English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Free Plan

There is increasing evidence of the information and communication technologies (ICTs) being used to transform many of the activities that occupy people in their day-to-day lives (Harris, 1999). At the very least, the so-called 'Information Society' (which the ICTs have enabled) complements traditional ways in which people learn, and share or exchange information. The Information Society, also offers the potential for improvements to the social economy at the local level, including the availability of local information, thus minimising the referred costs of certain social needs (Harris, 1999). Here, the 'Information Society' refers to the community members' information capability, and consists of a combination of information awareness, ability to access information, and skills in exploiting information through the use of the 'new technologies' (e.g., the use of the Personal Computer and the employment of computer software applications to speedily share and distribute information) (Harris, 1999). This paper reports on a project conducted by a team of Central Queensland University researchers which explored the efficacy of a particular approach to addressing the specific informational needs of a community of education professionals. These professionals worked in a regional Queensland state school which participated in the Social Well-being in Mackay Schools (SWIMS) program. Briefly, the SWIMS program was concerned with developing a model for service delivery to children and families presenting 'at risk' within formal educational settings. The development of the CD-ROM was part of a wider process, which included consultation and the application of community development principles, research into what constituted the informational needs of a particular community of professionals, and evaluating the impact of the resource CD-ROM. Simply stated, the research problem consisted of how to effectively address the identified informational needs of education professionals who encountered a variety of issues stemming from children and families presenting at risk. The professionals were mainly concerned to understand the relevant formal state support systems, and to have ready access to information about the support systems and networks in their regional area. In response to these identified needs, a resource kit was collated and then stored in digital format on a CD-ROM, which was then distributed to all teachers in one of the schools participating in the SWIMS program. The perceived usefulness of the CD-ROM to address their informational needs and to build their capacity to deal with at risk issues was then evaluated through a questionnaire. The data that this questionnaire yielded revealed that the teachers found the CD-ROM to be useful, and that it addressed their informational needs and made them aware of relevant services and resources in the local community. In the following sections we discuss the context of the project; we outline how the informational and resource needs of a group of education professionals were researched; we detail the process of (and means employed in) developing the resource CD-ROM; and, we summarise the results of the CD-ROM evaluation questionnaire. We conclude from our research that the approach developed would serve as an effective model for identifying and addressing communities' informational needs in a way that is relevant to them. However, further work is needed to refine and develop this model and identify further factors which might affect its impact when implemented in other contexts. Discussion The Context In Australia, the numbers of young persons on care and protection orders and the numbers in out-of-home care are on the increase. For example, over the period from June 1997 to June 2001, the numbers of children on care and protection orders increased from 15,718 to 19,783, and the numbers of children in out-of-home care increased from 14,078 to 18,241 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2002). …

The SWIMS CD-ROM Pilot: Using Community Development Principles and Technologies of the Information Society to Address Identified Informational Needs