I work with digitization and the development of digital services, where, among other things, digital skills, digital treatment paths, digital symptom assessments and remote receptions are promoted. In my work, I use a lot of different software as work tools, of which I have collected some examples below.
M365 – Teams is the most important software I use for work tasks, which I use daily for audio or video meetings, instant messages on my network and file sharing with my network. As a rule, I work remotely, so the Teams application is my work environment, where I also meet my colleagues. Teams is also the most important communication tool for me and has replaced traditional email as a communication channel. The Teams application also works as a file sharing application, and a lot of instant messages go through this when sharing files. Teams also has useful software that I have used in my work. Examples of these include the Whiteboard, the Forms survey, and the Planner program.
I also use many different M365 software (Outlook, Powerpoint, Word, Excel, Onedrive) daily, and I use these programs daily to prepare various documents or presentations.
Moodle learning platform is an electronic learning environment that I often use in my work. Moodle is a familiar learning environment for studying, and the digital learning environment of the Moodle platform enables studying regardless of the time and place. In my work, I use the Moodle platform both to develop my own skills and as a form of training. In my work, I build an online course for employees on the Moodle platform, which allows them to train more flexibly according to their own schedule.
IMS (Integrated Management System) software is used in my organization to describe quality management, risk management and processes. In my work, I have prepared various instructions and descriptions, which are stored in the IMS system.
In addition, I use many different software in my work, such as working time tracking software, travel management software and various personnel management software.
Social media
I use social media both at work and in my free time, and in my case, I consider it more useful than harmful. In my free time, I look for tips, instructions on a topic that interests me through social media, and it also works as a communication channel. In addition, I mainly follow selected accounts based on my own interests on Instagram. However, I use a rather limited selection of social media applications and I have given up using some applications almost completely. In my work, the use of social media is minimal, but I believe that its use will increase even more in working life. I see the benefits of social media as its ease of use, speed, and I use the search function to search for exercise videos, for example. Communication is also easy, and the interactivity of the applications is useful at best. For some, social media enables the feeling of belonging to a community and can also be a way to participate in various discussions or network. It is important to note that for some, social media interactivity can be the only way to be in contact with other people, where the background reason is tenderness or shyness.
The use of social media has exploded globally in the last 10 years. Many uses social media constantly and are always available or following their social media channels. Social media is used a lot and there is a public debate about the disadvantages of social media. In general, the position of social media as a disadvantage is seen as the fact that social media increases the time we spend on smart devices and increases the flood of information to our brains. The daily use of mobile devices may be several hours, even more, and then this time is taken away from something else. Many young people and adults have learned that a mobile device is always available, and they monitor their phone constantly. I have also learned about the FOMO phenomenon caused by social media, and FOMO means “Fear of missing out”. The phenomenon refers to a feeling that arises from the fear of missing out on an important or interesting event or experience. FOMO can cause anxiety and stress, and it can affect our decision-making, focus, and lifestyle. The FOMO phenomenon can also cause social media addiction, which easily hinders performance in everyday life, such as studying or work.
Another harmful phenomenon related to some applications of social media is the interaction between people either using their own name or nicknames. People behave badly on social media and instead of constructive feedback, they name-call, threaten and bully people. So, people write things they wouldn’t say when meeting people live. This can result in both young people and in adults, to experiences of bullying and sometimes to psychological symptoms as well. Eliminating this phenomenon would require stronger measures and, for example, banning the use of nicknames when using social media applications. Would it be better for social media to be used only with your own name and with an identified user?
Social media platforms
In the assignment, I also familiarized myself with new social media platforms and listed below five social media tools that are unfamiliar to me, which I could use in my work tasks in the future.
