SMART WELFARE: THE WORK OF THE EDUCATOR AT THE TIME OF COVID-19

Abstract

The field of socio-educational services is focused on the value of relationships, proximity, support and intervention on site, at home or in users’ facilities, and all those elements are difficult to convert digitally. Nevertheless, during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, smart working also became part of the everyday life of social educators. This study discusses the role of technology in the work of the educator during the pandemic period and possible future developments. The study offers an insight into the influence of Covid-19 on socio-educational services, focusing on the function of technology both in maintaining contact with the users where the service was suspended and in reshaping the assistance that continued to be provided. The research study highlights that, despite the challenges and the initial disorientation faced by educators, digital technologies can constitute important working tools to assure the continuity of the pedagogical relationship also in the socio-educational and care contexts.

Keywords

• Professional Educator
• Covid-19
• Smart Welfare
• Educational Technologies
• Educational Work
• Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL)