Distance education (DE) is one of the most important ways in which future social workers can complete their MSW degree. With a reach to multiple populations, DE is especially suited to the field of social work, allowing rural, working, and financially-strained individuals to complete degrees and provide important services to underserved communities. In this comprehensive and well-organized guide to understanding and implementing distance education components into social work, pioneering professors explain how to administer DE components, discuss the adjustments and rewards of the DE teaching experience, evaluate the benefits for both students and teachers, and address evolving issues in the field. In addition, readers will be introduced to the latest audio-visual, computer -mediated, and computer-assisted modalities now in use as applied to distance education. From audio and visual teleconferencing to e-mail, networks, and web based courses, we are exposed to the current and future trends and possibilities in DE programs.

This book was written to help social work educators make pedagogically sound, rational, practical, and ethical decisions about integrating technology into their social work programs and across the curriculum. It covers a range of essential topics, from understanding digital literacy skills to ethical implications for technology in social work practice; from technology in the traditional classroom to fully online teaching environments. Case studies, real-world examples, and technology tips are part of each chapter, and checklists show how technology is integrated with the Council on Social Work Education's EPAS competencies, the NASW's Code of Ethics, and other social work practice standards and guidelines. Appendices provide a wealth of practical materials.

This handbook provides an authoritative account of social work field education in the global south. It presents an overview of various aspects of theory and practice modules in the social work curriculum and advances in research in social work field education in the developing world through in-depth analyses and global case studies. Key features: • Discusses critical issues and new directions in the theory and practice of social work field education, challenges in field work education, decolonising field work training, developing competent social work graduates, aligning fieldwork with cultural practices in indigenous communities, the idea of clinical social work, and a comparative analysis of social work field supervision. • Integrates theory and practice of social work field education for students and teachers from diverse geographical and cultural contexts across the global south, including countries from South Asia and Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean, covering India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Georgia, Philippine, Turkey, Papua New Guinea, Eswatini, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Chile, and Barbados. • Brings together international comparative perspectives on field work education in social work from leading experts, social work educators, and social work professionals. This handbook will be an essential resource for scholars and researchers of social work, development studies, social anthropology, sociology, education, South Asian studies, and Global South studies. It will also be useful to educators and practitioners of social work in global institutions of higher studies as well as civil society organisations.

Over the past few years, numerous highly ranked, Tier 1 universities across the United States have embraced the development of advanced online degrees, a niche of secondary education long held by a small group of private, for-profit universities. Rapid advances in online learning technology, increasingly sophisticated, and easy to use ‘learning management systems’ and ‘anytime, anywhere access’ has dramatically increase the demand of individuals, mostly full time employed, working professionals. This volume addresses the dramatic changes that are occurring in social work pedagogy as more schools develop online programs. The University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak Peck School of Social Work launched their ‘Virtual Academic Center’ with a cohort of 80 online students. The program has now reached a ‘steady state’ of 2,200 ‘virtual’ students now representing two thirds of their MSW student population. Additionally, the school launched a doctorate of social work degree with a focus on leading and managing innovation, leading public discourse and management of large complex systems. This book essentially tells the ‘USC story’ with the challenges faced in embracing this new technology, teaching social work courses in an online environment, as well as pedagogical enhancements made by faculty in converting traditional campus based courses to the virtual environment.

Education plays a vital role in the positive development of communities at both a local and global level. By becoming more informed, citizens can make better contributions to society. Open and Distance Learning Initiatives for Sustainable Development is a critical reference source for emerging academic perspectives on the role of higher education programs in contemporary society. Including a range of pertinent topics such as mobile learning, environmental education, and community building, this book is ideally designed for educators, researchers, students, and professionals interested in the intersection between sustainable development and education.

This Handbook provides an authoritative account of international fieldwork education in social work. It presents an overview of advances in research in social work field education through in-depth analyses and global case studies. Key features: * Discusses critical issues in teaching social work and curriculum development; health care social work; stimulated learning; field education policies; needs, challenges, and solutions in fieldwork education; reflexivity training; creativity and partnership; resilience enhancement; integrated and holistic education for social workers; student experience; practice education; and ethical responsibility of social work field instructors. * Covers social work field education across geographical regions (Asia and the Pacific; North and South America; Australia and Oceania; Europe) and major themes and trends from several countries (U.S.A.; Canada; Australia; China; Hong Kong; Sweden; Aotearoa New Zealand; England; Ukraine; Spain; Estonia; Italy; Ireland; Slovenia; Poland; Romania; Greece; Norway; Turkey; and the Czech Republic). * Brings together international comparative perspectives on fieldwork education in social work from leading experts and social work educators. This Handbook will be an essential resource for scholars and researchers of social work, development studies, social anthropology, sociology, and education. It will also be useful to educators and practitioners of social work in global institutions of higher studies as well as civil society organisations.