Late Adapters? How Social Workers Acquire Knowledge and Skills About Technology Tools

Little is understood about the scope of information and communication technology (ICT) use in practice for agency-based social work professionals, and still less is known about how such practitioners acquire and avail themselves of opportunities to learn about ICT tools. This study asked a sample of social work field supervisors (n?=?371) to describe their personal and professional ICT use, to rank the technological sophistication of their agency, to describe the barriers and facilitators to ICT use in their organizations and to operationalize environmental opportunities for acquiring new skills and knowledge. The authors examine factors that may influence technology use: asking if organizational culture is related to uptake in the professional context, and if self-reported individual resistance to innovation and change can explain voluntary adoption of ICT tools. The results offer a portrait of how agency-based social workers are using technology in personal and professional life, describe how these supervisors learn about developing technologies for practice, and highlight the gaps in technology infrastructures among agencies, pointing to directions for further exploration.     

‘I know,I can,I will try’: youths and adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden using information and communication technology in their everyday life

This study introduces how technology and humans are part of relationships that influence agency among people with disabilities. It aims to focus attention on the use of, and access to, information and communication technology (ICT), and agency among youths and adults with intellectual disabilities. The study draws on empirical research conducted with youths and adults with intellectual disabilities, as well as staff at a day centre. It shows that by drawing upon interests, previous experiences, and cooperating in ICT activities the participants’ agency changed. Also, it shows how disability is relational and how it can be influenced by ICT. An interdisciplinary approach is adopted to interpret the findings and to explore: How do people of different ages with intellectual disabilities experience the use of ICT in their everyday lives? Are people with intellectual disabilities able to influence their level of activity by using ICT? And if so, in what ways?     

DIGITAL DIVIDES AND CAPITAL CONVERSION: The optimal use of information and communication technology for youth reading achievement

Analysis of a nationally representative survey of 15-year-old Canadian youth indicates how capital can be converted from one form to another by examining the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and reading achievements. Overall there is a negligible linear relationship but a pronounced curvilinear one between these variables, suggesting an optimal level of ICT use. This optimal point varies by gender (males are able to use ICT more before negative effects set in), and by parental education (with girls from highly educated homes gaining more from the use of ICT). Implications for policy and practice are discussed.     

Drug Addiction and Families

Abstract

Australia is experiencing a period of immense cultural change predicated on the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). New devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, and the social iterations of the internet are impacting on communication patterns and contributing to the merging of people's online and offline lives. Using Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells's theory of the Network Society as a theoretical foundation, this issues paper posits that social work must overcome its historical reluctance to embrace ICT if it is to remain relevant in the era of the network society. In particular, we argue that social work professionals need to begin a dialogue with IT developers, social service managers, and funding bodies about the need for practice-led ICT systems. This paper examines the turbulent history social work has had with technological change, and concludes that the adoption of a practice-led approach to ICT use in education, practice, and research provides a strong foundation for reimagining the relationship between social work and ICT.     

Integration or transformation? Looking in the future of Information and Communication Technology in education in Vietnam

Over the last two decades, crucial factors for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education have improved significantly in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it is clear that, as in other countries, no educational revolution is taking place. We argue that there is a need for a broad dialogue on the future of ICT in education in Vietnam as discussion of ideas about future possibilities can be instrumental in rationalizing and generating educational change. We explore how a group of key players representing the public and private sector as well as development partners in the field look at the future of ICT in education in the country. Following the Delphi method, these key players assessed in different survey rounds the current situation of ICT in education, identified a series of targets and were asked to assess these targets in respect of their importance. The key players reached a consensus that the purpose of technology integration is to achieve learning goals and enhance learning. However, there is more controversy on targets that could potentially transform education practice in Vietnam. We discuss the value of the Delphi technique and argue for increased participation of all involved stakeholders in policy development on ICT in education.     

Heads in the Cloud: An Example of Practice-Based Information and Communication Technology in Child Welfare

Changes in information and communications technology (ICT) in human services have accelerated rapidly and have elicited academic concern about the impact on practice, changes in approaches to implementation, and a shift to user-led development. This article describes the development of ICT by a nongovernment child welfare agency over the past two decades. It is guided by a social constructionist view of technology in which technology is shaped by social factors, but in turn shapes the “social” implementation as requiring the integration of two distinct technologies: a standardized framework for practice and the computer. Both technologies had to be carefully aligned to workplace culture, but the interests of workers have not been allowed to dominate those of and children and families. The organization of work has had to change. This article explores the agency’s experience drawing on theories of implementation of ICT in human services.     

Indicators of information and communication technology adoption in the nonprofit sector: Changes between 2000 and 2004

With the knowledge that information and communication technology (ICT) has brought about significant changes in the structure and functioning of businesses, this research provides information about the changes that have occurred in ICT adoption in nonprofit organizations between 2000 and 2004. Using archival data, it specifically investigates various indicators of ICT adoption and adoption readiness factors. Results illustrate that nonprofit organizations are beginning to position themselves to take advantage of the opportunities provided by ICT adoption.     

