Social work virtual: preparing social work students for a digital future.
During the pandemic, social workers have faced increasingly complex client needs, and are simultaneously undergoing transformative changes in practice with the rapid uptake of digital technologies. To make the best use of these technologies, practitioners require new knowledge, skills, and competenc...
| Published in: | Social Work Education Vol. 44; no. 6; pp. 1391 - 1398 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Sep2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=189522288&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 189522288 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 02615479 36Q jtl: Social Work Education issn: 02615479 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2025 vid: 44 iid: 6 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 189522288 10.1080/02615479.2023.2254796 ppf: 1391 ppct: 7 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 295KB tig: atl: Social work virtual: preparing social work students for a digital future. aug: au: Heinsch, Milena Cliff, Kynan Tickner, Campbell Betts, David affil: School of Humanities, Creative Industries, and Social Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia su: Digital literacy Higher education Online education Experiential learning Social case work Teaching methods Social services sug: subj: Digital literacy Higher education Online education Experiential learning Social case work Teaching methods Social services Other Individual and Family Services keyword: COVID digital mental health, simulation learning online technology Virtual COVID digital mental health, simulation learning online technology Virtual ab: During the pandemic, social workers have faced increasingly complex client needs, and are simultaneously undergoing transformative changes in practice with the rapid uptake of digital technologies. To make the best use of these technologies, practitioners require new knowledge, skills, and competencies, yet to date, the development of digital competencies has not formed a curriculum priority in social work higher education. To address this gap, we developed the 8-week simulation learning experience Social Work Virtual. Combining the principles of best pedagogical practice in both face-to-face and online education, Social Work Virtual is specifically tailored to develop digital social work competencies under the mentorship of practicing clinicians. In this paper, we describe the challenges in higher education and healthcare service provision that prompted the development of this learning simulation, and the opportunities it provided for students to develop skills in social work assessment and intervention using digital technologies. We include a reflective account by a practice mentor in Social Work Virtual. The reflection offers insights into how this simulation experience addressed student learning needs amid a rapidly changing social and professional landscape. We then consider how educators may adopt similar pedagogical strategies to integrate digital competencies within their professional programs. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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