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The article offers information on the "Journal of Technology in Human Services" and issues related to human services as of October 2017. Topics covered include minimal professional intervention required by information and communication technology interventions in the actual implementation process, contribution of social media to various social work processes, and the impact of the fast-changing technology landscape on human service education.

Little is understood about the scope of information and communication technology (ICT) use in practice for agency-based social work professionals, and still less is known about how such practitioners acquire and avail themselves of opportunities to learn about ICT tools. This study asked a sample of social work field supervisors (n = 371) to describe their personal and professional ICT use, to rank the technological sophistication of their agency, to describe the barriers and facilitators to ICT use in their organizations and to operationalize environmental opportunities for acquiring new skills and knowledge. The authors examine factors that may influence technology use: asking if organizational culture is related to uptake in the professional context, and if self-reported individual resistance to innovation and change can explain voluntary adoption of ICT tools. The results offer a portrait of how agency-based social workers are using technology in personal and professional life, describe how these supervisors learn about developing technologies for practice, and highlight the gaps in technology infrastructures among agencies, pointing to directions for further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A century ago, Abraham Flexner offered his perspective on the nascent field of social work, describing the field as educationally unfocused, too diversified in its practices, and too relational or assistive to other fields to meet the criteria for professional status. Using the example of the imperative to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into social work practice, we examine the ways these 100-year-old challenges persist as well as how they are being challenged and reworked. Drawing on three central themes from Flexner--education, diversity of professional settings and functions, and the relational nature of the work--we examine the absence of ICTs in social work practice, arguing that a lack of curricular exposure to ICT tools, strategies, and thinking at the BSW and MSW levels and a failure to incorporate these technologies with clients, agencies, and communities leads to a damaging disjunction between professionals and a changing culture. We suggest that the challenge proffered to social work by technology provides a radical opportunity to create a more socially just practice, offer a preliminary list of best practices for approaching ICT integration, and make suggestions for further inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented that focuses on electronic research or digital research methods for improving and expanding the collective understanding of how to maximize research potentials within and allied to new systems, including the use of digitals to improve the performance of research teams, the use of text messaging to boost responses in survey research, and the use of mobile smart phones for collecting qualitative data.

The article highlights the 2-day colloquium held by Helen Rehr Center for Social Work Practice in New York titled "Social Work Practice in the Digital Age." The colloquim addressed challenges, opportunities and future steps for social workers as they incorporate technological innovations in health care and social service into their profession. One of the initiatives from the colloquium was the creation of a Task Force to raise awareness on issues related to the use of digital technology.