MSASS

Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences

http://msass.cwru.edu

Adapted from a report submitted by Dean Darlyne Bailey and Vice Dean Victor Groza, who served as a member of the University Committee on Distance Learning

Current State of Distance Learning in Social Work Education

Several local universities and universities in other states have experience with distance education. These programs, for the most part, are arising in state-supported universities, often with legislative mandates and tax support for the innovations. A recent report in the Journal of Social Work Education (1997, Vol. 33, No. 2), in a preliminary evaluation of distance learning in social work education, concluded that the technology has potential for augmenting social work educational resources but has not yet demonstrated comparable outcomes in terms of student learning. In some ways, this article reflects current faculty thinking: skepticism, caution and promise.

Current Initiatives

Enhanced communications. Several Mandel School faculty members have tried to use “list-serves” (e-mail utilities that promote communication among the instructor and students in a course) in their classes. Their experiments were not successful , primarily because many of their students were not equipped to use CWRUnet remotely. Once this access is provided for them (by fall 1998?), the faculty members are optimistic that they can begin to use the technology effectively, e.g., using the World Wide Web for students to communicate with people of different cultures, sexual orientations, etc. One faculty member noted problems arising from opening network-based communications to wide participation: huge backlogs of messages, and the possibility of inappropriate or insulting messages directed to faculty and students.

International social work. The School is deeply involved in international and global activities, and some faculty have begun to use information technology in these arenas is a manner that puts into practice the theoretical concept of “globalization from below.” This approach teaches students to use the Internet for research and communication, seeking to establish a clear global agenda through international linkages between ordinary people and grassroots organizations. Unlike “globalization from above,” which is market-driven, “globalization from below” meets social and educational needs, rather than economic priorities.

To explore this theory, students in the international social work course are using the World Wide Web to link up with Romanian students and grassroots organizations. The American students and their Romanian student e-mail partners explore social issues such as child abuse, women's issues, and elder care.

International social work is not a one-way transfer of ideas and practices from the U.S. to other countries. By using the Internet to accomplish course assignments, both Romanian and American students begin to experience the reciprocal nature of professional exchanges between different countries, learning how cross-cultural linkages shape their knowledge of global issues, inform their understanding of social development, affect their value systems, and enhance opportunities for international collaboration. This project was aided by support from the Nord Program administered through the University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education (UCITE).

Nonprofit organizations. The master’s degree program in nonprofit management offered through the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations includes a two-week “intensive” residency in Cleveland during the last two weeks of June, with daily classes during the week and visits to several nonprofits in Cleveland, especially on the week-end. During this two-week period the students begin five courses that carry full graduate credit. The faculty for this program have published extensively on nonprofits in their respective fields, have a great deal of practical experience as consultants and board members, and have worked together for nearly ten years. Students also have access to other Mandel Center faculty.

After the residency, the students spend a year at home, writing a series of five carefully interrelated papers, one for each course, on the major questions facing one nonprofit organization. Drafts of each paper are sent back to the instructors by e-mail for discussion and suggestions, and the instructors also use e-mail to keep in touch with the students and to discuss other readings and issues.

The entire paper is due before a second two-week session in Cleveland, where students discuss their papers and complete work in another round of intensive classes. In effect, each student’s entire program is an extended, integrated, guided exploration of the strategic questions facing one nonprofit, and through that analysis an introduction to the nonprofit/nongovernmental sector in general. Student papers and the quality of student learning and enthusiasm have been very high.

The MNO program uses E-MBA Net to provide the means of communication for students and faculty during the eleven months that the students are away from campus. E-MBA Net has proven to be very successful, providing features such as bulletin boards that were not available on campus.

Future Plans

As evident from the instructors who have experimented with components of distance education, there are a number of faculty members at the Mandel School who are interested and willing to innovate. Also, the School’s continuing education program for practicing social workers is an area that offers promising opportunities for the use of distance education approaches, particularly through the World Wide Web. However, without better infrastructure support from INS and other incentives, including technical and financial assistance, the faculty will continue to be reluctant to pursue this innovation. Faculty feel that it is not sufficient to promise change in the level or type of support available; once they feel better supported and can see incentives for venturing out into this new forum, then more concrete plans can be made.

Scenarios
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