SSSC Open Badges 3

As part of applying for the SSSC 23 Things Digital – Thing 3: Why digital? I looked at the infographic from Skills for Care and how the infographic differed/aligned with my own experiences in Social Care.

“Staff have confidence in their own basic online skills with over 90% feeling confident or very confident.”

In my experience I have found this not to be true. This is due to the fact that there are many people working in social care who have do not have the basic IT skills that most people under 30 would have learned in high school or primary school. Those who have never used this kind of technology are daunted by the prospect of learning. Many of them would need one to one tuition in IT and this is not always feasible. Of those who do have basic IT skills they may only be confident in carrying out certain tasks online such as using Facebook and checking emails but have not grasp of how to find research data or start a blog. To those competent in IT these seem like very simple exercises however this can impede people from trying to learn as they have built up these tasks in their own minds.

“But 52% of managers feel staff do not have sufficient basic online skills”

I can understand this assessment although it could be argued that some managers are also lacking in IT skills. If the managers of a company do not have basic IT skills this can hinder the use of IT in the workplace.

“95% of participants use digital technology for at least one work related activity”

If this survey included texts and phone calls from a mobile device as well as sending emails to communicate then this assessment is concurrent with my own experiences. However, there is room for vast improvement when it comes to the use of technology in social care. The Open Badge system is a good step forward but it is only just gaining traction across care organisations. I also think that in order to improve the use of digital technology within social care there needs to be an understanding across companies of where they can use technology and where they cannot. This is because data protection and the right to privacy can be very easily invaded by the use of technology. The government has only just begun in creating legislation for social media and internet use across all areas, not just those pertaining to social care.

In my experience there are many factors stopping the use of digital technology. There is a lack of knowledge amongst organisations about where the use of technology to create person centred care may breach the individuals’ privacy and so many companies choose to steer away from technology entirely. Many staff do not have access to technology or do not have the skills to use it. Many organisations particularly small businesses do not have the resources to provide the technology and IT training for their staff. Some business managers and supervisors do not have the IT skills to support their staff in using the technology. Due to the pace of technology there would be an ongoing need to update the staff and managers in their knowledge of IT. When small businesses get enough money and manpower to put their staff through training they will most likely opt to give their staff training in things like First Aid or Epilepsy as these are more pressing for the staff to be trained in.

Attitudes to using digital technology

I believe that the potential for the use of digital technology is there and those companies who have the knowledge of technology are keen to use it yet I think that it will be a number of years before technology is integrated into social care, when the generations of workers who did not grow up with technology will leave the workforce and those who have always have technology surrounding them make up the majority of the workplace. These are the people who will be confident in their knowledge of the technology and by that time the internet will be better regulated by the government.

The reason that technology has not integrated into social care is not only due to the organisations and government. It is also due to the clients themselves. Many of our older clients, particularly those with dementia and other memory issues, are suspicious and wary of using technology. They may not understand it or not want it in their lives. We must respect their decisions. This is not true for every client and many of our younger clients would welcome the change.

What current learning opportunities are there for digital technology?

There are many learning opportunities to learn about using digital technology both formal and informal. In my experience there are individuals who go on formal courses to learn basic IT skills and do not learn anything by them. These individuals need one to one tuition on technology as a classroom environment does not work for them. Most individuals that I know that are good with technology learned through teaching themselves. They may have also had formal learning later however the basis for their learning was self-directed. I believe that this proves that in order to learn about technology you need to have the curiosity to seek it out. I think the best way to encourage people to learn is to teach them the benefits of technology and to give them the opportunity to find it themselves.

What is digital technology used for?

I do believe that digital technology can improve the quality of care we, as support workers, provide to our clients. Digital technology can help us to create a person centred care plan for all our clients. It can help us to engage with other organisations to enable our clients to get the best service we can provide. On the other hand I believe that integrating technology into social care will take a lot of work from everyone involved and will unfortunately be years in the making.

I completed a short self-assessment score-sheet of my digital capabilities.

For my self-assessment of my digital capabilities I would say that I am 4/5. There are still many things that I would like to learn how to do digitally. For example I would like to know how to use coding and more advanced IT but this would be for my own enjoyment rather than as work based learning.

For my confidence in my digital capabilities I would say 5/5 as I know what I am capable of with technology and I am confident in my application.

As for relevance I would say 2/5 mainly as I feel that social care has not yet embraced technology and many of the things that I know how to do with technology would not yet be relevant to working in care such as marketing through social media and creating websites.

I would love to apply my knowledge and capabilities of digital technology to my working life however at the moment I am unclear as to how they can fit together. 

The info-graphic mentioned can be found at:
http://23digital.sssc.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Digital-capabilities-infographic.pdf