tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85199626825386515792024-03-14T05:48:02.232-07:00Melanie Sage, Social Work GeekI blog about the things I breathe: social work, technology, family-centered child welfare practice, the Indian Child Welfare Act, Motivational Interviewing, and social work education.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-52890351000552041682017-08-31T13:42:00.001-07:002017-08-31T13:42:47.868-07:00Hello from New York!Hey friends! I've made a big move to the University at Buffalo SUNY, where I have joined the faculty as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. I'm really excited to be here at this vibrant <a href="https://socialwork.buffalo.edu/" target="_blank">School of Social Work</a> in this <a href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/buffalove/" target="_blank">great community.</a><br />
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University of North Dakota (my colleagues, students, community partners) will always have a special place in my heart. And because I started so much work in North Dakota, I will hang on to some of it. I continue to lead the <a href="http://blogs.und.edu/uletter/2016/10/social-work-receives-2-4-million-grant/" target="_blank">North Dakota Indian Child Welfare Act Partnership Grant</a> as Principal Investigator, and will visit in person several times a year.<br />
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Here are other things I've got in store in Buffalo, NY:<br />
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<ul>
<li>completing a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Cq1pCDRgU" target="_blank">book </a>on use of technology in social work education with great colleagues L<a href="http://www.laureliversonhitchcock.org/" target="_blank">aurel Hitchcock</a> and <a href="https://njsmyth.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Nancy Smyth</a></li>
<li>providing some peer support to my colleagues here around the role of tech in online teaching</li>
<li>working on manuscripts related to all the research and data I've been doing for the last few years but have been too swamped to write up</li>
<li>continuing ICWA, child welfare, and tech research</li>
<li>and some teaching too!</li>
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Upcoming conferences (hope to see you somewhere!) on my radar are:</div>
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<li><a href="https://www.cswe.org/Events-Meetings/2017-APM/APM-Information" target="_blank">APM </a>in Dallas, TX in October</li>
<li><a href="http://secure.sswr.org/2018-conference-home/" target="_blank">SSWR </a>in Washington DC in Jan</li>
<li><a href="https://www.nicwa.org/" target="_blank">NICWA </a>in Alaska (!) in April</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ollusa.edu/s/1190/hybrid/default-hybrid-ollu.aspx?sid=1190&gid=1&pgid=8191" target="_blank">SWDE </a>in San Antonio, TX in April</li>
<li><a href="http://www.husita.org/husita18-to-be-held-in-dublin-ireland/" target="_blank">husITa </a>in Dublin (!!) in July</li>
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And on the self-care front, I am really jazzed to hang out at some <a href="http://www.jackcraftfair.com/" target="_blank">craft fairs</a>, farmers markets, the <a href="http://wnybookarts.org/" target="_blank">WNY Book Arts Center</a>, and at the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=ellicott%20creek%20island%20bark%20park&oq=ellicott+creek+island+bark+park&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l2.270j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&npsic=0&rflfq=1&rlha=0&rllag=43028301,-78824110,357&tbm=lcl&rldimm=1527549894325380134&ved=0ahUKEwjR5ZTZqoLWAhUc8YMKHRt8C4MQvS4ITTAB&rldoc=1&tbs=lrf:!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:1#rlfi=hd:;si:1527549894325380134;mv:!1m3!1d3448.300129543912!2d-78.82453165!3d43.02830115!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i63!2i227!4f13.1;tbs:lrf:!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:1" target="_blank">dog park</a>. Which I am sure I will have time to do after I unpack all the boxes covering my house. Moving is a lot of work!</div>
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Hope you're all off to a happy and productive Fall!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-26136018250638025372017-04-03T17:07:00.000-07:002017-04-03T17:07:06.115-07:00National Indian Child Welfare Association Conference: ICWA ComplianceI am near lovely San Diego in California, my home state, learning at the NICWA annual conference. If you know me, you know that I care deeply about child welfare issues, and especially that children stay connected to their families. The Indian Child Welfare Act is a federal law that requires child welfare systems to carry out special efforts to keep children connected to their families and tribes, and part of my work is about helping systems make improvements in this area.<br />
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At this conference we are sharing our work about ICWA compliance in North Dakota. We've been working on assessing compliance for federal years now: first, in assessing what our courts are doing, and now focusing on interventions and intersystem collaboration to improve compliance. This post is to share some resources that might help others think about how they assess their compliance. Here are resources we are sharing or mentioning during our presentation (click on any link to download):<br />
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<li><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/nxw8bop79vkh0vy/NICWA%202017.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">PowerPoint Presentation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/xxirwzctbp9tt5l/LevelsofCollaborationScale.docx?dl=0" target="_blank">Frey's Collaboration Scale</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/l5tuahdvfqxh38n/Logic%20Model.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">ND Partnership Logic Model</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/se5zekncc89cf1b/PROJECT%20TIMELINES%20AND%20MILESTONES%20for%20Year%201%20of%20grant.docx?dl=0" target="_blank">Year One of our grant timeline</a></li>
<li>An <a href="http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1257&context=jfs" target="_blank">article about Design Teams</a> and how they work</li>
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If you have questions about any of our resources, please feel free to contact me: Melanie.Sage@und.edu or 701-777-1224. Thanks!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-47962387943994936632016-04-17T16:53:00.003-07:002017-04-03T16:32:37.241-07:00Social Work in Distance Education (SWDE) 2016 Conference<b>Hello everyone! </b>I am just back from the <a href="http://swde.iu.edu/" target="_blank"><b>SWDE 2016 Conference</b></a>, and it was great. My favorite part was hanging out with so many wonderful colleagues. Amazing spirit of support for imagining new ways to deliver and assess distance education. There was also a pretty good twitter crowd, which allowed me to see what was going on at the sessions I didn't get to- and you can <a href="https://twitter.com/stuckonsw/status/721136130326966272" target="_blank">see that feed</a>, thanks to <a href="https://stuckonsocialwork.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Sean</a> who attended via Twitter from his home in New York! My friend Laurel presented a great session about using <b>Twitter </b>if you've not jumped in to that water yet, and you can find her tips <a href="http://www.laureliversonhitchcock.org/2016/04/14/swde2016-teaching-learning-professional-social-work-skills-w-twitter/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Academic conferences may not sound like buckets of fun- but they are a favorite part of my work life. I get to check out a new city, see people that I only see at conferences, fill my head with new ideas, and share my own work. I come home with new ideas for teaching, new collaborations, and lots of inspiration. And then it's back to the grind... with a countdown to the next conference! (For me it's <a href="http://www.cswe.org/Meetings/Calendar/59387.aspx" target="_blank">APM </a>next October in Atlanta!)<br />
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At SWDE I presented one session about <b>integrating tech in social work practice</b> with my great colleagues <a href="http://www.laureliversonhitchcock.org/" target="_blank">Laurel </a>and <a href="https://njsmyth.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Nancy</a>. We are writing a book together about integrating technology across the social work curriculum, and this presentation allowed us to offer a preview of what we've been working on. The three of us met via Twitter and we are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Cq1pCDRgU&index=7&list=PL-bJwdbWCYW_Q8K4a_ZrVPnj2RyJhwP1Y" target="_blank">having a lot of fun</a> together. Laurel did a great <a href="http://www.laureliversonhitchcock.org/2016/04/13/swde2016-incorporating-digital-social-technologies-into-social-work-education/" target="_blank">write-up of our presentation here</a>, including a downloadable version of our powerpoint and a collection of assignments that we've put together.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEish1d0NmdZk5rk4tN0NwHDDDfD98OhS2Dz9DwLXKFiZ7PKYKyoECUyMtNmJjk-w6UFQgSM8PB-qFyvxHc2hzWsEhKIkXD16pmuM4QV9aIZCOcfeGQ-BpKzZ5qW8l5K86dSbcyTW6aE4r4/s1600/atlanta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEish1d0NmdZk5rk4tN0NwHDDDfD98OhS2Dz9DwLXKFiZ7PKYKyoECUyMtNmJjk-w6UFQgSM8PB-qFyvxHc2hzWsEhKIkXD16pmuM4QV9aIZCOcfeGQ-BpKzZ5qW8l5K86dSbcyTW6aE4r4/s320/atlanta.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I also presented about <b>social media policies</b> with other fab colleagues <a href="http://chhs.unh.edu/faculty-member/melissa-wells" target="_blank">Melissa</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/socialworksage" target="_blank">Todd</a>. We talked about how important it is for social work professors to train students for professional identities online. We discussed why we need to teach students to build and assess policies related to social media use, and how to think through ethical dilemmas. These issues are impacting us all now, but we've had a slow professional response. Here's our <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/np29n5djz2tu79k/SWDE%20Handout.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">handout</a> on some assignments you can try in class, along with a policy analysis framework we use. The whole ppt presentation is <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/k03mcbt7dq1ld8y/SWDE%20presentation%20ppt.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">here</a>. In the presentation, we shared some data about a survey of child welfare workers we conducted. A paper about those data will be published at <i><a href="https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/advancesinsocialwork" target="_blank">Advances in Social Work</a></i> in the upcoming weeks. You might also want to check out our paper on <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15548732.2015.1099589#.VxQczPkrKUk" target="_blank">Social Media and E-Professionalism in Child Welfare</a>, published in the <i>Journal of Public Child Welfare </i>last year. We also created a short <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/7wbvhk1s8t9ogsq/The%20Sage%20guide%20to%20social%20media%20for%20Child%20Welfare%20Workers.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">handout </a>for child welfare workers- feel free to share.<br />
