Use of digital tools in working life
Currently, I am a part-time student and full-time parent who is seeking job opportunities as a digital health nurse. I use a variety of digital tools in my studies as well as job seeking. I will also briefly reflect on digital tools I use in everyday life.
Moodle is the main digital learning environment at Savonia UAS. Moodle offers a digital platform that facilitates the structure and communication needed to replace the classroom setting. Here, I access and follow the step by step process of completing a course. It is possible to communicate with teachers and fellow students through discussion forums.
In my studies, I daily use the Microsoft office platforms provided by Savonia UAS. Microsoft Teams was not familiar to me prior to my studies and has become a very useful tool for me. My first encounter with Teams was when we decided to use Teams as a mode of communication for a group project. It was the most common digital tool to the group and was easily integrated into our study environment because the school email is provided by Outlook and the whole Microsoft platform. Teams provides a forum for chat conversations, share links, share Word files, write and edit our projects simultaneously from a common Word file and engage in video conferences. Use of Teams is very easy, even without previous experience, I was able to seamlessly use its features to accomplish a group assignment.
Teams is used widely in academia and work-life. As I mentioned, I am seeking job opportunities as a digital health nurse. I have recently applied for a job for the Municipality of Jyväskylä as a digital health nurse for their OmaKS health care service. I will have an interview this week through Teams. Wish me luck!
LinkedIn is a social network for professionals. It is a virtual platform for people to connect, network, share and learn in a professional setting. I have recently started a profile on LinkedIn to help me seek opportunities in digital health. The job market has much more to offer than what is seen through regular job search engines. It is a way of displaying myself to potential future employers and collaborators. I hope to find more time to develop my account and take full advantage of the features and opportunities LinkedIn has to offer.
Whatsapp has been my main digital communication service for the past 9 years. Before its existance, communication with friends and family was done through Skype, Facebook and email on a computer. Whatsapp provided a convenient, cost friendly and reliable method of communication on a mobile device. As a parent, Whatsapp is used as an instant messaging service for communication with daycare. Messages, files and photos are communicated on a personal chat. Group chats are no-longer created for daycare groups for privacy and security reasons.
Instagram is a social networking application that revolves around the sharing of pictures and videos. Many people have made social media influencing into a part-time or full-time source of income. Personally, I use Instagram to communicate with friends and family, gather information and inspiration about my hobbies and interests, and also develop my digital identity. At the beginning of my studies last fall, I created an Instagram account to share my low carbohydrate recipes and lifestyle. My aim was to practise my social media skills and build a digital identity.
Five new Digital tools that could benefit me
This course, Digitalised Working Environment, is the first time I have written a blog. This experience has inspired me to write more about my lifestyle choices and the scientific evidence that support my lifestyle changes. The application Blogger would make writing a personal blog fast and easy even for a beginner like me. Writing a blog would allow for people who don’t use social media to find my recipes and lifestyle advice. It would also be possible to find my recipes my searching key works into search engine like Google or Yahoo. In a blog it is possible to elaborate and explain the evidence and opinions behind your views directly to the reader.
The application Todoist looks like it would be useful for me. It allows for easy organisation and planning. I make todo lists every day. Making lists relieves the stress and mental pressure that builds up from coordinating home, school and working life. Todoist offers templates under different categories such as personal life, work and school. Each category offers subcategories to cover any possible aspect of that category. For example, under personal life you can add a grocery list, cleaning schedule, fitness schedule and many more. The best part is that all the application coordinates all the tasks onto one common schedule, so it is possible to view your day at a single glance.
I have recently received several recommendations to start using Canva. It is a mobile application that can be used to design graphics. It provides thousands of templates and millions of pictures, graphics and fonts. This would make it easy to create more interesting Instagram posts and digital invitations to private and public events. It is possible to create professional quality personalised announcements, advertisements and invitations that are easy to read and aesthetically appealing.
YouTube is a popular video sharing social media platform. Personally, I use YouTube daily as a source of education, influence and entertainment. Although I use the service daily I have yet to open a YouTube account to subscribe to channels and share my own videos. In a professional setting, YouTube could be a valuable method of sharing instructions, professional health advice and spread awareness. Everyone has access to YouTube regardless if they have an account or not, making this platform an easy way to reach out to potential clients and to share links to video instructions for use of digital health services.
Open Badges is a service that provides verifiable digital badges to evaluate and display digital skills and achievements. When learning about the digitalised world, not everything can be measured in credits towards a degree. Some things such as digital competence or something that I have learned outside of a formal learning environment can be difficult to present or prove. Open Badges provides a series of tests on various subjects that are easy to complete and give instant results based on your input.
Pros and Cons of Social Media
Pros
The benefits of Social Media are easy to find. It’s an easy and convenient way to keep in touch with friends, family and community. It provides a source of inspiration and information about interests and hobbies. It is possible to share and influence others through providing authentic experiences about interests and creativity for others to see. It creates opportunities for its users to connect with people that would not otherwise be likely interact with. Social media also provides a platform for raising awareness of common issues such as mental health. The conscientious use of social media according to socially appropriate behaviours and netiquette, the social media society can be a very positive and useful tool to enhance the lives of its users.
Cons
While there are many benefits to social media, there are also downsides that must be considered. Some of the most prevalent downsides include addiction, cyberbullying, conspiracy theories, ‘Instagram vs. reality conundrum’ and over accessibility.
Some people struggle with an addiction to social media. They become so emotionally involved with the digital interactions that happen on social media that it takes over their lives. They may be aware that their engagement with social media is having a negative impact on their mental health but are not able to set healthy limits. The ‘Instagram vs. reality conundrum is another side effect of social media that can affect the user emotionally and mentally. Generally, people only post the good sides of themselves on social media; their bad sides are cut out or sugar-coated. Only the perfected and filtered pictures, stories and angles are seen of a person’s life. This causes the observer to feel that they can never keep up with or perform at the expectations of others. Self-awareness and healthy criticism are digital competence skills that are also needed to combat falling for misinformation such as conspiracy theories. Over accessibility of social media makes it possible for anyone to become an influencer regardless of their background or who the claim to be. The credibility of information is rarely a given, it is up to the user to verify the information they are being offered. When being bombarded with many differing information and opinions it may be time consuming, overwhelming and difficult to choose who to believe. Awareness of the downsides of social media and advice on how to deal with them, is something that social media should promote more to combat the negativity and unwanted side effects.
Elements of successful use of digital applications
The successful use of digital applications is closely related to digital competence. On top of key elements in digital competence such as ICT skills, a successful user of digital applications has a good sense of netiquette and critical information literacy. The ideal end user of a digital application would be accustomed to using digital platforms. They would know how to download the application, interact with interphase, upload and download files, images or videos, and troubleshoot basic problems with the devices they use. The user would also use the application in a truthful and conscientious manner; avoiding fraudulent or otherwise unintended use. The user would be willing to identify and report misuse and misinformation to ensure the integrity and safety of the application for other users. Overall, a successful user of digital applications would have the skills to use the service to enhance their lives while taking into consideration their responsibilities and respecting other users.
Self-evaluation
This assignment has opened my eyes to many new digital applications as well as seeing new potential in those that I was already familiar with. In the professional setting, the use of various digital applications and social media is limited to those which are approved for use considering security and safety of information. The importance of integrity, critical thinking and responsibility were underlined as key elements of successful use of social media and digital applications. These are skills that require awareness and conscious effort from the user. Going forwards, I plan to take the initiative to make my social media pages more realistic and relatable, as well as confirm and provide the sources of information that I share to my followers.