is a document that introduces and explains a project, helping colleagues and your future self navigate through a past project (Briney, 2014).

Developing

README files contain information about the other files in a directory or folder. The concept comes from programming but is also very useful for research projects. It is usually a simple plain text file called README in capital letters.

A good README includes information that helps the reader understand what the project is about, including helping them do basic navigation through the subfolders (Briney, 2014).

Skilled

Helpful resources

Here are some good resources and templates used for creating README files so that you know what information you should include about your project:

These are more detailed guides on what to include in a README file for a research project, with links to templates:

Introduction to Markdown

Markdown is how you can make rich (or formatted) text in a plain text editor (like a notepad). It is a lightweight markup (read: editing) language with plain text formatting syntax. An example of a markup language is HTML.

You can use Markdown in different text editors and environments (such as GitHub, Jupyter Notebooks) to create rich text with plain text. It is used across different platforms and tools so you can export in multiple formats and switch devices easily without losing any formatting.

Let's start with some basic Markdown.

• Headings

To create a heading in Markdown you use a hash and a space before the words in the heading:

# Introduction to Markdown

This will look like:

Introduction to Markdown

when the heading is rendered (ie changed to rich text) by the text editor or the environment you are writing in.

Now let's add a subheading. This time you use two hashtags before the words in your subheading.

## A lesson in Markdown

You now have a second level heading that will look like this:

A lesson in Markdown

For a third level - you guessed it! - you use three hashtags:

### Use it to create rich text in a plain text editor

This will render as level three heading like this:

Use it to create rich text in a plain text editor

• Bold

Now let's try bold font. For this you can add two asterisks in front of and at the end of what you want to see in bold. If you type

This is **really** interesting.

It will end up looking like this:

This is really interesting.

• Italics

Now let's try italics. Type:

This is really _interesting_.

It will now look like:

This is really interesting.

Why bother?

It can feel a little strange, as you already know how to do formatting in programs like Word, but it is an excellent skill to have for editing in a range of environments without having to worry about the original formatting not working across different interfaces.

Online tools that use Markdown - good for practicing!

Here are a few useful online tools that you can use to try out your new Markdown skills, for free:

Further options

With Markdown you can also add hyperlinks, tables, lists, quotes and images to your text.

If you want to know more about markdown, look at these pages:

Overview

Why use ISO dates?

The aim in using a standard format is to eliminate confusion (especially around the different way dates are represented in the USA compared to Europe, for example) and to make your files more easily searchable and sortable. The specific format is year first, followed by month then day. Each of these is separated by a hyphen, with numbers less than 10 preceded by a zero. By using this format, you will be able to sort your digital files more easily into chronological order.

For example: 3 June 2022 = 2022-06-03

Big tip: There are no spaces!

Your file names may end up looking something like this:

2020-12-01_participants-list.xml

2022-06-03_interview.doc

2022-07-03_analysis.r

Remember that computer file systems have a specific way of sorting files. If your file names all start with an ISO date, they will automatically sort from oldest to newest using the default alphabetical sort. Any other date-based naming convention would create different results.

Helpful resources

Overview

Email, short for electronic mail, is an internet tool that almost everyone uses. It’s a fast way to send messages to individuals or multiple people at once. Setting up and managing your own email account is easy, and there are many free options. The most common free email suppliers are:

Developing

For a great introduction to what email is, try out the following resources:

Skilled

Sending automatic email replies

If you will not be accessing your emails and want to let other people know, set up automatic replies. For example, this is great for out-of-office messages to let colleagues know you are on leave. An example automatic reply message:

Hi, I am currently away and will return on [date]. For urgent enquiries, contact [name]. Thank you, [your name]

Adept

Creating email rules/filters to organise your inbox

In Gmail these are called filters, and Outlook calls them rules. Other services may use different terminology. Basically it is a way to automatically send particular emails into a folder as soon as they arrive. Rules/filters are helpful to reduce clutter and distraction in your inbox. Good types of email to filter:

• Automatic report messages

• Regular eNewsletter subscriptions

• Anything you expect to receive often but don’t need to look at immediately. You can create rules targeting a sender’s email address, keywords in the subject line or body, time received, or attachments. Once an email is sorted into a folder using a rule, you can set that folder to automatically archive or delete emails after a specified amount of time.

Email encryption (Outlook)

Outlook has an encryption option that needs to be turned on for each email you send. Encryption converts a message from readable plain text to randomised text; only the intended recipient can read the message. Start a new email, and under Options, select Encrypt. In this menu you can also remove the ability for the recipient to forward the email or use Reply All.

Overview

Spreadsheets are divided into cells and each cell contains one piece of data that can be used to calculate, compare or filter information. Each column of a spreadsheet is labelled with a letter, A-B-C-D-etc, while each row is labelled with a number, 1-2-3-4-etc. This means the first row and first column is cell A1, while the cell in the fifth column and tenth row is E10. The data in each cell can be a variety of things such as numbers, currency, dates, words and formulas and can be the result of calculations based on data in other cells. This can make spreadsheets very powerful programs that can be used for many different purposes and adapted to your needs. The most common spreadsheet programs are:

• Microsoft Excel

• Google Sheets, a web-based program

• Numbers for Mac computers.

