The Future of Human Service Information Technology

The immediate future of human services and information technology is examined in terms of their unifying principles and potentials. Effects on human relationships are used as a departure point to forecast changes in professional training and work and changes in the problems people experience. Professional training will incorporate high skill levels in the use and application of information technology. Changes in professional work may include more home based work and more automation of professional tasks. Changes in the problems people experience are addressed in four areas: (1) near consequences of life in an intellect intensive society; (2) human services subject to dramatic improvement; (3) information technology as a "male" technology; and (4) the growth in social support networks. Suggestions are made to explore the conjunction of human service work and information technology.     

Exploring Potential for Information Technology Innovation in Nonprofit Organizations

This article investigated user perceptions of innovative information technology. A qualitative analysis of information technology innovation award applications submitted by a variety of nonprofits was conducted to explore two research questions: (a) in what areas of organizational functioning can information technology innovations be implemented, and (b) what are the expected benefits associated with the implementation of those information technology innovations? The results showed that technological innovations can occur in administrative, service, and marketing areas; and that the applicants believed that those innovations have a potential to provide numerous positive benefits. Those benefits were associated with clients and programs, internal and external functioning, fundraising and financial aspects, and public image and relationships with stakeholders. Human service organizations proposed the highest numbers of IT innovations in the administrative and technological areas.     

Women and Work in the Information Age

Widespread social transformation and new class structures are predicted with the coming of the ‘information age’, but there is disagreement about the likely outcomes for work and em‐ployment patterns. Mainstream writing on the information age, both from the functionalist and Marxist traditions, tends not to consider likely consequences for women, but recent feminist research on gender and technology, treating technology as masculine culture, offers a useful framework for further research. This article argues that the information age may lead to some areas of convergence between the sexes in their experience of future work, but men may continue to defend areas of competence and to dominate the high status and powerful occupational positions of the future.     

The Role of Technology on Young Adolescent Development: Implications for Policy, Research and Practice

This National Science Foundation funded qualitative study highlights unique features of adolescent technology use and its impact on the developmental maturational processes of early adolescence. One hundred twenty-eight 13- and 14-year-old students were interviewed about their information technology (IT) use. The most salient feature of the interview data is that the students perceived technology as integral to all aspects of their everyday life experience. In particular, they understood the necessity of using technology for the development of their cognitive/academic skills, and they spoke about the need to have technology skills for their future careers. They also seemed to understand how IT helped them develop psychosocially, especially in the areas of communication and relationship development. Throughout the interviews, these young adolescents expressed pleasure and pride in their self-reported high level of technoliteracy. Their voices can help expand our understanding of adolescent development in the digital age, and suggest implications for policy, practice, and research.     

Social Work Education and Direct Practice in the Computer Age

Abstract

This paper assesses the mission of social work education in the electronic information age. Educators must prepare students to use computers in practice, develop practice-relevant software, and protect and empower those who might be victimized by information technology. Issues and tasks associated with each of these areas are discussed in detail.     

Digital Europe 1998: Policies,Technological development and implementation of the emerging information Society

The article provides an overview over European policies designed systematically to push and implement the European information society. It looks at their rationales and points out critical areas and their potential impact on the individual as well as democratic society. In addition, comparisons are made within the triad Europe‐US‐Japan to show the global perspective of information society policies and actions. The wealth of usually enthusiastic documents that the European Commission and related actors issue with regard to the information society clearly indicates the priority that policy makers give to the information society. However, scepticism is still called for in terms of unsolved problems. The pace of solutions and the pace of technology are at times at odds. Even if the policy trail shows that attention is increasingly paid to users and citizens, it remains to be seen how the actual impact of the inevitable information society will match the needs of its users in the most productive way.     

Pathways of Technological Change in Developing Countries: Review and New Agenda

This article argues the need for strategic reorientation with regard to the technological advancement of developing countries. The continued relevance of incremental capability‐building strategies in manufacturing is questioned by: (i) the emergence of new knowledge areas, some of which require closer links with science; (ii) recognition that past strategies have not solved the poverty problem; and (iii) unprecedented environmental problems that cannot be solved by existing Western technologies alone. A more pluralist approach is recommended, with increased attention to creative innovation capabilities. Cases of innovations in information communication technology, health and energy show potentially large economic and social impacts, but also highlight systemic obstacles to their realisation.     

