The use of digital tools is not entirely new among social workers.
"Until then, the dominant representations cast doubt on the ability of social workers to appropriate these technologies, or even their reluctance to use them.The health crisis and the need to telework have highlighted another side of the delay of social workers in the appropriation of digital technology, which cannot be attributed to them: the lack of equipment. Some services, institutions, and communities had already started plans to equip and train social workers a long time ago, while others found themselves faced with their lack of anticipation.
Following this report, the HCTS recommends (this is the ninth of its 12 recommendations) to promote a better use of digital tools:
- By equipping social workers with efficient and mobile equipment (smartphone, tablet, computer, VPN);
- By developing digital access methods for the poor: free Wi-Fi, social pricing, donation of reconditioned equipment, etc. ;
- By developing the network of digital mediators and the cooperation between them and social workers.
Référence :
Containment: how "remote volunteering" has taken hold in the nonprofit world
Digital technology has allowed many associations and their volunteers to maintain their activities by avoiding certain trips, synonymous with risks in the circumstances of COVID-19.Two thirds of volunteers in associations have practiced remote volunteering, "tele-volunteering" during the crisis, according to a study by Recherches & Solidarités. The survey of 2,365 volunteers conducted between April and May 2020 by Recherches & Solidarités paints a picture of volunteers who have engaged in tele-volunteering during the crisis.
The report shows that 67% of the volunteers surveyed volunteered on the phone during the lockdown: 17% for the first time, 27% more than usual and 23% as usual (23%).
How digital technology has enabled social centers to develop solidarity during confinement
The Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Pays Picards Federations of social centers draws up, in turn, an assessment of the role of social centers in Hauts de France during the period of confinement.In the Hauts de France, "from the first days of the confinement, the social centers, despite the closure to the public, and without masking the vulnerabilities caused by this health crisis, have maintained for 90% of them the link to the inhabitants, especially with the most vulnerable. They have been able to use digital technology to develop local solidarity": equipment for under-equipped families, a permanent local link with residents, a reinforced "outreach" at home and in the public space, support for the self-organization of solidarity projects by residents, 3D printers to support solidarity actions, maintaining, despite everything, support for employment, socio-cultural and leisure activities "online".
"The first observation is that the network was not at the same point at the beginning: lack of computer equipment in the social centers' teams, no culture of remote work, territories where a digital practice had been established, often in connection with the "connected social centers" approach, and others where the practice had yet to emerge... The second observation concerns the reappearance of a problem that seemed to have been more or less solved: that of families' access to adapted equipment.The forced shift to paperless access to services has added an additional difficulty for people who do not master digital tools
The White Paper "Digital and Human Fragility" published by the French National Agency for Active Solidarity (ANSA) and the Sopra-Steria Foundation, discusses the ambivalence of digital technology in the context of the health crisis: "facilitating links for some and revealing exclusion for others"."The closure of public reception centres has led to a breakdown in rights and has weighed on people's financial resources. The forced transition to dematerialized access to services has added an additional difficulty for people who do not master digital tools, such as certain elderly people, or parents who need support for their children's distance learning.Based on a survey of social workers and digital mediators (335 responses), the White Paper traces how social workers, both volunteers and professionals, have had to cope with the health crisis, both in their private lives and in their activities (closure of physical reception areas).
73% of survey participants believe that the health crisis has strengthened the role of digital technology in supporting the most vulnerable.
83% declare that they have had to support people who have difficulty with digital technology: people who are already familiar with it but who are more numerous and who need to ask for more help (the elderly, young people, families, people with digital difficulties or people with disabilities), but also new people
43% say they have accompanied people who were not used to approaching services or seeking their help.
How social action has migrated to digital and remote support
In a report submitted to the government, based on a survey of many social service providers, WeTechCare shows "how digital technology has enabled social workers to maintain internal activity, disseminate information to the public, provide remote support (especially with the return of the telephone) and, for some, train their public in digital technology in order to give them long-term capacity. The adaptability and creativity of these structures, which were few in number to have initiated their digital transformation, is particularly interesting.Social actors have often shown remarkable agility in adapting to the context and maintaining their operations. Many structures, however, have also been caught off guard.
All work in the social sector has migrated to more remote, telecommuting work, like many other sectors of our economy.
This hybridization between face-to-face and distance learning continues today.
