Teaching to Tech: A Quasi-Experimental Assessment of a Technology-Enhanced Social Work Course
This article describes and tests an information and communication technology-enhanced course for macropractice that capacitate students to use technology in social work practice and results from a quasi-experimental test yield positive gains in students’ technological efficacy, but not in their attitudes toward technology.
Abstract
ABSTRACT Professional interests and social problems demand social work practitioners who can “harness technology for social good.” Although the field has acknowledged the need to train social workers to use technology in practice, existing scholarship has tested few models for doing so. This article describes and tests an information and communication technology-enhanced course for macropractice. Results from a quasi-experimental test of the technology-enhanced course yield positive gains in students’ technological efficacy, but not in their attitudes toward technology. Ultimately, models that capacitate students to use technology in social work practice, like that described here, are needed. However, their effectiveness in promoting future use in social work practice likely depends on their ability to change skills and attitudes.