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

Podcasting for Social Work Students, Part 1 – Describing the Assignment

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Jan 16, 2014

One of my favorite technology-based assignments is the student-created podcast in my BSW macro social work class.  My motivation for this assignment originated several years ago from a very selfish desire to grade something beside another written research paper.   I was not looking to eliminate writing from my courses or minimize its importance for college students and professional social workers.  I wanted another way meet the needs of an organizational assessment assignment that was engaging and challenging for the students (and for me) in a course that already had two major writing assignments.  The idea for a podcast assignment came from a colleague in the English Department who asked students in introductory writing classes to create a podcast instead of a paper and then write a self-reflection about the process.  He contended that the students had to complete the same amount of research and apply the same critical thinking skills to complete the podcast as writing a paper.  He convinced me to try it, arguing if the assignment bombed I could easily go back to a written paper and quietly ignore any comments on my student evaluations.  Seven semesters later, podcasts have become an integral assignment in my course.