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I'll share more soon about some other work I'm up to- it's been action packed around here. One thing I'll never claim- that I'm bored. There's too much good stuff! Thanks for coming by!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-36883150622836699532016-04-01T15:41:00.003-07:002016-04-16T17:36:30.222-07:00BPD Texas 2016I am at the <a href="http://www.bpdonline.org/BPDMEMBER/Events/Current_Conference/BPDMEMBER/Annual_Conference/Conference_Home.aspx" target="_blank">BPD Conference </a>in Dallas, TX with BSW educators from across the nation. It's so fun to see friends, make friends, and hear new ideas for teaching and research.<br />
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I was involved in several sessions and told people I would share resources here. This morning as part of the technology committee, I promised to share my student tutorial for using <b>Zotero</b>. Here you go! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-aeSe4gjv0" target="_blank">This is a youtube link to the video.</a> Feel free to share with your students.<br />
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<a href="http://www.laureliversonhitchcock.org/" target="_blank">Laurel Hitchcock</a> and I talked about how we met online, and are now writing a book together (with <a href="https://njsmyth.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Nancy Smyth</a>!) about using technology in social work education. We've used lots of tools for collaboration, including <a href="https://www.zotero.org/" target="_blank">Zotero</a>, <a href="https://www.mindmeister.com/" target="_blank">MindMeister</a>, and <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/" target="_blank">Dropbox</a>. Laurel is one of my favorite colleagues, and our story is a great example about how online communication yields real authentic relationships, connections, and collaborations.<br />
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In the early afternoon I presented with Todd on development of <b>professional social work identity in online space</b>. Here's <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/k9pwomjsa0kyvwr/online%20identities.pptx?dl=0" target="_blank">a link to the powerpoint </a>we shared. If you look at it in "notes" view you'll see a lot of our talking points which offer up additional tips. Warning: the file size is huge because I embedded all those cool video contributions. If you want to watch a video of the whole thing, go to <a href="https://youtu.be/GVe06_Ecv10" target="_blank">this youtube link</a>. Feel free to share this information, and let us know if you have questions or need resources.<br />
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In late afternoon I presented with Todd and Avery about our work on the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute grant, where we're working on <b>supporting child welfare scholars in social work education</b>. Here's the <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/v3iuq8c3ifh13a1/BPD%20conference%20presentation.pptx?dl=0" target="_blank">ppt presentation</a> we shared.<br />
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One of the best parts of the conference was connecting with people who I only see once a year, or who I talk to online and have sometimes never met in person until conference time. One of those people is Nathalie Jones who works at TSU in Texas. It was great to visit with her! Here is me and Nathalie and Laurel posing for a pic,</div>
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I come home from these meetings tired but excited to try new things. So nice meeting all of you- thanks for learning with me!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-90972017437382135482014-08-08T14:43:00.001-07:002014-08-08T14:56:29.874-07:00Social Media Use in Child WelfareI am collecting data to help us better understand the ways in which child welfare workers use social media and the kinds of benefits, needs, and concerns they express about its use. I would be most grateful if you would consider completing the survey if you are a current child welfare worker. If you can pass it on to colleagues that would also be great.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Dear child welfare administrators, workers and child welfare interns,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">I am conducting a study to learn about the experiences of child welfare workers related to <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">social</span> <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">media</span>. This <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">survey</span> takes approximately fifteen minutes to complete, and will help us understand the current use, agency policies, and needs for training related to <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">social</span> <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">media </span>sites like Facebook and Twitter. In the <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">survey</span>, participants are asked about their current use of <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">social</span> <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">media</span>, where they access <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">social </span><span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">media</span>, what kind of education they have received related to <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">social</span> <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">media</span>, about the policies and practices of their agencies, and about their opinions of appropriate <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">social</span> <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">media</span> use.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">We ask that <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">survey</span> participants are currently child welfare workers or completing a university-supervised field placement in a child welfare setting. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Please consider completing this brief <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">survey</span>. If you decide at any time you do not want to complete the <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">survey</span>, you can easily exit out. The <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">survey</span> is anonymous. There is more information about your rights as a <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">survey</span> participant at this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">survey</span> link: </span></div>
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<a href="https://und.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8kWiDefNiHr6D65" style="background-color: white; color: #366ccc; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; outline: none; text-align: center;" target="_blank">https://und.qualtrics.com/SE/?<wbr></wbr>SID=SV_8kWiDefNiHr6D65</a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If you are a child welfare administrator and a professor, please consider passing this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">survey</span> along to your employees/students in child welfare settings. If you feel that sending this <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">survey</span> link to your students constitutes your own participation in research, you should consult with your IRB about your institution’s requirements.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Please contact me if you have any questions.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Sincerely,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Melanie Sage, PhD, LICSW</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Assistant Professor</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Department of <span class="il" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Social</span> Work, College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="tel:701-777-1224" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+17017771224">701-777-1224</a>/<a href="mailto:Melanie.Sage@und.edu" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Melanie.Sage@und.<wbr></wbr>edu</a></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-73915524044228784362014-05-27T22:38:00.003-07:002014-05-27T22:55:04.618-07:00What do you know about the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
If you work in the legal system or with families, it is important to know about ICWA. If you are a human who cares about our history and our future it is important to know about ICWA. If you do not understand why it is important that we need ICWA then it is important to know about ICWA.</div>
