#MacroSW Live Twitter Chat on 10/28/14

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Oct 3, 2014

Jimmy Young (@Jimmysw) and I (@laurelhitchcock) have designed a social media assignment for social work students that involve students watching a documentary and then participating in a live Twitter chat. The assignment is meant for a policy or macro class and involves students watching the documentary Inequality for All, and then participating in a live Twitter chat on October 28^th at 9pm Eastern Standard Time. We have partnered with the wonderful folks that conduct the #MacroSW chat for this special event and will be using their hashtag #MacroSW to facilitate the live chat.

We are interested in piloting this assignment in classrooms across the country and hope that other social work or human service educators might participate by including the assignment in class and providing feedback. Of course if you would rather just join the Live Chat only, that would be wonderful as we hope to have many individuals participate.

Twitter for Social Work Student Organizations

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Sep 11, 2014

About two weeks ago Cyber Social Worker (@CyberSocialWork) sent me a direct message via Twitter asking if and how I work with social work student organizations to use social media, specifically Twitter.  The short answer was…well, not really…but what a great idea!  I immediately sent a tweet to the student social work organizations that I was already following on Twitter, asking how they engaged via social media.  Then, I created a public list of Social Work Students Organizations for my Twitter profile.  While a few dedicated student groups responded, I had only five organizations to add to my list.  Is this because I am not very connected in the Twitterverse, especially with social work student organizations? Or maybe student groups in social work are just not using Twitter?  Maybe they are on Facebook or Instagram? Or are they organizing the old-school way with paper and pens in an empty classroom after hours? Social work students and educators may be missing an opportunity here.

AL Fall Child Welfare Conference 2014: Professional & Ethical Use of Social Media in Social Work Practice

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Aug 28, 2014

Today I am presenting today at the Thirteenth Annual Fall Social Work Conference sponsored by the University of Alabama’s School of Social Work and the State of Alabama Department of Human Resources in Birmingham, AL.  The purpose of this post is to provide supplemental information for today’s presentation. My session will focus on the need for social workers to be aware of and adept at using social media for professional practice, focusing on knowledge, and values.  The learning objectives for the participants include:

1.Explain why social workers need to understand social media and digital literacy
2.Discuss the knowledge, skills and values associated with professional use of social media
3.Reflect on own use social media in a professional context

Feedback from the summer on Remind, a free messaging service

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Aug 21, 2014

Remind: www.remind.com

About two weeks ago, I finished up an online summer course where I used Remind, a free texting service, to keep students updated about the course. I have previously written about texting with students, and I think it’s a useful tool for social work educators.  I learned about how to use Remind from Dr. Natalie Jones who wrote a blog post for me about her experiences with the service in her online and face-to-face courses.  I was open to trying Remind myself because of research that suggests students who take online courses  highly value course announcements and reminders (Ausburn, 2004). While I frequently respond to students who text me, I was anxious to learn if students would want or appreciate the group text messages.

When Technology and Social Work assemble in Higher Education – Using Remind 101 by Dr. Nathalie P. Jones

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Jun 10, 2014

Dr. Nathalie P. Jones

Nathalie P. Jones, PhD, MSW is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Tarleton State University.  In this blog post, Dr. Jones writes about her experiences using a free texting services for educators, Remind 101, with her BSW students.  

As a college professor, I have been on a quest to implement technology within social work courses. Particularly, I have become very fluent with the use of Remind 101. This platform provides the option to text learners who are currently enrolled in my online Working with Aging Populations course which equips learners to provide services and advocate for individuals who are in the later life phase. Most of these learners are classified as non-traditional who are usually working during the day and completing homework assignments during the evenings. In the online setting, when I post announcements in the course room, I use Remind 101 to provide a follow up text message to prompt the learners’ attention.  The benefits of Remind 101 include providing opportunities for me to send out last minute reminders, assignment extensions and class cancellations. During my current course, I have not experienced any challenges.