Application of modern technology in the practice of social work from the perspective of social work students: Self-assessment of digital competencies

U suvremeno doba internet i moderne tehnologije su dio svakodnevice i koriste se u svim sferama društva. Ovim radom nastoji se dobiti uvid u primjenu modernih tehnologija u praksi socijalnog rada iz perspektive studenata socijalnog rada. Cilj je bio utvrditi samoprocjenu digitalnih kompetencija studenata socijalnog rada te procjenu buduće primjene modernih tehnologija u praksi socijalnog rada. U sklopu ovog rada ispitana su osobna obilježja koja uključuju dob, godinu studija i educiranost o modernim tehnologijama, te obilježja korištenja interneta koja obuhvaćaju broj profila na društvenim mrežama, dob otvaranja prvog profila na društvenim mrežama te dnevno korištenje interneta. U istraživanju je sudjelovao 71 student socijalnog rada s Pravnog fakulteta, Studijskog centra socijalnog rada u Zagrebu. Metoda prikupljanja podataka bila je web-anketa, a mjerni instrument anketni upitnik osmišljen u svrhu ovog istraživanja. Rezultati su pokazali da sudionici procjenjuju svoje digitalne kompetencije prilično visoko, te većina smatra primjenu modernih tehnologija potrebnim u budućoj praksi socijalnog rada. Zaključak je da je potreba za primjenom modernih tehnologija postala sve prisutnija u socijalnom radu, te je s time potreba za informiranjem i educiranjem na ovom području velika i potrebna na svim razinama sustava.In modern times, the internet and modern technologies are part of everyday life and are used in all spheres of society. This paper seeks to gain insight into the application of modern technologies in social work practice from the perspective of social work students. The aim was to determine the self-assessment of digital competences of social work students and to evaluate the future application of modern technologies in social work practice. This paper examines personal characteristics that include age, year of study and education in modern technologies, as well as Internet usage characteristics, which include the number of profiles on social networks, age of opening the first profile on social networks, and daily use of the Internet. In the research participated 71 students of social work from the Pravni fakultet Sveučilišta Zagrebu, Studijski centar socijalnog rada. The method of data collection was a web-based survey, and a measuring instrument is a questionnaire designed for the purpose of this research. The results show that the participants evaluate their digital competences quite high, and most consider the use of modern technologies necessary in the future practice of social work. The conclusion is that the need for the application of modern technologies has become more and more prevalent in social work, and thus the need for information and education in this field is great and necessary at all levels of the system