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The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed in 1978 to protect families experiencing many years of unjustified mass removals from their children from their homes. Without children, the future of any culture is fleeting. Sadly, American Indian children are still removed disproportionately from their families. My current work in supporting our State Supreme Court in assessing and improving ICWA compliance has me doing a lot of reading about ICWA- current and historical practices- and the more I know the more clear it is that we are not doing enough to educate people who should know about the provisions, practices, and reasons for the Indian Child Welfare Act. Please share this infographic to help bring attention- plant a seed of knowledge .</div>
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The<a href="http://nicwa.org/" target="_blank"> National Indian Child Welfare Association</a> does great work in training and education- please also see their website for great resources.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtzfcUXaujJIv3ybs11CESP_nhPaIr9Lnn-46CSIdY7BoiGoaHB-zIRQY1S8UjfwhP65cNXBUh7OqL9GRW0UBfOlO4mnpDZG_J7y7dwdI_2pj72oUCnJAGYXwCXLBjFP7hpGVLL7qjQXg/s1600/icwa+infograph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtzfcUXaujJIv3ybs11CESP_nhPaIr9Lnn-46CSIdY7BoiGoaHB-zIRQY1S8UjfwhP65cNXBUh7OqL9GRW0UBfOlO4mnpDZG_J7y7dwdI_2pj72oUCnJAGYXwCXLBjFP7hpGVLL7qjQXg/s1600/icwa+infograph.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-26013800561645229552014-05-03T21:53:00.000-07:002014-05-03T21:53:08.890-07:00You may have noticed a <a href="http://melaniesagephd.blogspot.com/p/preparing-for-aswb-social-work-license.html" target="_blank">new page tab</a> at my blog: I have added some tips for studying for the ASWB Social Work exam. Good luck!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-42717980518761372782014-02-14T18:25:00.001-08:002014-03-31T13:49:08.291-07:00How do social workers use social media? An infographic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This infographic uses data collected from an online survey of students and practitioners around the US. I conducted this study along with colleagues- see citation at bottom. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPEgTXJYC06LZsN69FolDb61B7wx5vDC7Tc0_kq3ybN4UR2DeluLjq5ZhoLalbrtJAcPyvW-cez1I37Zmm2AKjNcTupfU_nIfS6E05dKPFiC3V56vVk3K9X1b29cUfWjnZhg6LG1PZbJE/s1600/sm+info.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPEgTXJYC06LZsN69FolDb61B7wx5vDC7Tc0_kq3ybN4UR2DeluLjq5ZhoLalbrtJAcPyvW-cez1I37Zmm2AKjNcTupfU_nIfS6E05dKPFiC3V56vVk3K9X1b29cUfWjnZhg6LG1PZbJE/s1600/sm+info.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-66471580950519015072013-11-04T20:07:00.000-08:002014-03-31T13:49:30.538-07:00How do you write a social work abstract? Here are some examples.I have just returned from the Council on Social Work Education's Annual Program Meeting, one of the key conferences of my profession. I presented in three different sessions with my colleagues. If you were at the conference, and - like me- you wish you could have been in five sessions at once, you may have missed my presentation. So I am sharing abstracts for the presentations below, with links to the pages of my colleagues, where applicable, and links to the <a href="http://sagepresentations.blogspot.com/p/handouts.html" target="_blank">powerpoint presentations</a> as well. If you are a student or perhaps preparing your first conference abstract, here's a peek at the info we submit to the conference for review.<br />
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<b>Paper One: </b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Use of social media in direct practice:
Implications for Training and Policy</b><br />Melanie Sage, Andrew Quinn, Dale Fitch</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Overview: Social workers are using social
media as an augment to direct service provision, often with little
guidance. This paper reports on
students’ professional use of social media, and on policy that specifically
addresses social media use in agency settings. Implications for training and
policy development are discussed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Learning objectives: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li>Be able to identify areas in the NASW ethical codes relevant
to the use of social media in direct practice</li>
<li>Be able to identify training needs of social workers related
to the professional use of social media in direct practice</li>
<li>3 Be able to identify practices to guide policy making in
social service settings</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Proposal text: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Social workers and other professionals are
increasingly using social media in their professional lives to serve clients. They use social media to seek information
about clients (DiLillo & Gale, 2011; Tunick, Mednick, and Conroy, 2011), as
a way to communicate with clients (Hawn, 2009), through the use of social-media
supported interventions (Bull, Levine, Black, Schmiege, and Santelli, 2012;
Cavelo et al., 2012), or as a way of reflecting, debriefing, and advocacy (Hickson,
2012; Baker, 2012). Social workers and
employers alike must understand social media for its potential risks and
benefits in providing direct services to clients. They may also have obligations to educate
clients about privacy on social media sites (Fitch, 2012; Hinjuda and Patchin,
2008; Kolmes, 2010). Social workers and agencies should also understand the potential
benefits to clients who use social media, such as enhancing social connections
(Baumgartner and Morris, 2010; Wolf-Branigin, 2009). Although the ethical
dilemmas encountered in online settings mirror those that are experienced in
face-to-face settings, the ease of access to personal client information raises
new questions about how and when to use social media as an adjunct to practice,
and the role of the agency in supporting, limiting, or creating policy around
its use. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Although NASW maintains presence on Twitter,
Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, and its Social Work Blog, the professional
organization offers no policy guidance on individual or agency use of social
media, and has not adopted specific guidelines around its use, regardless of
the trend in other professional practice organizations (e.g., ASHP, AMA). The American Society of Health-System
Pharmacists (ASHP) has a statement on Use of Social Media by Pharmacy
Professionals which offers recommendations for healthcare agencies about
balancing the benefits with the liabilities of professional social media use. The
American Medical Association offers similar guidelines, but includes a
statement on maintaining appropriate patient-physician boundaries. Despite the location of organizational level
policies, it appears that no policies exist related to the use of social media
in the nonprofit settings (Joselyn & Panepento, 2010). Once policies are
developed, it is imperative that future social workers have the competencies in
using social media so that the client is best served. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As a result, this study purpose was threefold: first,
to offer a case study of one agency’s attempt to develop policies about social
media use, and second, to present the results of a survey with students
currently involved in field practicum concerning their current practices,
knowledge, and beliefs about accessing information about clients on the Internet. Thirdly, this study also surveys social
service administrators about their current explicit and imp<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8519962682538651579" name="_GoBack"></a>licit
policies for practitioners related to social media. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Results: Largely in line with the previously cited
studies, no agencies had explicit policy guidelines related to the direct
practice use of social media with clients. The students displayed a broad range
of personal use of social media, and some had ventured to use it related to
agency work. Very few students had considered the use of multiple social media
profiles, largely not considering the possibility of having a professional
profile AND a personal profile. The students’ use of social media in regards to
working with clients was largely mirrored by agency administrators (i.e., it
was not encouraged nor was there training provided on how to do so). However, students
were even more restrictive in their views of possible uses for practice. In
both populations, they tended to frame the use of social media from their own
perspective, and did not acknowledge a client’s volitional choice to use social
media as a mode of communication, thus perhaps disempowering the client in the
process. Relatedly, neither population noted the need to train agency clients
on how to use social media.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ultimately, social workers are obligated to develop
competency in the use of technology and the ways that it benefits service
delivery or augments treatment for clients. Therefore, our results will be used
to identify competencies to guide best practices of social media use. Furthermore, the results will be used to
present suggestions that can be used by agencies in developing social media
guidelines. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">References<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">American
Medical Association (2011). Opinion 9-124 - Professionalism in the use of
social media. Retrieved from http://www.ama-assn.org.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">American
Society of Health-System Pharmacists (2012). ASHP statement on use of social
media by pharmacy professionals. <i>American
Journal of Health-System Pharmacists, 69</i>, 2095-2097.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Baker,
L.A. (2012). Social media for housing and community development agencies. <i>Journal of Housing & Community
Development, July/August</i>, 19-23.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Baumgartner,
J.C., & Morris, J.S. (2010). MyFaceTube politics: Social networking web
sites and political engagement of young adults. <i>Social Science Computer Review, 28</i>, 24-44.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Bull,
S.S., Levine, D.K., Black, S.R., Schmiege, S.J., & Santelli, J.(2011).
