Digital Technologies in Human Services - Micro-credential

Overview

Why should I take this Micro-credential?  

• The digital skill needs of professionals are increasing at pace as our use of digital technologies intensifies as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

• Supported by a European and national policy agenda driving digital transformation, human services are increasingly delivered using such technologies such as video conferencing and social media. Services management too draws on digital technologies such as big data and machine learning.

• This digital transformation requires ongoing technical skill upgrading for all workers e.g. learning new systems and packages. For human service professionals and managers, it also requires new thinking on how to build and protect relationships in a digital environment.

• This Digital Technologies in Human Services - Micro-credential at Trinity College Dublin aims to increase learners’ awareness of the types of digital technologies used in human services with an emphasis on information and communication technologies,

• Learners will evaluate the positive and negative impacts associated with the use of digital technologies in human services and consider issues such as privacy, confidentiality, boundary management and surveillance.

What will I do? 

• You will learn about the types of digital technologies used in human services delivery and management and the factors driving the use of these technologies. You will apply this learning to the human services settings you are familiar with – what technologies do they use, what is driving this use?

• You will learn about the distinctiveness of human services and how this impacts on technology use. You will discuss with other learners – why is a social worker’s use of technology different to a car mechanic’s use of technology?

• You will learn how to access current research from around the world on the impacts of digital technologies on key stakeholders such as service users and professionals. You will accumulate an evidence base to help you analyse – what are positive and negative impacts of a specific digital technology?

• You will engage directly with the benefits and challenges of the use of specific digital technologies in a specific human service, for a current, or future, employment or volunteering setting.