Week 8: STAR

 Task 8: Our PLE.  ⭐: Miriam García Sánchez-Cosgalla

Script of Our Group Learning Environment:

Good morning, I’m Miriam, and I’m the star from wild cats this week.

Now, I’m going to present to you our learning environment.

I’m going to talk about the three applications that we choose for task 5 following the different categories.

The graphic bars that appear below each app represent the fraction of people in our group that use that application to either read content, create content or just communicate with other people through it. Besides, the emojis that  are also there, represent in which space we use them, where and through which device.

To begin with, the “forced” ones are Aula Virtual, Instagram and Blogger.

• Aula Virtual is a tool which is an application designed only for students and teachers of the University of Murcia where teachers upload content related to their subjects and students can download and access this content. In addition, students can submit assignments, take exams, control the calendar and keep in touch with their teachers and classmates. This tool has both a web page and an application for mobile or tablet. Although there are two ways to access this tool, the use is the same regardless of the space or device from which we access it.

• Instagram is an app that is used around the world by everyone, it is used to upload content such as images, videos (including live videos or calls) or texts, and get or give some feedback about it. It is a great application to get to know new people and communicate with your friends or family members. We mostly use it through the mobile app. Nevertheless, it is available also online, but its use is different, because you cannot make the live videos or calls. 

• Finally, Blogger is used to create blogs where you can upload content. In our case, we created a blog where we upload our work every week. In this tool you can view content related to your interests and searches, as well as the creation of posts in which you can upload videos, photos, audios or texts and reflections. Although blogger has both an application and a web page, we use the web page because it is more convenient to access it from class at the university and at home with a laptop, and it is also more comfortable and easy to use. Regardless of the device or the space in which you access the tool, we consider that it makes no difference when it comes to its use, you work the same way, putting aside that the browser version is a little user-friendly.

Secondly, the discovered tools in this course were Prezi, Blabberize and Google Keep.

• Prezi is an app that allows you to create slideshows. It is a tool that is available both online and as an app, we have used it using the computer and the tablet. There are some differences on its use depending on the device or format, since with the app you can  read/see the presentations, but you cannot edit them.

• Blabberize is a tool that we used for doing the task of the game using technology, it is a web where you can create funny animated photos. It can only be accessed online, because there is no app, and you cannot communicate with anyone, it only has the use of creating. We have used it mainly with the computer and the tablet. 

• Google Keep is a tool where you can make notes. We used it only in one of the activities that we created and we used it through the web, even though there is an app for it, and we make use of it in the tablet. In this case, there is no difference in the tool regarding the browser or app version.

To conclude with, the tools that we already knew and we have incorporated to our daily work are Google Documents, Canva and Picsart.

• Google Documents is one of the tools we use the most, since we use it to take notes, organize our tasks, write long texts, etc. It is not a tool where you can chat, create videos, photos or even audios. It can be accessed through the website from a laptop, as well as from the application with a cell phone or tablet. In our case, as we have used both the application and the web we have not found any difference in terms of the use of it.

• Canva. With this tool we have been able to create slideshows, posters, infographics, images, etc. It is not possible to create audios or chat. It has a web page that can be accessed with all devices, and an application exclusively for tablet or mobile. Working with this tool from the application or from the web does not make any difference, putting aside that it is more comfortable to use it on a big screen.

• The last tool is Pics art. We have used this tool in order to create images, as it is a photo editor. Nevertheless, you cannot create audios, videos, chat, or create urls. This tool has a website and an app. We have only used the app with our tablet or mobile phone at home or at University. Despite the device or space in which we access the tool, it has no differences and you can work easily in it.