ChatGPT is a program that uses artificial intelligence, which enables interactive conversations, information acquisition, task automation and experiencing the artificial intelligence of the future in one place. It is based on language models, with which ChatGPT can produce human-like text on various topics and learns from previous conversations. I could use the ChatGPT software as a chatbot, writing or summarizing text, searching for, and analyzing information, and ideating creative content. The good side of using ChatGPT is its speed and the possibilities to process a lot of information. When using ChatGPT, the reliability of the information it produces and the way to combine information must be considered. The user must therefore always assess the reliability of the information produced by ChatGPT. In the future, the use of artificial intelligence in various work tasks will increase, and it is important to know how to use artificial intelligence in your own work tasks. In my opinion, the use of software utilizing artificial intelligence should be increased and suitable applications for work tasks should be sought. I believe that ChatGPT would be useful for me in creating and editing texts and searching for information.
Miro is a visual online workspace where teams manage projects, design products, and build the future together. The platform enables creative working together and the ideation process. I have participated in various workshops where the Miro platform has been utilized as a working method. Using the Miro platform, it is possible for even large groups to work at the same time in an electronic workspace on the same task. With this, it is possible to work more efficiently in a short time and it is possible for all participants to participate better in the work. The downside of the Miro platform is learning how to use it, which requires some getting used to and learning. Using the platform requires practice and requires more time. Since my own tasks include development tasks, training and holding workshops, I believe that the Miro platform is a useful tool for me.
Doodle software is designed to help arrange appointments, meetings, exercises, and other shared times. The software creates a survey about suitable meeting times for the group, and the answers to the survey help to quickly map out a suitable time. The Doodle software can be synchronized with several different calendar applications. I see the positive aspects of Doodle as it speeds up finding a suitable time and thus saves more working time for other tasks.
LinkedIn – software social media online community service and networking tool. LinkedIn is an online community service and networking tool owned by Microsoft. Users can upload their resumes, hobbies and interests to the service and get recommendations from former managers and colleagues and recommend others. A LinkedIn profile helps you in your job search and networking. It is the only major social media channel that is focused on working life. I already have a LinkedIn profile, but I am very inactive on this social media platform. I believe that active use would be useful for me both in handling work tasks and in networking.
Open Badges – the software is a service where you can receive and store Open Badges competence marks. Digital competence badges (Open Badges) indicate knowledge, skills, or achievements of someone in a competence area. With the help of signs, competence acquired through work, education, hobbies, volunteer work or other activities can be identified, recognized, and made visible. In different organizations, brands can be used to identify skills and thus motivate employees to develop their skills. Competence badges can be used to build learning paths, monitor the realization of learning goals, or badges can be used as an aid in job hunting. The advantages of Open Badges digital competence badges are the visibility of highlighting the competence and the motivation of the employee. I believe that I could use the competence marks in my work as well.
Elements of successful use of a digital application
In my opinion, the elements of successful use of a digital application can be summarized as follows. The application must be user-friendly and simple to use. In addition, if necessary, instructions or support for use must be clearly accessible. The application must be absolutely data secure for the user and that. n must take care of the user’s personal data carefully. When designing an application, attention must be paid to the needs of future users, and the usability of the application is an important principle in the application design process. It would be important to take the language selection into account in the application and it would be important for the user to be able to use the application in their native language. In the case of digital applications, it is also important to continuously develop the application and consider customer feedback in further development.
Self-assessment:
In this part, it was interesting to get to know different social media applications and to think about the possibilities of using different applications at work. I found several interesting applications that were a bit different from what I currently use at work. In the case of many applications, you noticed that the development work had been done and the content improvements had been implemented while listening to the users. Examining one’s own social media usage patterns was interesting and it must also be said that it was also eye-opening. Using social media in your free time is very time-consuming and can easily be used to pass the time. While completing the assignments, I also got to think about the use of social media more broadly and it was interesting to think about different social media usage habits for different age groups. There are many differences between different age groups in the use of social media and the importance of social media to the user. It is also interesting to direct thoughts to 10–20 years from now, what kind of social media users we will be then and what social media applications will be like. In working life, studying and education, the use of social media will certainly increase, and more new applications will be developed.