Call for Contributions – Assignment Compendium for Book on Teaching Social Work with Digital Technology

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Jul 14, 2015

Dear Social Work Colleague,

You are invited to contribute to an assignment appendix on a book that is tentatively titled Teaching Social Work with Digital Technology, due to be published with CSWE Press in 2016. The book authors are Laurel Hitchcock, Melanie Sage, and Nancy Smyth. The deadline for submissions is September 30, 2015.

The assignment appendix will be resource of contributed assignments or class activities that either educate about, or rely on the use of, technology in social work practice and education. We welcome contributions in which technology plays a supporting role or where technology competency is the practice outcome. For example, assignments may instruct students to: 1) develop a press release about research and announce it via social media: 2) use a videolog to demonstrate a clinical technique; or 3) use Twitter to communicate with a policy-based agency. We expect to include about 50 contributions. This appendix of assignments will be divided by curricular areas (Practice, HBSE, Policy, Research, and Field Education). We envision the appendix as an important resource for educators of all proficiency levels. Each assignment contribution should be about one page; contributions may be edited for clarity or space. You can submit as many assignments as you would like. Please submit each assignment separately. A sample assignment is available at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ro4qy5z0ay8xodm/sample.pdf.

Please submit your contribution at this website: https://und.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1HSOGmgInnDPSnP.  At the site, you will be asked to give the submission a title, identify the social work curricular area, practice competencies, to explain the assignment as you would to a student (300-600 words), provide the time and technology requirements, and note any other necessary information for instructors.

Personal Learning Networks for Social Workers

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Jul 1, 2015

Actually, you probably already have a professional learning network (PLN) of your own, and didn’t even notice it.  A professional learning network (also known as a personalized learning network) includes the tools and processes used by a social worker to stay up-to-date and share information about current news, practice knowledge and the latest research findings. Prior to the explosion in online content and tools, a PLN might have included an article from trusted daily newspaper or a print version of a child welfare journal, which you photocopied to share with employees or colleagues (or if you are a social work educator, with students as part of a class discussion). Today, a PLN exists when a social worker uses social media to collect information related to professional interests, shares this information with others, and also collaborates with others on projects (Richardson & Manacebelli, 2011). For example, a social worker’s PLN might include the use of email alerts from online newspapers, blogs and scholarly journals to receive updates about child welfare research, and then shares this information with employees, colleagues or students via Twitter or a curated list on Diigo, a social bookmarking tool.

There are many benefits to developing a digital PLN with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn:

– First, you can develop a network of trusted resources (individuals, organizations and publishers) that you can access at almost anytime. While learning from other professionals is nothing new, social media expands the number and variety of content, people and groups that you can access such as professionals from other countries, open-access peer-reviewed scholarship, and first-hand accounts of other people’s experiences. Because social media platforms are available 24/7, you can connect with your network when you want and from most any digital device including a laptop, tablet or smart phone.

– Second, you can easily stay up-to-date on any professional interest, quickly add or expand an interest on your network. For example, if you are interested in homelessness, you might start by following local and national housing advocacy agencies on Twitter and, in the process, you might discover individuals who are tweeting about their personal experiences with homelessness.

Financial Social Work: An Emergent Macro Practice Discipline #MacroSW 6/11 at 8 PM CST

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Jun 5, 2015

Join #MacroSW Twitter chat partner Sunya Folayan,MSW, ACSW @SunyaFolayan as she interviews her mentor and friend Reeta Wolfsohn, MSW, CMSW @FinancialMSW, the visionary founder of Financial Social Work and the Financial Therapy Network.

Financial Social Work is an emergent Macro practice discipline that is gaining traction within the profession. Financial Social Work is now in the new Oxford Encyclopedia of Social Work.The mission of Financial Social Work (FSW) is to empower social workers and their clients to establish healthy money habits that lead to long-term financial security. FSW’s interactive, introspective behavioral model is strengths based and heavily psychosocial. The certification and client programs incorporate an on-going process of education, motivation and support which contribute to personal growth and improved financial well-being.

The Financial Therapy Network  is where Financial Wellness Begins for consumers. The network includes:

– An online self-help program “My Money Myself” based on the philosophy of Financial Social Work.

– Online Financial Support Groups that offer unique and life changing occasions for women to spend time in a safe and supportive environment with others in similar circumstances.

Taking a Media Savvy Social Work Course: A Student’s Perspective from Dottie-Jean Turenne

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on May 27, 2015

Ms. Alyssa Lotmore, from the School of Social Welfare at the University at Albany and the co-host of The Social Workers Radio Talk Show, recently wrote about her media savvy social work course. This courses helps students learn beneficial skills about seeing the public as the client and using the media to reach those who may never had considered seeing or using a social worker. As a follow-up to Ms. Lotmore’s post, I asked one her students, Dottie-Jean Turenne, to share her thoughts on the course, what it was like to use media as a social work student, and how the knowledge and skills from the course might be incorporated in her future role as a social worker. Here are Dottie-Jean’s responses to my questions:

1, What interested you in taking this class in the first place?
As you watch the news or read stories online, you often hear social workers being stigmatized as only child protective service workers (CPS) or that they only provide services to the poor, however, as this is incorrect. Social workers are not regularly recognized for the inspiration and empowerment they provide to all vulnerable populations. Taking this course became an interest of mine, once I realized that I could use media to be a strong voice. I could use my voice not only as an advocate, but to show the world the true meaning of being a social worker and the passion we have to empower others.

2. What was your initial reaction to interviewing individuals for the radio, podcasts or other public presentations?
I have always had a fear of public speaking, so initially I was nervous at the thought of interviewing individuals for the radio. To overcome these feelings, I found it most helpful to become familiar with the specific topic and to be prepared with strong questions. In my first interview, I had some great responses to the guest, but the lack of confidence was clear during the first part of the show. However, once I became comfortable with being on the radio, my confidence begin to build.