Social media-delivered sexual health intervention: A cluster randomized
controlled trial. <i>American Journal of
Preventitive Medicine, 43</i>(5), 467-474.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Cavelo,
D.N., Tate, D.F., Ries, A.V., Brown, J.D., DeVellis, R.F., & Ammerman, A.S.
(2012). A social media-based physical activity intervention: A randomized
controlled trial. <i>American Journal of
Preventative Medicine, 43</i>(5), 527-532.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">DiLillo,
D.K., & Gale, E.B. (2011). To Google or not to Google: Graduate students’
use of the internet to access personal information about clients. <i>Training and Education in Professional
Psychology, 5</i>(3), 160-166.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Fitch,
D. (2012). Youth in foster care and social media: A framework for developing
privacy guidelines. <i>Journal of Technology
in Human Services, 30</i>(2), 94-108.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Hawn,
C. (2009). Take two aspirin and tweet me in the morning: How Twitter, Facebook,
and other social media are reshaping health care<i>. Health Affairs, 28</i>(2), 361-368.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Hickson,
H. (2012). Reflective practice online- Exploring the ways social workers used an
online blog for reflection. <i>Journal of
Technology in Human Services, 30</i>(1), 32-48.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Hinjuda,
S., & Patchin, J.W. (2008). Personal information of adolescents on the
Internet: A quantitative content analysis of MySpace. <i>Journal of Adolescence, 31</i>, 125-146.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Joselyn,
H., & Panepento, P. (2010, Jan 6). Few charities have social-media
policies, survey finds. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved February 15,
2013, from http://philanthropy.com/article/Few-Charities-Have/63591/.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Kolmes,
K. (2010). Social media in the future of professional psychology. <i>Professional Psychology: Research and
Practice, 43</i>(6), 606-612. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Tunick,
R.A., Mednick, L., & Conroy, C. (2011). A snapshot of child psychologists’
social media activity: Professional and ethical practice implications and
recommendations. <i>Professional Psychology:
Research and Practice, 42</i>(6), 440-447.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Wolf-Branigin,
M. (2009). New media and social networks: Considerations from clients in
addictions treatement. <i>Journal of
Technology in Human Services, 27</i>, 339-345.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Paper Two: </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Reading Reflections as a “Flipped
Classroom” Technique in Social Work Curriculum</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Melanie Sage, Patti Sele</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Overview: Flipped Classroom techniques are activities in which “events that
have traditionally taken place inside the classroom now take place outside the
classroom and vice versa.” This research explores the use of Reading Reflection
Journals as a Flipped Classroom technique. Social work students using this
technique report improved reading and engagement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Learning
objectives:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li>Participants will understand the definitions and emerging
practices related to Flipped Classroom techniques.</li>
<li>Participants will learn an overview of the
evidence-supported benefits of using Flipped Classroom techniques.</li>
<li>Participants will learn the procedures of using Reading
Reflections as a Flipped Classroom technique, and be able to name themes
related to student feedback of a pilot study that utilized this approach.</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Proposal text: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Students in
social work practice courses come to class with varying levels of educational,
life, and practice experience. Reading
adherence varies widely between students, which makes it difficult to progress
toward discussion without some class review of the assigned reading. Bloom’s Taxonomy identifies six levels of
learning, ranging from “lower-order goals” like memorization (defining, naming,
stating) to “higher-order goals” such as evaluation (rating, defending,
predicting) (Houston and Lin, 2012). Critical thinking and problem solving are
higher-order goals that are most applicable to the work lives of social
workers. Review of the reading material
in class limits the amount of time for critical discussion and application,
especially if it is the student’s first exposure to the concepts. Using a Flipped Classroom technique allows
instructors to spend more time modeling, watching, and correcting as students
apply concepts in the classroom. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Flipped
Classroom techniques, sometimes also called inverted classroom (Gardner, 2012;
Lage, Platt, & Treglia, 2000; Talbert, 2012), upside-down or backward
classroom techniques (Houston & Linn, 2012), are described as activities in
which “events that have traditionally taken place inside the classroom now take
place outside the classroom and vice versa” (Lage, Platt, & Treglia, 2000).
Talbert (2012) notes that using a Flipped Classroom method shows promise for
making the university classroom experience more interactive, inclusive, and
effective. In the Flipped Classroom,
students focus on concepts, definitions, and traditional knowledge as
“homework” so that classroom activities can be spent on applied learning,
problem solving, and discussion (Gardner, 2012). Websites such as TEDtalks and Kahn Academy
have popularized this model by designing teaching components that allow
instructors to assign homework based on brief video segments where students
learn the basic instructions on their own by watching the videos, and then get
the opportunity to practice the techniques in a teacher-facilitated class. In higher education, instructors create their
own media or homework assignments such as videos or PowerPoints so that
classroom time can be spent on deeper discussion and practice application. Instructors are then able to see whether
students understand material by watching them attempt to apply it in practice
during group work and interaction (Houston and Lin, 2012). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Reflective
journals can be used as a Flipped Classroom technique if the journal assignment
requires students to explain key concepts and reflect on application of them.
Reflective journals have empirical support for their ability <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8519962682538651579" name="_GoBack"></a>to
foster clinical judgment (Lasater,2009),
encourage students to articulate their thinking (Fogarty & McTighe, 1993),
and to enhance self-reflection to foster personal growth (Blake, 2005). Through
the in-class sharing of student journals, students further have the opportunity
to gain the perspective of others and guide the direction of the class
discussion toward what they most need to know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This research
explores a Flipped Classroom technique designed to help move lower-order goals
out of the classroom so that class time can focus on reflective exercises which
contribute to life-long learning (Brandsford, 2000). By requiring a structured reflective journaling
homework assignment in which students were asked to reflect upon the reading
and consider application of the material, it was hypothesized that students
would have higher reading adherence, think more critically about what they had
read, and be more prepared to practice once they arrive in class. Additionally, by incorporating their Reading
Reflections in a PowerPoint to guide class discussion, we hypothesized students
would be more engaged, feel like their questions about the context were better
answered, and that it would be possible to engage students who might not
normally talk in class. Each week, students were asked to journal about three
questions relative to the reading: (1) What did you learn; (2) What do you still
have questions about, and (3) what personal or professional connection can you
make to this topic?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Using a
Likert-type scale and open-ended questions, students reported on their
experiences about how Reading Reflections contributed to their learning and
classroom preparedness. Participants included 28 students in two courses. Ninety-two percent of students said that Reading
Reflections helped stimulate class discussion and 85% reported that their
reading adherence improved. They report they were more engaged and better
prepared because of the Reading Reflections, and were more likely to ask
questions about the material. The instructors noted more representative student
participation, preparation, and engagement. However, the work was more time
consuming for students and instructors. Other findings and implications are
explored in this presentation. Techniques for using Reading Reflections and
examples of student work are shared. Student and professor perspectives on the
strengths and weaknesses of the technique are discussed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">References<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Blake, T.K. (2005). Journaling: An active
learning technique. <i>International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship</i>,
<i>2</i>(1), 1-10.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Bransford, J. (2000). <i>How people learn: Brain, mind, experience,
and school.</i> Washington, DC: National Academy Press.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Fogarty, R., &
McTighe, J. (1993). Educating teachers for higher order thinking: The<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">three-story intellect.<i> Theory into Practice, 32</i>(3), 161-169.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Houston, M. & Lin, L. (2012). Humanizing the Classroom by Flipping
the Homework versus Lecture Equation. In P. Resta (Ed.),<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><cite>Proceedings of Society for
Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2012</cite><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(pp. 1177-1182). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lage, M. J., Platt, G. J., & Treglia, M. (2000).
