ePLATFORMS
I am a biomedical laboratory scientist and I work in the veterinary pathology laboratory in the faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Helsinki. I have been there 23 years and it is like my other home. My main task is doing the lab work. I prepare the histological and cytological samples for the pathologist and researchers. We have both patient samples and research samples to work with.
We need to use different kind of a meeting tools of course in everyday life, like Zoom and Teams. We use Teams a lot for organizing the use of our department’s common working spaces, common laboratory issues, chemical waste collecting etc. If I need a workstation for office work, I can book it via our Teams channel where I can see the free spaces.
When I have participated in projects, I’ve been using project managing tools like Monday and Miro. Our new patient program Provet Cloud has interesting possibilities to share important notifications and information between staff members about the cases we are working with. We’ve been using it now for seven months and we are still learning and figuring out the best ways to use it. I was on the commissioning project group and I am responsible for maintaining it in our unit. I teach our new staff members to use it, whether they are pathologists or technicians.
Social Media – a double-edged sword
Using social media as an individual or a professional can both be good and bad. First of all there is a certain etiquette also known as Netiquette which tells the proper ways of using and acting in internet. Every single person should be aware of it. Everyone is responsible for his/her writings and behaving. Social media is a big issue in the veterinary field because people speak their mind very openly in public about their experiences at the veterinarian’s appointment and especially in a negative tone. There is a lot of depression and burn out among veterinarians and also quite high rates in suicides and one underlying cause discussed is the online shaming in social media (Kampman 2023, p. 43).
I prefer using LinkedIn for networking as a professional. Facebook is my choice as an individual person. I bring also my professional side to Facebook, because it is a good way of passing on the information about our research or open positions. I have also found many international professional groups, where I’ve been able to find information and contacts for my specific work problems. It is my responsibility to keep my personal and working life separated enough. I also have a lot of confidential things in my work and those things I don’t show in social media. My one golden rule is that whatever I put into the internet will stay there forever so I am very careful with my postings in social media. I try to avoid negative atmosphere and more like bring the good and positive feeling around me. Sometimes it is easier said than done. If I want to say something rude, I stop reading the social media dialogues that are annoying me and sleep over night. Next morning I don’t even remember it anymore. Problem solved!
Five new e-tools for me
DALL-E 3
Well, this is an interesting AI-tool. I think I could use this for preparing picture-based instructions to our lab. I could also prepare some teaching material for the fifth year veterinary students about laboratory quality. I just have to be very accurate with the picture instructions. AI can make mistakes and it’s my responsibility to make sure the final outcome is reliable. I could use DALL-E 3 through Microsoft Copilot officially in my work, because Copilot is under University of Helsinki’s data protection and information security principles for cloud services. I can only process public and open data with Copilot.
Evernote and Todoist
My worklife is quite a mess. I’ve been trying to find out the ways to organize all my duties so that I don’t forget something important. The calendar is a very important tool for me but it is not enough. I should arrange a lot of notes, pictures, links etc. with the calendar events. Evernote looks like a very interesting choice. The other option I found from the list is Todoist. When I compare them my first expression is that Evernote would be my choice if I look at the design only. But Todoist is available in Finnish. Is the language choice that critical for me? After a second thought it’s not so important. I can manage my life in English, too.
And after all, when I signed up Evernote, I found out that there is also choice for Finnish. Excellent! I should still check also the Microsoft Office 365 that we are using at the university if there is apps for time managing. I realize now that I haven’t been using the whole potential of our existing platform.
Jodel
I guess I can be helpful in Jodel for example if there is someone asking about finding places at our Viikki campus. I’ll give it a try. I like the anonymity of this app. The anonymity can also be a bad thing. Jodel tells it has certain guiding principles that define the community:
- positive and friendly
- Helpful and supportive
- Colorful and diverse
- Original and creative
- Respectful and human
- Jodelahuiiitii (a.k.a funny)
I want to find out myself does it work like it promises #GoodVibesOnly.
Pi
I find this AI app very interesting and it can be very helpful in my work. I tried it starting a conversation about our need of Laboratory Information Management System and it turned out to be an inspiring dialogue about different options. The conversation was in general level and very reliable. The truth is that AI can make mistakes and you should never rely on it but check the facts other way. Our IT department has made instructions how to use AI tools and what is not recommended or even forbidden. You can find it here, if you, my blog reader, are interested in knowing more about our ways of using AI: https://helpdesk.it.helsinki.fi/en/help/20064
For example, if I want to use this Pi app I have to use it as a private individual.
The elements of successful use of digital application
The application fulfills the need. It is made for certain use and it is easy to adapt in use. It works well in different devices and operating systems and it is as stable as possible. Only minor bugs are allowed and the app is regularly updated and fixed when needed. There is some kind of a help desk or support for it. Security and privacy policies are transparent and in compliance with GDPR law of the EU.
The summary of my learning of the topic
Finding out new e-tools was a positive thing for me. I haven’t had much time for searching and testing new ways of helping my workload. Now I had to find the time for it and it was very successful! I also realized that my employer gives actually a lot of possibilities for different kind of e-tools. I just have to find them out and learn to use them. I am a moderate person when using social media. Sometimes it also takes too much of my free time to go through Facebook and Instagram etc. Social media can be a treacherous way to pass the time. Minutes turn into hours quiet easily.
References:
Kampman, N-M. (2023) SUOMALAISTEN ELÄINLÄÄKÄREIDEN TYÖUUPUMUS JA ITSETUHOISET AJATUKSET VUODEN 2012 TYÖTERVEYSKYSELYSSÄ. Licentiate thesis. https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/c0af12bf-d64d-4191-8d05-b2f8408c61da/content
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