Facilitating organisational change: Some sociocybernetic principles

Abstract

Innovations in the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), give rise to organisational change as a more or less intended concomitant. At the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, ICT is being deployed in a number of innovative ways to support the delivery of education and training and associated business processes. Part of my role, as a learning technology specialist, is to act as a facilitator of organisational change. In this paper, I give an account of my work. For guidance, I draw on the action learning, action research and organisational change literatures. I also explicitly draw on sociocybernetics to provide key concepts and principles. I set out my understanding of these key concepts and principles and illustrate their relevance and application using my Defence Academy and some other experiences as case studies.     

Care managers’ perceptions of eHomecare: a qualitative interview study

To implement information and communication technology (ICT) in elderly care can be a challenge for healthcare organisations. In Sweden, care managers (CMs) are responsible for offering ICT as a new part of homecare, i.e. eHomecare. The aim of this study was to focus on CMs’ perspectives and describe their perceptions of eHomecare. The study has a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews based on vignettes were conducted with 12 CMs in a medium-sized municipality in central Sweden. Data were analysed using qualitative analysis. The findings showed that CMs are influenced by surrounding organisations and relatives in their decision to grant eHomecare. There were also difficulties in CMs’ management of eHomecare. Furthermore, eHomecare was perceived to improve the quality of everyday life for older. It is understood that the management of eHomecare is a challenging task for CMs and a complex mission. Interactions among CMs, relatives, care providers, and other factors as for example CMs’ own attitudes have an impact on CMs’ decisions.     

Informationsüberlastung bei digitaler Zusammenarbeit – Ursachen,Folgen und Interventionsmöglichkeiten

In this article in the journal Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation (GIO) we analyze current research on influencing factors and consequences of information overload (IO) in team information exchange mediated by modern information and communication technologies (ICT). We consider, which underlying mediating mechanisms cause information overload in team information search and processing, as well as team decision making and communication information, and discuss possible interventions. We focus both on empirical research and on the differentiation between causes, resources and on team level interventions. Based on existing findings we draw implications for future research and practice. In particular we show, how leaders can avoid IO and can contribute to efficient ICT mediated team communication.     

Symposium on political communication and social movements – the campfire and the tent: what social movement studies and political communication can learn from one another

ABSTRACT

In this symposium contribution, Dave Karpf offers three observations about the differences between the fields of social movement studies and political communication. He posits that the central difference between the two is the relative lack of a canonical literature in political communication. He discusses how this lack of a canon can be particularly freeing and generative during a time of rapid media change. He also examines the trend toward methodological pluralism and the rise of a robust experimental tradition in political communication. Finally, he discusses how cross-disciplinary research on movements and media as interacting systems can be further expanded and developed for the digital age.     

Emotions in a Rational Profession: The Gendering of Skills in ICT Work

Information communication technology (ICT) work is rarely seen as a work environment where emotional and social skills are key. However, the ideal ICT worker is increasingly said to possess a range of emotional and social skills that are often associated with femininity. This raises the question of how skills are discursively gendered in ICT work. This article firstly shows which skills ICT workers identify as those needed by the ideal ICT worker. Secondly, it highlights how ICT workers construct their own skills. Thirdly, some light is shed on how the gendering of emotional and social skills shifts with different discursive contexts and it is shown what the implications of this are. It is suggested that there is a dynamic at work through which men can appear as a new ideal ICT worker with more ease than women, despite the fact that women are more often associated with social and emotional skills.     

A window on the wider world? Rural children's use of information and communication technologies

The possibilities which information and communication technologies (ICT) offer people (or groups) to overcome the friction of distance and the constraints of materiality mean that these technologies are seen to have particular relevance in rural areas which have been historically characterised in terms of their economic and social perpheriality. In this paper, we draw on empirical research with children and their teachers and parents, to explore the opportunities which ICT are seen to offer young people living in rural areas. First, we examine the information that children access on-line and how young people make sense of this expanded terrain. Second we focus on communication, by considering children's use of email and chat rooms. Third, we explore how this information and these modes of communication may be shaping young people's sense of place in the world. Our findings expose a clear contrast between the ambitious and future orientated ways in which adults imagine ICT will expand their children's educational and employment opportunities, and social and spatial horizons, and the everyday ways in which these technologies actually emerge for children in practice.     

Learning From Reform as Learning: Lessons at the Intersection of Implementation Research and Learning Theories

This article discusses how to analyze educational reforms in which information and communications technology (ICT) is used as a central catalyst to change practises. We explore the relationship between theoretical conceptualizations and empirical findings drawing on the work of Larry Cuban and Yrjö Engeström. We claim that reform research has traditionally been too preoccupied with looking for the intended changes. One problem with this “top-down” approach is that it conceals changes that happen at the microlevel. As a result, we are left with little understanding of how educational practises change in relation to ICT reform interventions at the interactional level. As an illustrative case, we draw on the analysis of a reform program that focused on the use of ICT in teacher education and show how this reform took place and examine what was interactionally accomplished across the institutions that took part.     