Inverting the classroom: A gateway to creating an inclusive learning
environment. <i>The Journal of Economic Education</i>, <i>31</i>(1), 30-43.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Lasater, K., &
Nielsen, A. (2009). Reflective journaling for clinical judgment development and
evaluation. <i>The Journal of Nursing Education</i>, <i>48</i>(1), 40.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Talbert, R. (2012). Inverted
classroom. <i>Colleagues, 9</i>(1), 1-2. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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Session three: Think tank (note: there is no ppt for this presentation, but we are preparing some ways to disseminate the info we collected- stay tuned!)</div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Title: Strategies for Integration of
Social Media in Social Work Education<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://socialworkpodcast.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jonathan Singer, Ph.D., LCSW</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">, Temple University,
Philadelphia, PA, Melanie Sage, PhD, LICSW, University of North Dakota, Grand
Forks, ND,<a href="http://www.unk.edu/academics/socialwork/Faculty/Jimmy_Young/" target="_blank"> Jimmy Young, PhD, MSW</a>, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney,
NE and <a href="http://karenzgoda.org/" target="_blank">Karen Zgoda</a>, MSW, Boston College, Boston, MA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Social work educators face a curious dilemma when it
comes to technology. Students, administrators, and the social work profession
have an expectation that educators will use technology in the classroom to both
enhance learning as well as to prepare students to use technology in their
social work practice (Coe Regan & Freddolino, 2008; NASW, 2005; Perron,
Taylor, Glass, & Margerum-Leys, 2010). Students expect educators to use
social media to augment learning (Roblyer et al., 2010). University
administrators, in an effort to increase revenue via increased enrollment, are
putting increased pressure on schools of social work to offer online or hybrid
courses. And the social work profession has established guidelines for the use
of technology in practice (NASW, 2005). Yet, these same constituents have an
expectation that social work educators will use technology thoughtfully. Straub
(2009) points out that thoughtful integration of technology considers how and
why faculty members adopt new tools, as well as the benefits these tools
potentially offer to learners. Given the speed with which computer technologies,
particularly social media/networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and
Pinterest, emerge and evolve, even the most tech savvy social work educator can
feel overwhelmed keeping up with today’s technologies, let alone thoughtfully
incorporating them into his or her teaching. It comes as no surprise, then that,
with the exception of online social work education programs, technology is
integrated into social work education sporadically (Gorder, 2008).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How can the profession of social work education be
more intentional and planful about integrating technology into social work
education? The critical pedagogist, Stephen Brookfield (1995), suggested that
educators can look to four sources for critical feedback on their teaching: the
scholarly literature, their students, themselves, and their colleagues. The
scholarly literature on integrating technology in social work education is in
its infancy. Educators who turn to the literature find articles that include
the qualifiers, “exploratory,” “new approach,” and “emerging trends.” When
educators look to their students, they are often bewildered at the mixed
message of “I want more access to online resources” and “I don’t know how to
use computer technologies” (Allwardt, 2011). When educators do honest
self-assessments of their comfort with and interest in technology, they take an
important step in addressing this dilemma (Coe Regan & Freddolino, 2008).
Many educators would love to turn to their peers, but anecdotal evidence
suggests that most schools of social work have only one or two educator(s) who
are the “tech experts.” With the exception of the Technology Special Interest
Group at APM, educators have had almost no formal opportunity to come together
and develop strategies for integrating technology into social work education.
We believe that this area is a promising, yet mostly untapped, resource.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The purpose of this Think Tank is to provide
educators with the opportunity to discuss and strategize ways of incorporating
social media/networking technologies into social work education. The final
product will be recommendations and practical steps that will help educators of
varying comfort levels with technology, and whose schools provide varying
levels of support and resources, integrate social media/networking technologies
into their teaching. This discussion is led by four social work educators who
have integrated technology (including social media/networking) into their
teaching, have conducted research on the use of technology in social work
education or practice, and have provided trainings to practitioners, educators,
and students on the use of technology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Participants will be asked to consider social work
education at the BSW, MSW, or doctoral level. The specific questions are:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What are the benefits to using social media in
social work education, and what successful strategies are </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">professors already using to harness these benefits?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What are the barriers to using social media,
including individual, school, and professional-level barriers? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">What are the responsibilities of faculty to educate
students in the use of social media for practice?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">How can social work educators use social media to
model ethical use of technology for their students?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the next 5 to 10 years, what social media skills
will social workers need to practice competently and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ethically?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Learning Objectives:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Describe how social media applications can be used
in social work education.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Identify three strategies for implementing social
media into social work education.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Discuss barriers and facilitators to using social
media technology in social work education.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Overview: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Educators have used APM to
present innovations in the use of technology in education. This Think Tank
offers educators an opportunity for structured discussion and debate around
strategies for integrating commonly used social media platforms into every day
social work education. Everyone, from social media beginner to expert, is
welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">References: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Allwardt,
D. E. (2011). Writing with wikis: A cautionary tale of technology in the
classroom. Journal of Social Work Education, 47(3), 597–605.
doi:10.5175/JSWE.2011.200900126<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Brookfield,
S. (1995) Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Coe
Regan, J. A., & Freddolino, P. P. (2008). <i>Integrating technology in the
social work curriculum. </i>Alexandria,
Va: Council on Social Work Education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Gorder,
L. (2008). A Study of Teacher Percep</span>ti<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ons of Instruc</span>ti<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">onal
Technology Integra</span>ti<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">on in the Classroom. <i>Delta Pi
Epsilon Journal</i>, <i>50</i>(2), 63–76. Retrieved from h</span>tt<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">p://www.ques</span>t<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">a.com/library/1P3</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1625090161/a</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">study</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">of</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">teacher</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">percep</span>ti<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ons</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">of</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">instruc</span>ti<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">onal</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">technology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perron,
B. E., Taylor, H. O., Glass, J. E., & Margerum-Leys, J. (2010). Information
and communication </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.5in;">technologies
in social work. </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.5in;">Advances in Social Work, 11</i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: -0.5in;">(1), 67-81.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Roblyer,
M. D., McDaniel, M., Webb, M., Herman, J., & Wi</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">y,
J. V. (2010). Findings on Facebook in higher education: A comparison of college
faculty and student uses and percep</span>ti<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ons of social networking sites. <i>The
Internet and Higher Education</i>, <i>13</i>(3), 134–140.
doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2010.03.002<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Straub,
E. T. (2009). Understanding Technology Adoption: Theory and Future Directions
for Informal Learning. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 625–649.
doi:10.3102/0034654308325896<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Gorder,
L. (2008). A Study of Teacher Percep</span>ti<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ons of Instruc</span>tio<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">nal
Technology Integra</span>ti<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">on in the<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Classroom.
