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One social work course taught almost entirely
online was evaluated for its effectiveness in teach-
ing clinical skills. Students in the online course
reported achieving the same level of skill develop-
ment as those in a comparable face-to-face course
(Siebert, Siebert & Spaulding-Givens, 2006).
Interestingly, it was found that role-plays were the
one component of the course difficult to transfer
entirely to the online environment. In the course
the students were asked to conduct real time role-
plays with another student on a discussion board.
Students found this to be problematic due to the
absence of non-verbal cues and body language. A
second round of role-plays was then played out,
the only component of the course not conducted
online, with students engaging in a face-to-face
role-play with a practitioner at a local agency. In
the student responses to the course many students
reported that the worst aspect of the course was
not having face-to-face contact to practise their
developing skills. This evaluation indicates two
important opportunities for the design elements
discussed in this chapter: first, that the online
environment can successfully be utilised to teach
social work skills albeit with the limitation that
students valued face-to-face interactions for the
development of practice skills. Second, that online
role-plays should not be considered as a replace-
ment for face-to-face role-plays, but should be
used in combination with this approach. In the
next section of this chapter we provide more
detail regarding the use of online role-plays in
university education.
conflict in Middle Eastern politics. This role-play
incorporated email and teleconferences and re-
quired students to negotiate complex international
relations issues. Wills and McDougall (2008)
identify a key distinguishing feature of online
learning through role-plays as the opportunity
for 'students to interact with each other via the
computer rather than the traditional simulation in
which students interact with a computer model'
(Wills & McDougall, 2008, p 762). The impact of
new online teaching and learning tools on teacher
workload also needs to be considered as this is
often the hidden cost of innovative online learning
and teaching (Spector, 2005). One possible option
in e-learning is the use of role-play simulations.
A role-play simulation 'combines the attributes
of both simulations and role-plays where partici-
pants adopt a functional role or persona within a
simulated environment or scenario' (McLaughlan
& Kirkpatrick, 2008, p. 311).
The use of such simulations is not widespread
in tertiary teaching but this learning and teaching
strategy has been successfully utilised in politics,
economics, psychology, engineering, history and
education (Wills & McDougall, 2008). Sophisti-
cated software (Fablusi, 2007) is available through
the Internet to assist in designing online role-plays
including the opportunity to provide for multiple
characters, a scenario, a chat room, an updating
newsletter and a debriefing room. Participants
can add to their character profile to build their
own personal qualities in their character. Email or
the use of university systems, such as the Black-
board Learning Management System, can also be
utilized to play out an online role-play. The end
of the role-play may be a solution to a problem,
exploration of an issue, the creation of something
or it may be an agreement through a negotiation
exercise (Jones, 2007; Spencer & Hardy, 2008;
Wills & McDougall, 2008).
Role-play simulations can be designed to
require complex decision making that incorpo-
rates accommodation of diverse and competing
perspectives (McLaughlan & Kirkpatrick, 2008).
online role-playS
Online role-plays have been used for some time in
e-learning and provide the opportunity for active
learning that incorporates collaborative problem
solving (McLaughlan & Kirkpatrick, 2008). For
example, Vincent and Shepherd (1998) describe
an innovation in online role-plays that provide
students with the opportunity to play characters in
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