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Abstract
Social work programs increasingly are engaged in deploying distance education models, yet questions remain about how to teach direct practice skills within this context. As field agency changes have limited practice opportunities for social work students, methods for helping interns develop direct practice skills in diverse field practicum settings also are needed. This paper describes a direct practice course initiative in which a virtual simulation of a home visit was developed in Second Life. Descriptions of the steps that were involved in developing and implementing this initiative, feedback from the students and instructors, and resources necessary to launch such an initiative are discussed.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Sue Shick, instructional designer working in the Department of Instructional Technology and Academic Computing at Case Western Reserve University for her dedication and invaluable assistance in developing and implementing the project described in this paper. This project was funded in part by a curriculum innovation grant from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University.