#SWDE2019 – Incorporating Technology into Social Justice Assignments for Social Work Education
Today is Day One of the fifth annual Social Work Distance Education Conference at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio, TX. The wonderful faculty and staff at Our Lady of the Lake University Worden School of Social Service are once again hosting this wonderful conference. This year’s theme focuses on how pedagogy in social work education can advance social justice. With our new book out, Teaching Social Work with Digital Technology, Melanie Sage, Nancy Smyth, and I decided to share some insights from Chapter 4 about how Puentedura’s SAMR Model for Technology Integration can be used to incorporate technology into traditional social justice assignments in social work education. We are presenting at 3:00 PM CST in the Jones Room.
For those of you who can’t make the presentation, we are including the details in this blog post.
First, you can access the slides here:
Second, we will be sharing one handout which you can download here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O3ASpeAcWKSBGDEi7Cizbcn_XtUHSZWb/view?usp=sharing
Finally, here is our conference proposal:
Abstract: The purpose of this workshop is show how to incorporate the use of technology into social work assignments that focus on social justice across the curriculum. We will provide a brief overview of teaching with technology before focusing on how to infuse technology into an assignment, providing examples for social justice focused assignments. Participants will learn to identify ways to substitute, augment, modify or redefine existing learning strategies and assignments with technology-mediated learning strategies and assignments, and leave the workshop with ideas and possible assignments that use technology to meet the learning needs identified in their syllabus.
All social work educators, especially those early in their careers, find themselves teaching from syllabi they had no role in developing. Although there are many benefits to the “hand-me-down” syllabus, one of the limitations is that assignments are rarely updated to reflect the realities of the 21st century workplace, which now includes the use of technology to achieve practice outcomes for clients and organizations. The purpose of this workshop is show how to incorporate the use of technology into social work assignments that focus on social justice across the curriculum.
We will introduce the workshop participants to Ruben Puentedura’s (2013a; 2013b) SAMR Model for Technology Integration, which provides a guide to adapting assignments and learning activities for technology-mediated use, regardless of the curricular content. The model identifies hierarchical levels of technology adaptation that range from using technology to enhance an assignment at the lowest end of the spectrum to incorporating technology in such a way that the learning activity is transformed into something new at the highest end. While an assignment can be adapted at any level of the model, some tech-enhanced modifications serve only replace one traditional tool, like a class role play, for another tool, such as a YouTube video of a role play. Other modifications change the assignment entirely and push students toward higher levels of thinking needed for digital literacy. The SAMR model can help social work educators reflect and evaluate how they are incorporating technology into a seated, hybrid or online classroom, across a range of assignments and activities.
There are two ways that the SMAR Model can help a social work educator enhance or transform an assignment with technology. First, the model promotes the development of digital literacy through the transformation of assignments and learning activities. Belshaw (2014) suggests that true digital literacy comes when an individual can effectively use digital tools, while also understanding the content and context associated with those tools. Second, the SAMR model supports the gradual inclusion of technology into a class assignment over time, giving the educator the opportunity to pilot test new technology tools and to experiment with an assignment from semester to semester. By taking measured steps in transforming an assignment, educators can improve their own technology skills without overwhelming students with complex assignments beyond their skill levels.
In this workshop, we will provide a brief overview of teaching with technology before focusing on how to infuse technology into an assignment, providing examples for social justice focused assignments. Participants will learn to identify ways to substitute, augment, modify or redefine existing learning strategies and assignments with technology-mediated learning strategies and assignments. By the end of the workshop, participants will have ideas and possible assignments that use technology to meet the learning needs identified in their syllabus.
References:
Belshaw, D. (2014). The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies. Retrieved from:
http://digitalliteraci.es/
Puentedura, R. (2013a). SAMR: A contextualized introduction. Retrieved from: http://hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2014/01/15/SAMRABriefContextualizedIntrodu ction.pdf
Puentedura, R. (2013b). The SAMR Ladder: Questions and Transitions. Retrieved from http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2013/10/26/SAMRLadder_Questions.pdf
Puentedura, R. (2014). SAMR and Bloom’s Taxonomy: Assembling the Puzzle. Retrieved from: https://www.graphite.org/blog/samr-and-blooms-taxonomy-assembling-the-puzzle
How to cite this blog post:
Hitchcock, L.I., Sage, M. & Smyth, N.J. (2019, April 10). #SWDE2019 – Incorporating Technology into Social Justice Assignments for Social Work Education [Blog Post]. Retrieved from:
https://laureliversonhitchcock.org/2019/04/10/swde2019smarforsocialjustice/