How social workers and associations dealt with the health crisis
The use of digital tools is not entirely new among social workers.
"Until then, the dominant representations cast doubt on the ability of social workers to appropriate these technologies, or even their reluctance to use them.The health crisis and the need to telework have highlighted another side of the delay of social workers in the appropriation of digital technology, which cannot be attributed to them: the lack of equipment. Some services, institutions, and communities had already started plans to equip and train social workers a long time ago, while others found themselves faced with their lack of anticipation.
Following this report, the HCTS recommends (this is the ninth of its 12 recommendations) to promote a better use of digital tools:
- By equipping social workers with efficient and mobile equipment (smartphone, tablet, computer, VPN);
- By developing digital access methods for the poor: free Wi-Fi, social pricing, donation of reconditioned equipment, etc. ;
- By developing the network of digital mediators and the cooperation between them and social workers.
Référence :
Containment: how "remote volunteering" has taken hold in the nonprofit world
Digital technology has allowed many associations and their volunteers to maintain their activities by avoiding certain trips, synonymous with risks in the circumstances of COVID-19.Two thirds of volunteers in associations have practiced remote volunteering, "tele-volunteering" during the crisis, according to a study by Recherches & Solidarités. The survey of 2,365 volunteers conducted between April and May 2020 by Recherches & Solidarités paints a picture of volunteers who have engaged in tele-volunteering during the crisis.
The report shows that 67% of the volunteers surveyed volunteered on the phone during the lockdown: 17% for the first time, 27% more than usual and 23% as usual (23%).
How digital technology has enabled social centers to develop solidarity during confinement
The Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Pays Picards Federations of social centers draws up, in turn, an assessment of the role of social centers in Hauts de France during the period of confinement.In the Hauts de France, "from the first days of the confinement, the social centers, despite the closure to the public, and without masking the vulnerabilities caused by this health crisis, have maintained for 90% of them the link to the inhabitants, especially with the most vulnerable. They have been able to use digital technology to develop local solidarity": equipment for under-equipped families, a permanent local link with residents, a reinforced "outreach" at home and in the public space, support for the self-organization of solidarity projects by residents, 3D printers to support solidarity actions, maintaining, despite everything, support for employment, socio-cultural and leisure activities "online".
"The first observation is that the network was not at the same point at the beginning: lack of computer equipment in the social centers' teams, no culture of remote work, territories where a digital practice had been established, often in connection with the "connected social centers" approach, and others where the practice had yet to emerge... The second observation concerns the reappearance of a problem that seemed to have been more or less solved: that of families' access to adapted equipment.The forced shift to paperless access to services has added an additional difficulty for people who do not master digital tools
The White Paper "Digital and Human Fragility" published by the French National Agency for Active Solidarity (ANSA) and the Sopra-Steria Foundation, discusses the ambivalence of digital technology in the context of the health crisis: "facilitating links for some and revealing exclusion for others"."The closure of public reception centres has led to a breakdown in rights and has weighed on people's financial resources. The forced transition to dematerialized access to services has added an additional difficulty for people who do not master digital tools, such as certain elderly people, or parents who need support for their children's distance learning.Based on a survey of social workers and digital mediators (335 responses), the White Paper traces how social workers, both volunteers and professionals, have had to cope with the health crisis, both in their private lives and in their activities (closure of physical reception areas).
73% of survey participants believe that the health crisis has strengthened the role of digital technology in supporting the most vulnerable.
83% declare that they have had to support people who have difficulty with digital technology: people who are already familiar with it but who are more numerous and who need to ask for more help (the elderly, young people, families, people with digital difficulties or people with disabilities), but also new people
43% say they have accompanied people who were not used to approaching services or seeking their help.
How social action has migrated to digital and remote support
In a report submitted to the government, based on a survey of many social service providers, WeTechCare shows "how digital technology has enabled social workers to maintain internal activity, disseminate information to the public, provide remote support (especially with the return of the telephone) and, for some, train their public in digital technology in order to give them long-term capacity. The adaptability and creativity of these structures, which were few in number to have initiated their digital transformation, is particularly interesting.Social actors have often shown remarkable agility in adapting to the context and maintaining their operations. Many structures, however, have also been caught off guard.
All work in the social sector has migrated to more remote, telecommuting work, like many other sectors of our economy.
This hybridization between face-to-face and distance learning continues today.
Labo Société Numérique


