Digital skills during pandemic times: an analysis of the training experience in Social Work

Abstract

The pandemic context in the last two years accelerated the digital transition process already recommended by the European Commission and contemplated by Portugal in its Action Plan for Digital Transition. This contingency required a rapid adaptation and teaching was one of the most affected areas. This article aims to present the vision and experience of teachers of Social Work courses in Portugal, on how digital technologies have been and can be leveraged. A qualitative method was chosen through semi-structured interviews with seven higher education teachers from three of the four regions of Portugal (NUTS II). The results indicate that there were differences in the way digital technologies were introduced and which were the advantages and disadvantages felt by teachers, and refer us to a process of adaptation and development of planning strategies and tools with an adequate structure of technical support and continuous training.