Basic

Formulas

A cell can contain a formula that will display the answer to a calculation. If part of the calculation is a value in another cell and you change the value in that cell the answer will change. Formulas always start with an = (equals sign) and use other mathematical symbols such as

• plus: +

• minus: -

• multiply: *

• divide: /

• less than: <

• greater than: >

Formulas can also include instructional words such as SUM, AVERAGE and COUNT. The spreadsheet will display the answer to the formula in the cell. If a cell is highlighted the formula will be visible and editable in the formula bar above the cells. Examples of common formulas:

Freeze rows or columns

If you have a large amount of data that you need to scroll through to see you may want to “freeze” the top row or first column so that it remains visible when you scroll down or across. This will let you see the headings or labels next to your data. In Google Sheets do this by clicking the View menu then Freeze then select if you want to freeze rows, columns or both.

In the Numbers program the header for columns and rows are "frozen" by default. Adjust this in the Table menu.

Autofill

Autofill is a function in spreadsheets that allows you to automatically fill in data rather than typing it. If you want to enter 30 into many cells write 30 in the first cell. Then click the cell so it is highlighted – there will be a small square in the bottom-right of the cell. Click and hold this square with the mouse pointer then drag the mouse down or across into the cells where you want the same data to appear. This is slightly different in the Numbers program where you will drag the circle from the middle of the cell. Autofill can also be used to enter data in patterns. If you enter 1,2,3 into successive cells then highlight those three cells and drag the small square into other cells the software will continue counting up for you. This will work for many different types of patterns, including:

• Uniform jumps in numbers: 5,10,15…

• Dates

• Days of the week

• Times

• Data that contains text: Test1,Test2 – autofill will continue with Test3,Test4…

If the cell has a formula in it the autofill function will adjust the cell value in the formula. For example, if you add together two numbers with the formula =B2+C2 then use autofill to drag this formula down the cell below will be =B3+C3 so that you can add together both values from all the rows.

In some cases you may not want the autofill function to adjust the cell value in your formula. In this case use the $ symbol to indicate that the cell value should remain the same when you use autofill. For example, if you want to multiply a column of values, in column B with a constant number in cell D2 you could use this formula: =B2*$D$2 – the autofill function would increase the first number e.g. B3,B4,B5 but always multiply by the constant in cell D2.

Charts

Information in spreadsheets can be represented visually in charts or graphs. How you do this will depend on which spreadsheet program you are using. In Google Sheets you would highlight the data that you want to represent in a chart then click the Insert Chart button that is a square box with three vertical lines in the toolbar. This will create a chart and also open the Chart editor at the right of the screen. This will give you option to change the type of chart (line, bar, column, pie etc.) and change other settings. If you click outside the chart the Chart editor will disappear – edit the chart again by clicking the chart, then the menu (three small dots) in the top right of the chart.

Proficient

Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting allows you to format particular cells if they meet certain conditions. There are many different options for the formatting but the most common is to give the cell a background colour. For example, you may choose to make cells green if they show an improvement on numbers from the previous year and red if they show a decline. You can also choose to format cells if they:

• are above or below a certain threshold

• have text that contains, or starts with, certain letters

• before or after a certain date

• many other rules

In the Numbers program this is called conditional highlighting and is available from the Format sidebar.

IF Function

Using IF at the start of a formula allows you to display a value in a cell if a certain condition is met and another value if that condition is not met. For example you could display Pass or Fail in the column next to a percentage to indicate whether someone has passed a test. If the grade was in cell D14 and the pass mark was 50 the formula would look like this:

• =IF(D14>49,"Pass","Fail")

• This is a written explanation of this formula: if the value in cell D14 is greater than 49 display Pass otherwise display Fail.

COUNTIF Function

The COUNTIF function will allow you to count the number of cells that meet whatever criteria you would like. If you had a list of “Pass” or “Fail” next to students you could count the number of students that passed. If the list containing Pass or Fail was in column E and between rows 5 and 26 the formula would look like this: =COUNTIF(E5:E26,"Pass")

Advanced

Data validation

Data validation is a way for you to ensure that the information entered into your spreadsheet is consistent. You can create a drop-down list with values to select from or create other rules that must be met. This can be useful if there is more than one person working on the same spreadsheet. For example if people have to enter grades as a percentage you could ensure that only numbers from 0 to 100 could be entered. You could also set up rules to ensure that people enter information consistently. If you are asking people a yes/no question people may enter different values: Yes, yes, Y, y, yep. This can be problematic if you are trying to calculate the number of affirmative responses. Data validation can help with this. In Google Sheets, highlight the cells you would like to make rules for, then select Data > Data validation to define the rules for data that can be entered into those cells.

All the data validation options are not available in Numbers but it is possible to create a “Pop-Up Menu” with the cell formatting options. This will allow only options defined in the list to be entered.

Contributions have been requested in the following areas:

1. Digital identity and wellbeing

2. Information literacy, media literacy and data literacy

3. Digital learning and development

4. ICT proficiency and productivity

5. Digital creation, problem solving and innovation

6. Collaboration, communication and participation

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