Technology-supported learning and teaching in social work in the UK: a critical overview of the past, present and possible futures

This paper uses the authors' extensive involvement in e-learning development activities in social care and social work education since the 1990s to explore trends and developments in uptake of technologies for learning and teaching. The paper utilises predictions of papers and reports written between five and ten years ago to critically reflect on past, present and possible future developments for technology use in the sector. The paper tracks milestones in the authors' experiences and reports on evaluative activity associated with later projects that offers some insights into technological preferences of educators, as well as highlighting wider issues in higher education and society impacting use of technologies by both staff and students. The paper's final section touches on a small selection of areas of technology development that may impact the sector and closes with a cautionary view of the ethical minefield posed by personal and professional use of Internet tools and sites