Starting with Google Docs,I discovered that they are useful in almost most of the courses I took and in any papers I want to write in general. Especially, as there are many practical features that help me a lot, like that things are auto-saved and that I can work offline; and because of these tools I I liked how user-friendly it is and it enables many people to edit ,comment and highlight on specific things; so overall it is not complicated to use or learn how to use which is something that I prioritize in any tool that I use.
The second tool,Slack, was a tool that I only used in this course,as it was very convenient, it was easier than sending emails and less informal.Also I would really like to use it for other courses for all the previously mentioned reasons.
Another tool, that I consider very essential in my daily life, is Whatsapp and when it comes to creating Whatsapp groups for courses that I take, then things become messy and unorganized.However it still is the best option available in the meantime, as not everyone has or know of Slack;but if I had the option I will always choose Slack as it is way more organized and there are many options within it, like having different channels to talk on as well as private chats and I feel that facilitates communication between me, the professor and my classmates.For example if I wanted to keep up with what’s going on in the previous classes or the upcoming assignments then I can easily go to “assignments” channel and I might as well find that someone has already asked the exact question before me; which also makes it easier for the Dr. to not repeat themselves.
Zoom was a tool that I had mixed feelings toward, firstly because I know that it is an essential tool now that we switched to online classes only, but still I don’t find myself using it comfortably because I am not used to interrupting people or getting in line to speak,as sometimes I will forget or don’t feel comfortable to join the conversation easily. Moreover, a huge factor would be that having a free space to open the camera and the mic in each class is not possible every time and that puts more pressure on me as a student as I feel that I am not being able to perform at the highest standards.
Lastly, a tool that I use in other courses is Panopto which is video recording the lectures and it really helps deliver the message clearly through the slides and the screen recording. This I find more fitting to use when there already clear and organized slides prepared for the lecture.Sometimes for drawing graphs and explaining them I find that it is really difficult to make sure everyone understands if the lectures are already recorded, but other than that I find that watching the lectures whenever it is suitable for you, and repeating/going through them whenever you want, is very suitable for me and many students.
