digitalization, social experiment, social work education, COVID-19 pandemic

The paper presents the results of the interdisciplinary research project Smart technologies for the improvement of quality of life in cities and regions, in which the authors launched a social experiment in the Czech Republic during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the social experiment was to prevent digital exclusion in the population groups most at risk of “digital exclusion”. These are (1) vulnerable families and their children and (2) the older people. One of the findings is that in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Czech social work with the mentioned target groups, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) became a used tool of provided interventions. According to the experience of social workers, ICT should only serve as a complement to the existing forms of intervention. The activities of the interdisciplinary research project have an impact not only on the practice of social work, but also on the education of social workers at the Faculty of Social Studies at the University of Ostrava. Based on the knowledge from the social experiment, bachelor's students are offered the subject “Information and Communication Technology in Social Work”, the purpose of which is for the student to know and understand the role of ICT in social work. There is also another subject “Modern technologies, innovations and research in social work with seniors”, the purpose of which is for students to gain an overview of modern technologies and innovations in practice and research in social work with older people and be able to evaluate their benefits and limits. The findings from the researches carried out by the Faculty of Social Studies University of Ostrava are reflected in the bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree education in the social work.