I feel extremely blessed to have the opportunity to regularly deliver workshops to Social Workers for professional Continuing Education (CE) credit for the purpose of state licensure. Last week I delivered a session on cyberbully prevention and responsible use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) - this workshop included one hour of ethics content. During the final hour of the CE workshop I discussed ethical challenges related to ICTs and the role of the profession. During this segment of the workshop it became painfully evident to me social workers are not receiving adequate training or exposure related to ethical challenges/dilemmas and our use of ICTs and the impact on those we serve. Social workers can and do use ICTs across the generational spectrum, including work with Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and now Generation iY. Our use of technology also crosses all areas of practice, such as using Apps and technology to help aging Baby Boomers remain in their homes safely and using social media to engage youth in quality after school programming. The NASW Code of Ethics speaks to social workers practicing in areas in which we are properly trained and educated. Today, there are over 25,000 online support groups, Skype and Facetime have become methods of service delivery, and there are a myriad of technology based treatment models that have been tested and shown to be efficacious. Some social workers have embraced the use of technology in direct practice, while others in higher education settings are conducting valuable research and training students how to use these models through classroom and field work pilot experiences.
As a longstanding member of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) since the early 2000s (and regular attendee at APM), and member of NASW since 1988, I remain hopeful CSWE will seriously explore the importance of exposing social work students to ICTs and direct social work practice by integrating this content across all areas of the social work curriculum. Exposing social work students to this critical content will broaden their world view, expand their knowledge of effective treatment modalities, reduce social workers' risk for inappropriate use of social media and ICTs (that have the potential to negatively impact their clients/patients/consumers), and raise social workers' awareness of the ethics of practice in cyberspace, a fast growing and largely unregulated area of practice. I am also hopeful NASW will strongly encourage interested social workers to develop innovative CE workshops to aid in addressing the technology training gap for those already in the field holding full licensure.
I am a strong supporter of both CSWE and NASW and plan to continue my membership for as long as I live; however, I believe infusing ICT content across the social work curriculum will better prepare social workers to work with today's issues and those yet to be born tomorrow and well into the future...
