3.Why Digital

         

After looking at the Skills for care infographic I thought of how I use ICT in my workplace and at home. I thought of  how I felt my computer skills and capabilities matched up with the results percentages in the infographic . Some of the things I looked at on the survey were what was my  perception of my skills, what I use technology for and what stops me using technology in the workplace. 

The results on the survey were as follows :perception of skills 90% of staff were confident in their own basic skills with 52% of managers feeling staff did not having sufficient skills. Looking at my digital skills I do not feel competent ,I would have to put myself in the 10% bracket and say I am learning a bit at a time. My manager would agree with me as we have had this discussion at a recent PPDS meeting. This is why I am doing the SSSC Digital badges so that I can build confidence and be more competent at developing ICT things at work. At home I use a mobile phone for calls, video chat with family and I am on Facebook and Instagram. These apps are one click away and easy for me to navigate.

What is Digital technology used for :75 % use digital technology to record/manage delivery of care and 50% use digital technology with people they support. At work I take pictures on an iPad  whilst  the children's are learning and store these pictures on a computer for each child to have a  folder of  their development. I also use an eye gaze unit as well as a tobii communicator with children for them to communicate their needs and wants. I have a basic understanding of these as I have had inhouse training on them. So I am in the 75% and 50% spectrum of this statement. 

What stops the use of Digital technology in the workplace?.In the survey staffs concerns from a small minority were that they would spend less time with the people they support and a small proportion were concerned about online security. From my point of view in my role as an Early Years Practitioner  I feel I use digital technology when it is required too but would always look for other ways of doing things and if there was another option I would go for that. That is to do with my competence and confidence. I am aware of using different passwords for each site and looking for a padlock on the http bar for added security.

To assess how I felt when using Digital technology I used the why digital self assessment  on the SSSC webpage. The scorings ratings  they give are 

 1 - Very Low 2 - Low 3 - Average 4 - High 5 – Very High 

In the areas of 
Capability – the extent to which you feel you have a broad range of digital capabilities and skills. 

Confidence – the extent to which you feel you have the confidence to apply your digital capabilities. 

Relevance – the extent to which you feel that your digital capabilities are relevant to your current role. 

I would score myself  Capability 3,Confidence 3 and Relevance 3.So I feel I am really average and have a long way to go for improvement .

I hope that I can look back at this blog in a years time and be able to give myself higher scorings by  have completing more SSSC digital badges and hopefully my workforce will provide me with some inhouse computer training. This will make me more confident and more capable to  apply my  new found digital knowledge as I gain it. By being better at sharing and accessing digital records of the children in my establishment I will be better at achieving a holistic care plan with others so the users in the service benefits. 


Skills for care infographic can be found her :http://23digital.sssc.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Digital-capabilities-infographic.pdf
 
The self assessment score sheet can be found here : http://23digital.sssc.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Thing-3-Why-Digital-Self-Assessment.pdf