'Reconnecting' the Unemployed

This paper discusses the potential uses of the Internet and other forms of information and communication technology (ICT) as a tool for delivering information services for unemployed people, comparing the experiences and attitudes of jobseekers in peri-urban and remote rural labour markets. The analysis is based upon research carried out in two areas: the first combining a remote rural town with a much larger, more sparsely populated, rural 'travel-to-work area'; the second, a centrally located peri-urban labour market. Survey research undertaken in the study areas gathered responses from 490 unemployed jobseekers. Emerging issues were then followed up during twelve focus groups. The study found that the use of ICT for job seeking remained a marginal activity for most unemployed people, but was much more important in remote rural communities. In these areas, jobseekers were more likely to use the Internet as a search tool and were particularly dependent on telephone helplines provided by the public employment service (PES). However, the study also found that a 'digital divide' was evident within the unemployed client group. Those with low educational attainment, the long-term unemployed, young people and those perceiving their ICT skills to be 'poor' were less likely to use the Internet. Although respondents in rural areas were more likely to use ICT to look for work, they also pointed to the overriding importance of informal, social networks as a means of sharing job information in remote communities. We conclude that ICT may have a future role in the delivery of services for jobseekers, especially in rural areas. However, policies are required to ensure that information provided through ICT-based services is locally relevant, and disadvantaged groups have access to the facilities and training they require.     

Narratives of ICT and Organizational Change in Public Administration

In the last decade the implementation of computerized technology and advanced information systems in public administration has gathered speed. The purpose of this article is to explore the ways in which these changes might be gendered by analysing different narratives of digitalization and organizational change in public administration. The empirical findings indicate that resistance to information and communication technology is explained away by managers as reflecting women's low computer maturity, while the narratives of the case‐workers themselves reflect their resistance to deskilling and simplified work specifications, as well as their experience of a shift in the work object — from working with human beings to working with electronic information. The findings indicate that the increased use of information technology genders resistance to degradation as a feminized fear of technology and low computer maturity.     

A Place for Technology in Parent Education: An Exploratory Study of Parent Perceptions

The current study sought to identify what parents would perceive to be helpful in terms of including technology topics in parent education programs, rather than assuming what would be best for parents. Parents were recruited for participation from a western state in the United States between 2012 and 2013. A qualitative approach was used to analyze parental responses (N?=?168) regarding what topics/areas would be beneficial if they attended an educational offering relating to teens and technology. Parents indicated they wanted specific direction and skills relating to the practice of implementing parental mediation, and information about staying current with the technology trends. Other findings focused on the difficulty of getting parents to commit to such education.     

INFOMEDIA LITERACY: an educational basic for young people in the new information age

The aim of this article is to introduce the concept of infomedia literacy, which refers to the ability to process critically all kinds of written information, sound, images, graphics and values transmitted by the new technology. This article argues that when information technology merges with communication technology, there is a need for a new form of literacy. The article is divided into two parts. The first part uses empirical data from Hong Kong to illustrate the necessity of providing infomedia literacy training to young people in schools. Adopting the perspective of socially constructed technology, the second part attempts to conceptualize infomedia literacy and define its rationales, aims, scope, key components and characteristics. A socially participatory approach of infomedia education is proposed. It is suggested that infomedia literacy as a life skill in the new information age has several components: (1) an understanding of the nature and functions of infomedia and critical awareness of their impact on individuals and society; (2) the skill of critical analysis of information transmitted through infomedia technology; (3) the skill of efficient search and selection of information; (4) knowledge to use infomedia technology for self-expression; (5) aesthetic appreciation; and (6) social participation by influencing the development of infomedia technology.     

Small,minority‐based nonprofits in the information age

Pundits of information technology stress that the Internet opens new arenas for nonprofits through the ability to share information both locally and globally. New technology also changes funders' and other evaluators' expectations regarding proposals. Although new technology makes life easier for organizations with budgets, time, and familiarity with technology to buy and use these new tools, nonprofits that lack these resources fall even further behind in their quest to support and improve their programs. Based on ethnographic research in Kenosha, Wisconsin, this article explores the role of changing technology in the ability of small nonprofits to succeed in implementing their organizational mission. Using case studies, this article compares the experience of nonprofits and church mission projects based in the African American and Latino communities in this small city to that of two mainstream organizations in gaining funding and the general perception of those agencies in the local community. The article argues that expectations about the use of technology increase the gaps between a community's haves and have‐nots. Kenosha organizations based in communities of color are particularly at risk due to already low funding and lack of staff familiar with new technologies. The article demonstrates that the key is often not access to technology or technical assistance but the time to make the best use of available technology.     

The Impact of Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) Information Technology on Communication and Recordkeeping in Patrol Work

The impact of mobile data terminal (MDT) information technology is examined through field research which focuses upon the in-situ uses of the MDT by patrol officers. The impact on patrol officers is reflected in increased proactive work (i.e., traffic) and investigative work not typically the province of patrol, changes in communication patterns between line officers and dispatch and authority relationships with supervisors. The ways in which officers alter and shape their uses of MDT technology to preserve their autonomy, maintain solidarity with their co-workers and manage accountability is analyzed as a form of resistance to the potential of this technology to fragment work assignments and control information.     

