Thing 3: WHY
DIGITAL?
Why digital? I can understand why this question might be
asked. Older members of staff who have worked in social care for a long time
can be heard saying “We managed fine without all this fancy computer stuff, why
bother with it” As the younger members of staff start to share their knowledge
of IT the Older members have begun to appreciate the great benefits it offers.
They can often be heard saying “It’s ok we can check the bus tracker at the
stop for the next bus” when they are supporting someone to go out. Using smart phones to look up holidays which
they can then cost accurately for the people they support or looking something
up and being able to answer that persons question correctly. Staff I have
worked alongside tend to use digital without realizing they are and have a
misconception that to do digital they need to be sitting at a computer worrying
about security and safety.
Step 1: I firstly
had a look at the info-graph provided by skills for care as instructed in
SSSC23digital Things.
Due to my own experience I was surprised that the Perception of skills
showed that 90% of staff surveyed felt that they had confidence in their basic
online skills I would have thought this to be much lower. Management perception of
52% probably gave a true comparison to my own experience at this time and
that within a generation the gap between these statistics will disappear. The use of digital technology for at least one
work related activity coming in at 95% does not surprise me at all as digital
is all around us in our everyday activities, whether we realise it or not. I
lately witnessed an example of the use of digital which evidence the time
saving, accuracy and usefulness of digital technology. My husband was
struggling to increase the volume on his Sat Nav system built into his car; he
read the manual, played around with buttons much to his frustration and
annoyance. From the rear of the car my daughter (30yrs his junior) advised “you
can only increase the volume as the sat Nav is giving instructions, all of
these makes of cars are the same.” Her dad was surprised “how did you know
that?” “I used my phone to look it up” was her reply. It took her minutes, no
fuss, and no trouble and left her feeling satisfied that she had solved the
problem.
Job descriptions include the need for basic IT skills and as our
workforce attracts the younger generation the knowledge, willingness and
abilities will be shared and improved training will be required to allow much more use of digital technology. Improving
practice and saving time better used for valuable support and hopefully
avoiding the two tier workforce that the SSSC believe we must work to avoid.
When I considered the section “What stops the use of digital
technology?” I felt that the staffs concerns were not what I would have
expected and that their concerns would have mirrored that of the managers so I
was quite surprised.
Step 2: Next I carried out
the short self- assessment scoresheet as instructed. I am self- taught in the
use of computers and I manage to get by but as I have progressed in my career
in social care I have realised the benefits of Digital technology.
I feel that in the assessment of my capability I am probably scoring
at 3 – average, I suppose it depends on who I am comparing my skills with, I am
not afraid to give things a go or indeed to ask someone with greater knowledge
for help. I use Word frequently, e-mail, access information and save and share
information. At the moment I am trying to teach myself excel which I feel
excited about as I can see the time saving benefits of this for calculating
support hours, staffing hours and annual leave records. I am also very aware
though that a computer is only as good as its operator and that input must be
accurate.
In the confidence stakes I have
scored myself 3- average, I am confident and willing to try but the part of
digital use that I am not so confident with is online security the more I read
about hacking, identity fraud and trolling the more my confidence in this area
falters.
Relevance, well I felt this rated a 5 – very high. I feel the
relevance of the use of my digital skills in my role and the potentials are
vast. My reasons for this are based on the fact that I see the benefit of my
very small amount of knowledge and the way in which I use that and I consider
what I could do with more training. I reflect on our SSSC code of practice 6. Be accountable for the quality of my
work and will take responsibility for maintaining and improving my knowledge
and skills and how in turn it facilitates code 2. Create and maintain the trust and confidence of people who use
services and carers.
Digital technology provides speedy communication,
information gathering, accuracy and also allows us to reduce our carbon
footprint so makes us environmentally friendly too.