<i>Delta Pi Epsilon Journal</i>, <i>50</i>(2), 63–76. Retrieved from http://www.ques</span>ti<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">a.com/library/1P3</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1625090161/a</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">study</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">of</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">teacher</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">perceptons</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">of</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">instructional</span>‐<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">technology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-87561597083312516112013-01-06T22:29:00.001-08:002014-03-31T13:50:36.459-07:00How much do child welfare social workers make? National sample of child welfare entry salaries: An infographicMy last post on social work salaries was based on NASW data and represented mid-level workers from all groups. The map below offers some random salaries in the child welfare field gleaned from current job openings across the United States. Some states have title protection, which means that people can only call themselves social workers if they hold a social work degree. In states that do not exclusively hire degreed social workers in the child welfare positions, the child welfare job titles are often "Social Service Worker" or something similar.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Child welfare workers often get 1-3% annual increases for cost of living or "step" raises, and some jurisdictions offer several different levels of employment that workers can promote in to. Annual Salaries may range, over time from the low 30k to the high 70k depending on years of experience. Benefits also vary widely; child welfare workers may have to contribute several hundred dollars to family medical benefits per month, while others may have their benefits fully paid by their employer. <br />
<br />
I am a big advocate of child welfare work as a career path, and also an advocate of the needs of child welfare workers. I worked in the child welfare field for many years, and interfaced with the community at every level; I made good contacts, got good at assessment and engagement, and worked with people in their environments during some of the hardest moments of their lives. It is very rewarding work, and the policies and supports of the employing agency make a very significant difference in retention and satisfaction of workers (and thus the quality of services for clients). I believe that professionally trained social workers are uniquely prepared to do this kind of work, and that salaries will increase where the work is professionalized. There is little agreement about entry requirements for the work across the nation, and many states do not differentiate work tasks between Bachelors and Masters level preparation; therefore, the rewards for continued education are low, and the enhanced skils of MSW-trained workers may not be recognized. <br />
<br />
I collected the data below from current job ads. If you are a child welfare worker and inclined to share (and feel free to post anonymously), post your salary, years of experience, job title, employer, and degree in the comments below to give us a wider idea about child welfare worker salaries. If you have any corrections for my infographic below, please send me an email.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-2116507278258263302013-01-06T13:26:00.002-08:002014-03-31T13:51:39.572-07:00How much do Social Workers make? Social Work Salaries- an Infographic <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Visual data display in the form of infographics are popping up all over the internet, for good reason. They give you a quick glimpse of take-away facts. Pictures help us remember information. Certainly it's more interesting to look at pleasingly-displayed factoids than to read an entire research article.</div>
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One of my goals for the new year is to get better at sharing visual data, especially in my own research and collected data, because it is one way to help move research to practice- to get people sharing and enthused about specific findings. I stumbled upon <a href="http://www.easel.ly/" target="_blank">a tool</a> for creating an infographics and put together my first one using NASW Salary Survey data. I chose this data because of my interest in workforce, and also because it helps dispel a popular myth- that social workers take a vow of poverty out of their love for people.</div>
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I suspect some of my blog readers will stumble on this and guffaw at the idea that $34 an hour is the average social work salary. If you want to know more about participants and polling of this sample, please have a look at the <a href="http://workforce.socialworkers.org/8-SalarySurvey.pdf" target="_blank">NASW report</a>, based on 2009 data of over 20,000 social workers. Also keep in mind that this is not an average starting salary ($43k is the average salary for those with under 5 years experience polled in this report)- this is the average of all people polled, with varying positions and levels of experience. It appears that all participants were members of a professional organization (NASW or another expertise-specific group); we might assume that social workers who pay professional dues are more likely to be among the higher earners or more professionally engaged. Only data from fully employed workers is reported. All levels of the degree (BSW, MSW, PhD) are reported together to obtain the $34 an hour mean, but data are broken down separately in the report by education level, field of social work, age, experience level, and other criteria.</div>
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Some of my research friends don't know that in my former life (20 years ago) I started a rubber stamp company where I designed and produced art rubber stamps. I made and sold stamps for many years, in fact, travelling to conventions all over the US with my wares, selling to shops all over the world. The ability to play with data and graphics speaks to the creative part of me that still enjoys this visual way of expressing my creativity and ideas. After trying out the easel.ly site, I am most likely to take a stab with photoshop for my next infographic- the available graphics and design themes are limited at the slightly clunky site, and this small graphic took about four hours to create but this was a good way to dip my toes in the water. Feel free to share it and let me know what you think. What other social work issues would you like to see infographic'ed? Did this data surprise you? Did it make you want to know more about the research? </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-22593786084100895312012-12-21T22:02:00.003-08:002012-12-22T11:56:31.390-08:00Technology and Social Work... what I'm up toIt's fun to think about all the ways that the things that I love overlap. In this blog, I've written mostly about my overlapping interests in social work and education. Here are some things I am doing lately that draw upon these overlapping interests:<br />
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1<b>. Professional advocacy: </b> I recently joined the <a href="http://www.bpdonline.org/bpd_prod/BPDWCMWEB/default.aspx" target="_blank">BPD </a>Technology Committee. BPD is a group that focuses on undergraduate social work education. As part of this group, I give input regarding recommendations about how to share information about technology with other educators. I will present on some ways to use technology in the classroom at the 2013 BPD Conference in South Carolina. I have also recently been elected to the <a href="http://wweb.uta.edu/projects/sswtech/husita/" target="_blank">HUSITA </a>board. HUSITA is a group that focuses on promoting the ethical use of technology in human services.</div>
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2. <b>Research and dissemination:</b> In January 2013, I am p<a href="http://sswr.confex.com/sswr/2013/webprogram/Session5504.html" target="_blank">resenting a two-hour workshop at the Society for Social Work Research (SSWR)</a> on the ways that I have used technology to support research fidelity. As the evaluator of a federal grant on Family Group Decision Making, I have developed videocasts and blog resources to help support the way that we conduct research and evaluation of an intervention project. At the conference I will share these methods with other researchers. I will share technology I am using, such as jing, blogger, and other tools, and talk about how they have benefited our work.</div>
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3. <b>Classroom activities:</b> I have posted before about how I am using <a href="http://kids-mental-health.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">videocasts in the classroom</a> to share intervention techniques in children's mental health. This is a fun project for a lot of reasons; it allows students to contribute to professional development of each other; it is a resource that we can share with other professionals; it is applied work that ties research to practice; it allows students to learn new technological skills. They squirm quite a bit about having to record themselves, but it is one of my favorite assignments. </div>
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Last semester I started using a new technology-enhanced assignment related to "flipped classroom" theory. I am using journaling on blackboard as a way to get feedback about questions before class so I can incorporate student's questions directly in to the class lecture. We focus more on questions, discussion, and practice in class and spend less time doing "chapter review." Through technology, I am able to help make sure students are reading outside of class so we can have richer discussions in class.</div>
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4.<b> Publications: </b> I am currently working on a few technology-related publications, including a review of all the things a professor must think about when inviting a guest speaker in to the classroom via distance technology (there's a lot to think about!), as well as a research article related to the flipped classroom technique that I mentioned previously. When we use new tools and techniques we have to share the outcomes! </div>
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5. <b>Podcasting</b>: I am very excited about <a href="http://childwelfarepodcast.com/" target="_blank">my podcast</a> in the works. I have many hopes and dreams about this work, and it is a creative project that stimulates lots of parts of my brain! This podcast will focus on research-to-practice in child welfare. I will interview people who do research and intervention in child welfare in a way that is approachable for child welfare workers in the field. Child welfare workers spend a lot of time in the car, so I hope they'll download episodes for the road and learn about best practice that is coming out of research. I was a child welfare worker for many years, and it is work that is close to my heart. My hope is that eventually I will be able to offer continuing education based on the podcasts. I would like to post short tours of child welfare agencies across the country- child welfare environments look so different from place to place. I hope it also encourages a broader understanding of what child welfare work is (and isn't) and might attract more social workers to the important field. The first episode will launch in Jan 2013, and I am lining up interviews with researchers across the country.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-44319364960745453942012-10-21T15:57:00.003-07:002014-03-31T13:52:30.106-07:00Therapeutic social work interventions with children: A video blog of examplesThe Children's Mental Health Intervention blog has been updated with another semester of evidence-based interventions demonstrated by my graduate students. I am posting Jenna's fine work below; she is a forensic interviewer. Click on this <a href="http://kids-mental-health.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog link </a>to see more! <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-11105419879912230672012-08-06T11:41:00.000-07:002012-08-06T11:41:28.220-07:00How to find articles in Google Scholar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here is a short video about how to use Google Scholar to find research articles for social work.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-55786189700168799912012-05-10T05:23:00.000-07:002014-03-31T13:53:09.404-07:00College students suffer from depression, and technology can helpA <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-10/stress-takes-its-toll-on-college-students" target="_blank">new study</a> reports that 37% of college students who seek help report severe psychological problems, which is more than twice the rate of a similar study in 2000. Counselors report that self injury and eating disorders both appear on the rise. Suicide is reported as the second leading cause of death among college students after accidents.<br />
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The article above reports that University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's incoming freshman will be required to read a book on how the internet contributes to feelings of loneliness and disconnection. While it is good for each person to explore the impacts of their online social worlds on their personal well-being, for many young people the online world is a place to make connections, learn new things, problem solve, and perhaps even <a href="http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63277/1/109493102753770552.pdf" target="_blank">increase a student's experience</a> of social support and self esteem.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ulifeline.org/" target="_blank">ULifeline</a> is one way that technology is helping students explore their own well-being. This site reports over 10,000 visitors per month, and is customized to help provide resources for over 1,000 campuses. There are many self-screening quizzes that help students identify help for themselves or a friend. The site has many good articles about how to recognize problems and support peers. <br />
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Many college students are affected by anxiety and depression, but both of these problems are well-researched and improve with talk therapy and/or medication. Since <a href="http://www-personal.umich.edu/~daneis/papers/hmpapers/Stigma%20_Eisenberg%20et%20al%202009_.pdf" target="_blank">stigma contributes</a> to help-seeking behavior of college students, especially in certain groups, the internet could play a role in normalizing the experiences of help seekers and encourage cognitive awareness about mental health. More research should be done about how well sites that provide mental health information convert self-assessment to actual community-based help for the many college students who report symptoms.<br />
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Facebook is one online place where many college students spend time. It appears support from Facebook friends may play a role in<a href="http://elkhealth.pbworks.com/f/Ellison,+Steinfield,+and+Lampe+(2007).pdf" target="_blank"> increasing social capital, well-being</a>, and combating stigma if friends are supportive to online disclosures. However, if you share your life on Facebook check your privacy settings: researchers may try to <a href="http://www.uvm.edu/~pdodds/files/papers/others/2011/moreno2011a.pdf" target="_blank">clinically diagnose</a> your status updates without you ever knowing about it!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-49497233543934420722012-04-21T21:54:00.000-07:002012-04-23T14:31:20.287-07:00What I've learned about teaching & technology (so far)Last Fall I accepted a faculty position at the University of North Dakota. One of the draws for me was their long history of providing quality online MSW education, and the university's commitment to improving technology use. I am learning about teaching online, about effective use of technology in teaching, and about the available resources. As an evaluator on a federal research grant, I am also learning how to incorporate technology in my evaluation work. Here are some of my observations:<br />
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<li>There is a significant learning curve. Teaching online means learning new programs, getting used to new formats, and keeping everyone up to speed. We are fortunate to have a distance coordinator in our program who is a social worker and also skilled with technology, and she makes sure the students are prepared before they come to our classrooms. Still, when lecturing online I don't have the same cues (nods, laughing at my jokes, blank stares) as I do in a face-to-face classroom, and this is a difficult change. It's ok because there are new kinds of cues: I can ask students to raise their hands, turn on a green light, turn on their cameras or mics to answer a question... it's just a change.</li>
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<li>Some things are better about distance learning. Talk about diversity of experiences! I have students across the US in my distance classes. Although many of my students are local because we prioritize their admissions, our ND students online get to share a class with more diverse students than they would if they were campus students. For the most part, the students are already in helping professions and are working students with good experience. Because we have a very good and established program we attract high quality students, it makes for a rich classroom experience.</li>
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<li>A lot of people (students and faculty) have limited technology experience. These are exciting times. If you know how to use technology it is easy to be a leader in its use and to make an impact. For those of you interested in using technology, your skills will be valued and appreciated. Agencies are raising their expectations for technology skills for incoming employees, and if you've been dragging your heels you probably need to think about how to climb on board. It is a nice way to set yourself apart.</li>
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<li>Technology skills do not replace good teaching. Sometimes technology stands in the way of good teaching. Although I've enjoyed the way that I could bring distance guest speakers to the classroom online, use youtube to demonstrate what someone with a particular diagnosis looks like, or use a blog to share research information, all of these things are clutter if not backed up by good teaching practice. And too much fidgeting with technology is a real distraction in the classroom.</li>
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I taught in our on-campus program this semester and had an amazing group of students. We made good use of technology, but our classroom discussions were rich and rewarding. I am very proud of the work students have done to help launch <a href="http://kids-mental-health.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">this intervention blog</a> where they each explain a brief intervention technique; I hope the blog will continue to grow as I teach the class in future semesters.</div>
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I am taking a summer technology workshop in May where I will get to learn about some more specific programs and work on classroom prep. My goal is to move more of my lecture to pre-recorded video so we can spend additional time in the classroom in role plays, discussions, vignettes, and practice. This is scary and exciting because it is harder to engage in practice exercises than to review theory, but I am ready for the challenge and hope that I can bring the students along successfully. I look forward to growing and stretching and learning new things. The opportunity to innovate is one of the most exciting things about working at a university.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-11785240395260639722011-01-29T20:03:00.000-08:002012-04-21T21:30:20.031-07:00Child welfare workforce turnover- what's the problem?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(c) creative commons <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianhendrix/" id="yui_3_3_0_1_1296359721117146" style="color: #0063dc; text-decoration: none;">brianhendrix</a></span></span></td></tr>
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I have dedicated the last several years of my research career to studying the problem of child welfare workforce turnover. High turnover of frontline child welfare workers is a <a href="http://www.childwelfare.gov/management/workforce/retention/turnover.cfm">national </a>(and international) problem. The average stay of a child welfare worker in the US is about 2.5 years. So what's the problem?<br />
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1. It takes workers time to learn system issues and effective practice. Some research suggests it takes about 2 years. If workers leave just as they are learning the job, they are taking what they've learned with them, and clients are often served by newer workers.<br />
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2. Turnover is expensive. It can cost about <a href="http://www.cps.ca.gov/workforceplanning/documents/TurnTool1CalculatorFINAL.pdf" target="_blank">$35,000-$50,000</a> in direct costs (training, advertising, recruitment, payout of earned time) each time a worker leaves. This cost impacts the budget of agencies who could be spending the money for more direct services to families or perhaps even preventative services. If a small office loses 10 workers per year, this could be $500,000 in funds that are used to replace workers instead of serve children.<br />
