Articles contributed by Iriss for the Webwatch section of Care Appointments magazine.
DirectScot is an experimental prototype of a public service website for Scotland. Developed by the Scottish Government, it is a response to the ongoing debate on how government services can be delivered more efficiently in the digital age.
Community Catalysts is a Community Interest Company established in January 2010 by and working in close partnership with the charity Shared Lives Plus, an organisation that promotes the effective provision of accommodation, care and support for vulnerable adults within very small-scale family and community settings. Community Catalysts works to harness the talents of people and communities to provide imaginative solutions to social issues and care needs, giving them greater choice in the way they live their lives.
bespoken is a social media website dedicated to building a community that aims to include disabled people in the design of everyday household products from their own homes, and where they can share ideas and tips on how to overcome everyday challenges that are faced with appliances and technology.
SWAPBox is a digital repository that brings together open educational resources - social work and social policy learning and teaching materials - that can be freely used and repurposed for use with students in the classroom or in working practice. Examples of some of these materials includes handouts, exercises, podcasts and videos.
Glasgow is one of the cities hosting Social Media Week (#socialmediaweek), which will take place from 19-23 September 2011. The week will focus on exploring how local and regional societies, cultures and economies are becoming more integrated and empowered through a global network of communication.
Most of us create documents (usually in Word) and circulate them by email to colleagues for comment. This generates many versions of the document on various computers along with a chaotic trail of email correspondence. Someone then has the cumbersome and time-consuming job of coordinating and synthesising all the comments.
With the ever-increasing emphasis on the collection of data around social services, the sector has seen an increasing need for greater data literacy in order to effectively provide insight into key sector information for all levels of staff, users of service and their carers and families.
Do you live in a remote location or attend a lot of meetings and find that copious amounts of time and energy is wasted on travel when you could be doing something more productive? If so, Skype could make your life easier and save you time.
A project managed by the charity, Rock Trust, and funded by Communities Scotland, Scottish Social Networks has been created in response to recommendations in the Homelessness Task Force Final Report to raise awareness of the need for positive social networks and to support the development and integration of befriending, mentoring and mediation services for people affected by homelessness or at risk of homelessness.
I think it would be fair to say that a lot of people approach Twitter a little sceptically. To an extent, popular culture will have us believe that it is all about sharing trivial information, such as where you are having coffee or what you are having for dinner in the evening. While some people use Twitter to share the mundane, there are as many individuals and organisations using it to share valuable information on all sorts of disciplines, one of these being social work.
