Information Technology Reference
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where curriculum demands and staffing shortages
favor direct instruction.
Supplementing human services courses with
anytime/anywhere, freely available online social
networking services may help work around these
barriers, providing all course members with a
cheap solution to help them monitor, learn from,
and co-construct the group's experience. For
example,
Social Work 2.0
(http://www.social-
work20.com/) is an intergenerational SNS of
current undergrad and graduate students, social
work professionals (1-20 years in the field), non-
profit leaders, researchers and others. Within this
network, each member has an individual online
profile page where he or she can list location,
professional status, degree-granting institution,
and areas of social work/interests. Online forums
within this SNS such as “Speak” and “(ME)Ca-
reer” reveal a wealth of career and job-seeking
resources, experiences, and advice for social
work students and early career professionals.
In addition, each Social Work 2.0 member can
share reflections in his or her blog, generate
discussion questions, share resources, request
contacts, invite new members, etc. When an on-
line profile is changed, as when someone writes
a new blog entry or uploads a video or shares a
question, the change appears prominently on the
community home page so all members can track
each others' activities. For instructors who seek
to foster reflective practitioners, group cohesion,
and a supportive and caring community for their
students, SNS environments may help facilitate
this by motivating students' self-expression, public
sharing, support and commentary as we saw in
Theresa's case.
Moreover, information and communication
tools such as SNSs offer a dynamically updat-
ing method of pooling users' collective wisdom,
interests, and contacts. As Theresa's case sug-
gests, when initiated into an online community
where multi-media sharing is not only valued but
promoted, students may be developing important
habits, preferences and skills that prepare them
for the human service education workplace of the
future. Theresa tapped her network to promote
her creativity, solve problems, make life-altering
decisions, augment her knowledge base, and pull
others with varying levels and types of expertise
into her network. Initiating students into these
ways of thinking and using social digital tech-
nologies may help them develop the interpersonal
skills and creative practices that are essential to
cultivating an effective professional network
of colleagues, service providers, and clients
in the human services field. As future human
services professionals, graduate students must
develop proficiencies in: helping others obtain
information and services, keeping and monitor-
ing updated records, communicating clearly in
varied formats to multiple audiences, collecting
input/ideas/information from clients, establishing
trust, and leading or facilitating team activities.
Employing a customized SNS for similar tasks
within a guided learning environment, such as
a university course, may help students develop
these proficiencies as part of their core practicum
or work-integrated learning experience. However,
SNSs may be most powerful as educational tools
when the community students join goes beyond
the limited experience base of a particular course
or university program to encompass and expose
students to the broader institutional, social, cul-
tural, and political perspectives of a national or
international network in their field.
SnSs as tools for Human
Services practitioners
Second, human services practitioners might
leverage SNSs to reflect on their work, tap peer-
reviewed online continuing education, develop 21
st
century work practices, and grow their personal
and professional networks, thereby improving
their ability to develop, implement and maintain
a comprehensive service plan. Similar to integrat-
ing these tools into human services education,
practitioners in the field might utilize SNSs as
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