Intersections Between Engaged Learning, Social Capital, and Information and Communication Technologies in Social Work Education
The growth of information communication technologies (ICT) usage and advances available to social work practitioners, educators and researchers necessitate the integration of ICT into the social work curriculum. Engaged learning and social capital are central to the success of college students and ICT plays a role in these processes, however, the intersection of the domains of ICT, engaged learning and social capital have never been examined. Many Social Work programs are moving forward with online distance education and blended learning approaches, making this a perfect time to explore the intersections between engaged learning, social capital and ICT. The primary research question for the study is how do engaged learning, social capital, and information communication technologies interconnect in face-to-face social work education?
Methods
Two focus groups were conducted with social work undergraduate and graduate students in a large public university in the Southwest with 6 participants in each group. Eight participants were between 22 and 26 years of age and four participants were between 32 and 38 years of age, eleven were female. Eight of the students were white, three Latina, and one African-American. Eleven of the participants described themselves as frequent users of Facebook, and one as an occasional user of Facebook. Data were analyzed via content analysis. The first author coded focus group transcriptions for emergent themes, using a line-by-line analysis in order to identify patterns in the data. Themes, constructs, and relationships were explored, then identified, and finally coded in the qualitative content analysis. Transcripts were reviewed for exploration and confirmation of preliminary findings. Six rounds of analysis were completed subsequently on the emergent themes and codes, with the researchers then returning to the original transcriptions in order to verify the context of the comments.
Results
Five primary themes emerged from the data: 1) ICT creates new avenues for building social capital, 2) social capital supports engaged learning and is facilitated by ICT, 3) ICT is a launching pad for learning beyond the classroom, 4) ICT enables new ways of sharing to create awareness, and, 5) ambivalence exists about ICT and social capital. Overall, findings indicate that ICT creates new avenues for building social capital which, in turn, supports engaged learning and facilitates engaged learning beyond the classroom.
Conclusions and Implications
Study findings suggest that, through integration of ICT into classroom activities and outside of classroom, engaged learning may stimulate interactions that foster transmission of social work knowledge, values, and skills. Findings also highlight the need for faculty to be attentive to creating multiple opportunities for increasing learning and building social capital among students through effective use of ICT. Understanding these intersections in multiple social work educational settings is crucial to building a knowledge base that will enhance the delivery of social work education in the digital era.