A key part of using applications on any digital device is choosing which one you need to use. Here are some considerations when deciding which application to use for a particular task:

• What do you actually need to do? This might sound obvious, but defining your task and what output you need (if any) helps work out which applications could be used.
• Which applications are available? You may be limited by which applications you already have, which ones you could get for free, and what you might be able to install on your device. It is good to consider this before getting your heart set on a particular tool.
• Are you working with other people? If there's other people to consider, you might want to think about sharing, collaboration features, and which applications the others have access to.
• How much time do you have? If you're limited on time, you probably want to use a simple tool or something you are already familiar with, whereas if you have time to learn something new, you could consider wider options.

Elsewhere on this page you'll find some guidance on different applications available and what kind of things they can do.

How you can install or access software will depend on your role and what kind of device you are using.

If you are a member of University staff, you will use Software Centre to get new applications that aren't already on your work computer.

If you are student at the University, a range of software available through the University will be already installed on PCs in IT classrooms and loan laptops.

Some software can also be installed on personal devices, either because it is freely available or because the University's license includes this.

Information on which applications are available at the University of York on university computers and which can also be used on home devices can be found on the IT Services web pages.

Microsoft Office is a very common package of applications that can be used for various tasks including text processing and making documents (Word), working with data (Excel and Access), and creating presentations and posters (PowerPoint). At York, Microsoft Office applications are available on all university computers, while staff and students are also able to install a free copy of Microsoft 365 for home use on personal devices.

See the Microsoft Office Essentials page for more information about this package of applications and links to training resources on individual applications within Office.

All staff and students at the University of York have access to Google Workspace. This includes a range of connected applications including:

• Google Mail (Gmail) for email
• Google Calendar
• Google Drive for online storage of files and sharing files with others
• Google Docs for text processing (similar to Microsoft Word)
• Google Sheets for spreadsheets (similar to Microsoft Excel)
• Google Slides for presentations (similar to Microsoft PowerPoint)
• Google Forms for creating simple surveys/forms
• Google Sites for creating and publishing websites

These are all accessed using your University Google account. This also means that Google can recognise who is part of the University and allows you to only share documents or other items with members with the University of York, if you wish.

Video conferencing tools allow you to hold a virtual meeting with other people where everyone can share their video and speak to each other. Your device must have a camera and microphone to be able to interact in a meeting. The University has access to two video conferencing tools: Zoom and Google Meet.

Zoom

Zoom is the recommended video conferencing tool at the University and allows you to connect to a meeting either by using the Zoom 'Desktop' app, the Zoom mobile app or via your web browser. Zoom features a text-chat function along with the ability to share your screen and record the meeting. Zoom meetings can be created from the Zoom app or in Google Calendar. See our Zoom Wiki for full guidance.

When using Zoom at the University, make sure you sign in correctly using "Single sign-on" to access your licensed Zoom account. See our instructions on signing in to Zoom at the University of York.

Google Meet

Google Meet is a browser-based video conferencing tool that is built into Google Calendar. It allows screen sharing, but University members do not have access to the full recording options within Meet.

A file type is the way data is stored in a computer file. The file type can be determined by the file name extension, which is the letters at the end of a file name after the period. These tell the computer which application to open the file in.

If the file extension isn't what you're expecting, you might need to convert the file to another format. You can often search online for how to do this from a particular format to another.

You might use a lot of applications without really thinking about it. For example, if you open a PDF file, your computer will use a certain application to view the file. You can change which application a file automatically opens in to suit your needs.

To change your default application for a certain type of file (e.g. PDF files) in Windows:

• right-click on a file and choose 'Open with...'
• at the bottom of the list should be 'Choose another app'
• this gives you the full list of applications that can open that file, and a tick box to sett the application you have chosen as the default for that kind of file in future

Photo by Michael D Beckwith on Unsplash

Using digital images is vital for a huge number of tasks. You may be used to taking photos on your phone or cropping images to go in documents, but there's a lot more things you can do with images and technology.

Video editing involves taking video content that might've been recorded or created and putting it together into a final video. It might include trimming the ends off a video, cutting out bits from inside a video, and combining different video clips into one video.

A great place to start is to take a look at our Video Editing 101, which covers some of the key topics and ideas on how to get going with your own video: