Teaching Practice Skills to Online MSW Students

• Main Authors: M. Sebrena Jackson, Alex D. Colvin, Angela N. Bullock, Qingyi Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Indiana University School of Social Work 2020-07-01
• Series: Advances in Social Work
• Subjects: blended learning; hybrid learning; skills labs; practice skills; online education; social work
• Online Access: http://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/advancesinsocialwork/article/view/23614

As social work considers teaching practice in a fully online environment, more consideration may need to be given to blended or hybrid learning formats for practice course delivery. There is a dearth of literature on the use of skills labs for teaching social work practice courses, particularly using a blended or hybrid model approach. Using Carman’s five key constructs of blended learning (live events, online content, collaboration, assessment, and reference materials), the purpose of this paper is to examine the use of a blended skills lab model for teaching social work practice skills to online MSW students. As the number of online programs continues to expand in social work education, the blended skills lab model will be used as a case study, offering implications for others to consider as they formulate similar models for online MSW students.