Virtual Communities of Practice in Social Group Work Education

Virtual communities of practice are an international phenomenon in social work around the world. However, they are rare in social work in the United States. This article describes an online community, the Social Group Work Commons, designed to complement courses in social group work. Using Web 2.0 I...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSocial work with groups (New York. 1978) Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 85 - 95
Main Authors Davis, Carrie, Goodman, Harriet
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Routledge 02.01.2014
Taylor & Francis LLC
Subjects
Blogs
Computer Mediated Communication
Distance Education
educational technology
Group dynamics
Group Work
Internet
Online instruction
Pedagogy
Placement
Skill development
Social Work
Students
teaching innovation
Teaching methods
United States of America
virtual community of practice
Virtual Reality
Web 2.0 applications
United States > US
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Summary:Virtual communities of practice are an international phenomenon in social work around the world. However, they are rare in social work in the United States. This article describes an online community, the Social Group Work Commons, designed to complement courses in social group work. Using Web 2.0 Internet tools, such as blogs, discussion boards, and chats, the developers employed group work skills to help students establish a vehicle for mutual support as students struggled to integrate course content in their field placements. Examples from course blogs indicate students became increasingly intimate in their online exchanges over time and readily provided each other support in applying course content in their practice.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:0160-9513
1540-9481
DOI:10.1080/01609513.2013.821021