Communication and information exchange among SMEs and their local environment

Abstract

In this article the results from a Swedish pilot study in the project Arena for Sustainable Innovative Development of small and medium-sized enterprises is presented. The project in a whole aims to create and test a model for collaboration and sustainable development among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in local areas. The research question in this article is delimited to issues concerning use of ICT, information exchange and communication among the interested parties. The pilot study was accomplished in a qualitative and explorative way with semi-structured interviews. As a result of the study some questions are identified as urgent to further investigate.     

‘Virtual’ intimacies? Families communicating across transnational contexts

Abstract Many analyses of the uses of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) focus on factors such as gender, class and communication infrastructures in explaining how and whether people communicate across distance. In this article, I argue that such analyses fail to capture the full complexity of ICT use. I use the results of a large qualitative study of transnational families, conducted in Australia, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Iran, Singapore and New Zealand, to examine how and whether kin maintain contact across time and space. The research demonstrates that ICTs are more available for some people than for others. However, also and possibly more important in the decisions people make about using particular communication technologies are the social and cultural contexts of family life, which render some ICTs more desirable than others at specific points in time. Acknowledging this provides an important corrective to economic analyses of transnationalism, and contributes to theorizing and documenting the role of ICTs in the maintenance of transnational social networks.     

The benefits of information communication technology use by the homeless: a narrative synthesis review

Recent studies have suggested that technologies are becoming an increasingly ubiquitous element in the lives of individuals experiencing homelessness. With both Canadian and US researchers reporting staggering levels of homelessness on both sides of the border, an understanding and synthesis of the current literature exploring how technologies are being utilized by homeless individuals and how it may impact their well-being is of relevance to policy makers and social service organizations. The study explored and synthesized literature to examine the ways in which individuals experiencing homelessness utilize information and communication technologies (ICTs), and how the use of ICTs influences the health and social outcomes of individuals experiencing homelessness. The study examined 16 peer reviewed articles using a narrative synthesis systematic review, following three elements of the narrative synthesis approach: preliminary synthesis of findings; exploration of relationships between studies; and assessment of the robustness of the synthesis. In relation to what ICTs are used for by homeless individuals, three major themes emerged: social connectedness, identity management, and instrumental purposes. Furthermore, there was some tentative evidence about a positive relationship between ICT use among individuals experiencing homelessness and health outcomes. The paper discussed limitations, future areas of research, as well as some policy directions.     

The Affordance Utilization Model: Communication Technology Use as Relationships Develop

This essay proposes an affordance utilization model (AUM) that aims to understand the role of relationship development in communication technology use. The AUM draws from research regarding (1) social penetration theory and (2) the communication technology affordances of asynchronicity (i.e., a time lag between when a message is constructed and received) and reduced cues (i.e., the lack of visual and/or vocal cues). It proposes that these affordances are positively associated with communication competence and self-disclosure but that relationship development affects these associations. The AUM proposes that as relationships become more developed, communication technology affordances are less likely to be associated with communication competence and self-disclosure in relationships. The AUM also proposes that as relationships become more developed, relational partners will see affordances as less important and will use them less. Potential implications of the AUM for research on communication technologies in relationships are discussed.     

Beyond PowerPoint™: Using Learning Objects to Enhance Social Work Courses

Faculty use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in social work courses has the potential to transform social work education, including increasing student engagement and accommodating different learning styles. Learning objects are reusable digital resources with a pedagogical purpose that may be used in online, hybrid, or face-to-face social work courses to achieve these and other pedagogical benefits. This article defines and provides an overview of the concept “learning objects.” Guidelines for locating and incorporating existing learning objects and for creating learning objects for use in social work courses are detailed. Finally, examples are provided.     

TESTING THE LEAP-FROG HYPOTHESIS: The impact of existing infrastructure and telecommunications policy on the global digital divide

This paper tests the 'leap-frog' hypothesis by modeling the impact of existing telecommunications infrastructure, controlling for economic, political and demographic factors, on changes in information communication technology (ICT) access for over 200 countries between 1995 and 2005. This study has significantly greater coverage than previous research, in terms of both time frame and country cases. First, the analysis demonstrates that in the first decade of the information society successful leap-frog countries are few and far between. Second, the relative distribution of personal computers, internet hosts and secure servers among the nations of the world has barely improved over the last decade. Third, contrary to received wisdom, most of the countries that might qualify as successful leap-frog countries are actually among the wealthiest in the world. Finally, while policy reform in the telecommunications sector can sometimes speed the diffusion of digital communication tools, the record of market reforms is mixed, and the overall effect of economic wealth is still paramount. In sum, a few poor countries have leapt ahead in the development of a few aspects of ICT infrastructure and use, but these relatively rare successes are more likely to be due to economic productivity than to privatization, regulatory separation and depoliticization, or market liberalization in the telecommunications sector.