Dans le « carré de l’activité » : perspectives internationales sur le travail et l’activité

How to define a “space” of research on labor and work for describing the development, at the international level, of case studies of work-related situations? This space is described as a square bounded by four perspectives: distributed cognition, activity theory, ethnomethodology as well as related currents of thought and the sociology of science and techniques. After an explanation of their underlying principles, these perspectives are compared so as to highlight their tensions and differences with regard to several critical points in analyzing work-related situations: data collection during fieldwork, the roles of persons and things and their position on the dialectics of continuity and change. The current development of information and communication technology provides a starting point for (re)inquiring into these four perspectives and suggesting overlapping areas and possible reconfigurations.     

Annual Review: Practice and Research in Career Counseling and Development—1996

The National Career Development Association's (NCDA) Professional Standards Committee (1997) has recently identified 11 competency areas (career development theory, individual and group counseling skills, individual and group assessment, information resources, and program management and implementation, consultation, diverse populations, supervision, ethical legal issues, and research evaluation, and technology). These competencies were used as categories for classifying research on career development and counseling published in 1996. Two primary areas of research activity were identified: making career counseling theory useful for more clients, and emphasizing the role of contextual factors in shaping career development. Four competency areas not addressed sufficiently by researchers were also identified: consultation, supervision, technology, and ethics. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

阿拉伯国家现代信息技术的发展与挑战

以计算机、互联网和卫星通讯为代表的现代信息技术自20世纪七十年代开始在全球飞速发展。信息全球化正改变着人们以往的生产和生活方式，发达国家凭借信息技术优势优先享有信息全球化带来的诸多裨益，而处于先天弱势的发展中国家如何面对信息不对称竞争已成为所在国文化安全战略的重要考量。同样，阿拉伯国家虽然与发达国家在该领域存在差距，但为了建立符合本国利益的信息化社会，这些国家正加大对信息技术的投入，一些依托自身优势条件发展信息产业的阿拉伯国家已崭露头角。     

Technology-Based Interventions and Trainings to Reduce the Escalation and Impact of Alcohol Problems

There has been a rapid increase in the development of technological innovations to reduce the escalation and impact of alcohol problems among adolescents and adults. Technology-based interventions offer the possibility of reaching individuals who otherwise might not seek treatment, (e.g., those in remote areas, those not perceiving a need for treatment, or others who might resist treatment). This article describes 4 case examples of technology-based interventions for risky drinking: (a) a freely available and interactive Web site that provides individualized feedback and information on risky drinking patterns; (b) a brief intervention for adolescents that provides individualized feedback to teens regarding their alcohol use; (c) a computer-delivered screening and brief intervention for alcohol use among pregnant women; and (d) a simulation program for training social workers in screening and brief intervention. These case examples highlight how technology could have a role in addressing the Alcohol Misuse Grand Challenge.     

AN ECOLOGY OF COMMUNICATION:

Communication and social order are the consequences of reflexive activity. The expansion of information technology into more areas of social life challenges social theorists to account for the contribution and impact of these technologies and accompanying logic on a host of social activities. An "ecology of communication" is a sensitizing concept to clarify how information technology and communication formats operate in the effective environment and are intertwined with activities, in some cases adding new activities, while in other instances changing them. The nature and significance of an ecology of communication for social order, increasing resistance, is illustrated with surveillance and control operations in testing and marketing, especially through "barcodes."     

College Health: Biomedical and Beyond

Abstract

Excessive and underage drinking by US college and university students continues to be a significant problem. Curtailing the misuse of alcohol on college campuses is an important goal of college and university administrators because of the many negative consequences resulting from alcohol misuse. As part of their prevention programs, US colleges and universities are required by law to make information about their alcohol policies available to students. Often the source of this information is the school's Web site. The authors evaluated the alcohol-policy information that is available on the Web sites of the 52 top national universities listed in the 2002 rankings of US News and World Report. In general, they found that the information was difficult to find, was located in many areas of the Web site, and did not provide complete information about the school's alcohol policy.     

Gender‐Related Effects of Information Technology Implementation

In investigating gender‐related effects of information technology implementation the contextual factors (e.g. job design, implementation management, external workload) need to be taken into account. In the Vienna Implementation Studies the effects of technology implementation on users' stress levels and satisfaction were investigated in longitudinal research designs. In our previous study, the 1st Vienna Implementation Study, negative effects of the technology implementations were shown in more women than men. It was argued that women due to their lower qualified jobs and due to the lack of participation, also experienced more negative consequences. In the 2nd Vienna Implementation Study effects of ‘continuous’ implementation of information technology on 212 clerical workers (n women: 142; n men: 70) were investigated. No gender‐related effects of information technology implementation were found, nor did women and men differ in job characteristics and in participation in the implementation process. It can be concluded from the two studies that potential differences between women and men are caused by differences in the contextual factors of job design and participation. Further, it emerged from our studies that women — at least in the field of clerical jobs — have benefited from the introduction of technology.