Social work educators increasingly use internet related strategies to drive curriculum: e-portfolios, virtual world technologies, online education programmes and social media platforms. There is a parallel need for students to develop clear ethical standards, anti-oppressive and social justice perspectives, and skills in developing professional online relationships. For students to develop mature relationships with social media it is important they learn to analyse it theoretically, to be critical of inherent discourses and the information contained in it, and be aware of its potential to exploit and colonise. There is a call for social work assessments to include the “networked life” of clients, and the parallel need for social workers to understand the dynamics of big data. Finally, there is increasing pressure on social workers to be involved in social change projects, with the internet and social media providing ample opportunity and challenge.
This presentation will focus on current research in Aotearoa New Zealand: What do social workers need to know? How should they learn? And how does this relate to challenges in the context of neoliberal learning and practice environments?