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3. Turnover is <a href="http://www.ioatwork.com/ioatwork/2009/08/beware-the-turnover-bug-its-contagious.html">contagious</a>. When a worker leaves, it places a workload burden on other workers. Studies show that turnover and the associated poor morale can be contagious in agencies.<br />
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4. Turnover impacts the vulnerable clients that child welfare agencies serve. Often children involved in child welfare have a history of unstable relationships, seperation, and loss, and worker turnover heightens this experience. Children in care <a href="http://www.cwti.org/RR/impact%20DVD%20intro.pdf">report </a>that they have a harder time trusting social workers because of turnover, and even feel responsible for workers leaving the agency.<br />
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5. Turnover is linked to lengthened <a href="http://www.socialworkpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/r2p-cw-caseload-swpi-1-10.pdf">time to permanency</a>. When a new worker gets a case, she has to learn the history and about the family. There may be gaps in services when workers change (before a new worker picks up the case). This may mean that it takes more time before children are safely returned home or until they can be adopted.<br />
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Although some research has focused on the qualities of an individual worker that might lead them to be more committed or the ways that agencies can train workers in efficiency, my research has focused on the things that child welfare organizations (often governmental agencies) can do differently to better retain workers. Ultimately, changing organizations to better support workers will be more effective than changing individual workers to deal with dysfunctional organizations. In a later post I will talk about some of the organizational predictors of turnover and the things agencies can do to support workforce stability, as well as the people and organizations working on solutions to this problem.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-72792668128138049062011-01-24T12:47:00.000-08:002014-03-31T13:53:51.513-07:00Should you get your MSW degree online?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you are an online-ed skeptic, you're in good company according to <a href="http://www.shrm.org/Research/SurveyFindings/Articles/Pages/HiringPracticesandAttitudes.aspx">this</a> research report which indicates that over half of hiring executives polled viewed online grads less favorably. But let's face it, online degrees are not all created equal. If you graduate from an MSW program, employers foremost want to know if it is CSWE accredited, and you want to make sure you're learning the core skills of the profession. If you are on the market for a social work degree, it's important to know what you are looking for.<br />
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A growing <a href="http://www.nosignificantdifference.org/">pool of research</a> suggests that a person can learn as well online as in the classroom. I had the privilege of visiting <a href="http://www.und.edu/dept/socialwo/">University of North Dakota</a> recently; they've been doing online-distance ed in social work longer than anyone. They offer synchronous classes, which means that students log in at particular times and interface with their teachers and classmates directly via webcam, very much like if they were sitting in the classroom. The faculty that teach these classes are the same faculty that teach in the on-campus program. Admission to the program is selective, but they offer some priority to geographic isolation- which means they can contribute to social justice by helping educate place-bound students in communities where social work ed may not otherwise be available. Their cutting-edge online software allows the class to be divided in to small groups with their online classmates to discuss issues via webcam (just like in a classroom), and for students to meet individually by webcam and record mock interviews for faculty review, and even for students to raise a virtual hand and be called on in class. Students meet on campus for several intensive days of study and orientation every year. Faculty members fly all over the United States to visit students in their communities at their field placements, in person- in more than 30 states. AND the online program costs the same for residents and non-residents, making it a more financially accessible option than many private schools. The faculty was really warm, and overall a group with rich practice and research experience. These are some of the characteristics that suggest a lot of thought has gone in to online program delivery that meets the needs of the students and provides quality content.<br />
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There are <a href="http://www.dinkesngawi.com/finding-best-msw-degree-programs-online.php">several other programs</a> offering social work education online. Some online schools require some period of residency or require that you live within the state. An online degree takes a similar amount of time and devotion as an in-person program. If you are considering online social work education, you should ask:<br />
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<li>Is the program accredited by CSWE? (Most employers only recognize <a href="http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation/organizations.aspx">CSWE</a> accredited programs.) </li>
<li>Are classes synchronous (at a certain time) or asynchronous (log in at your convenience)?</li>
<li>How are field placements arranged?</li>
<li>Does the program have a specialization? What are they known for? (macro practice? clinical? rural?)</li>
<li>How does a student practice social work skills like interviewing and engagement? What does class participation look like?</li>
<li>Do tenure-track faculty teach in the program, or all the instructors mostly adjuncts? Are they conducting research and providing service in their fields? </li>
<li>How do students access the faculty for advising and questions?</li>
<li>Is there an in-person requirement? If so, what are the associated expenses? (air travel, hotel, etc.)</li>
<li>What is the selection criteria and the retention (how many students drop out?)</li>
<li>How many students are in the program? How do you work with other students?</li>
<li>How expensive is the program?</li>
<li>How are disruptions handled (if you have to drop a class, etc)?</li>
</ol>
You must also do some self reflection. Can you dedicate time and attention to online study, and eventually do a time-intensive field placement in the community? Students are typically asked to work full days either 2 days a week over a year or 4 days a week over a semester. These placements are typically unpaid. What are your experiences with online learning? What kinds of supports will you need to be successful?<br />
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An application for an online grad program should be taken as seriously as an application to a site-based program. Although it comes with some conveniences, it has a unique set of challenges as well. Look at what other online learners have said to evaluate whether this might be a good match for you. If you've been an online learner, let me know what you think.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-12725226615987809342011-01-23T20:44:00.000-08:002011-01-23T21:01:11.716-08:00In the news: Skype Counseling with homebound elderly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0uUvfq_9BKP1XmI5R_OJk9kgNwPbutF01ozqGitXLhMA4cZKhIgMd4nG_GBEc0-VLvYETazH9zYGsAFTsvRsy-9kvPG3bJ0Z0xOws2hpfjzgSk0H-NnPDn396-6B7CX1P3uerYN9Y35M/s1600/counselor.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0uUvfq_9BKP1XmI5R_OJk9kgNwPbutF01ozqGitXLhMA4cZKhIgMd4nG_GBEc0-VLvYETazH9zYGsAFTsvRsy-9kvPG3bJ0Z0xOws2hpfjzgSk0H-NnPDn396-6B7CX1P3uerYN9Y35M/s400/counselor.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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I was excited to see <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2011/01/innovations-bring-depressed-elders-back-from-living-hell.php">this article</a> in the news today about a research project that offers laptops to elderly people at risk for depression, where they have access to therapy via Skype. Social Work <a href="http://blogs.utexas.edu/health/2009/10/05/dr-namkee-choi-school-of-social-work/">researchers </a>at the University of Texas-Austin have brought laptops to the homes of seniors over 60 who are socially isolated. This project offers an opportunity for evidence in how to support people who may be hard to reach because of isolation or illness.<br />
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I am lukewarm, generally, on the issue of internet-based therapy. Many licensed (and unlicensed) therapists are offering counseling services via webcam, email, and even in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yen0TOeUiY">Second Life</a>. Many have ethical practices, <a href="http://northlightcounseling.com/wordpress/?page_id=122">waivers</a>,* see only those who are not in acute crises, and are well-educated in issues related to counseling via distance. This may be a responsive option for people with social anxiety/agoraphobia, who are geographically isolated, or have a specialized need that might be more available when they have a wider variety of therapists from which to choose. Our professional organizations are still <a href="http://www.naswdc.org/pubs/code/code.asp">overly-vague</a> on the issue of internet-based services, although many <a href="http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a907333039~frm=titlelink">good articles</a> have been written on the topic.<br />
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The difference between this research project and online therapy is that (I assume) there has been an in-person assessment for appropriateness of fit, and the workers are still in the community should an acute need arise. My view is that we need more professional clarity and regulation about social work via distance before it can be a broad credible option, or some professional education for consumers about what to look for in an online counselor. What do you think?<br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">*I do not know or endorse this Licensed Clinical Social Worker, but saw she offered a more thorough list of the risks of online therapy than many social workers offering e-counseling.</span></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8519962682538651579.post-66624417846895410432011-01-23T18:18:00.000-08:002014-09-17T16:24:23.789-07:00About me<u>welcome!</u>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0