Social Work Virtual Campus VirCamp’s student-centred teaching and learning

Presentation by: XX At the XXX V

Agenda Study with students all over the world Aims and objectives Why an international e-learning course in social work? Students interests E-learner – a lonely rider? Teaching and learning philosophy Learning methods The VIRCLASS experienced How to build a “safe” learning environment Virtual learning material Community of learning Cooperation versus collaboration

Communication with students in social work all over the world Teaching and learning online How to promote collaborative learning and develop a community of learning within an e-learning course?

Aims and objectives Objective for our online courses: Develop international e- learning courses for social work students Promote international cooperation and understanding of social in different countries and different cultural contexts Develop social understanding and social cohesion through an international specialisation in social work

Why developing international e- learning courses in social work? We belong to a globalised society with: –Labour mobility –Immigrantion –Globalised economy –International policy influencing national social policy –Common directives for educational development (as Bologna, LLL...) –International student exchange important but not all student can study abroad

Students want: To study abroad To have placement abroad To be able to work abroad after education To learn about other countries and their social work practice Improve their English language skills Get friends and professionals contact in other countries

The e-learner - a lonely rider? E-learning often seen as an lonely learning situation Online courses constructed to stimulate individual study Social work is interaction and F2F communication

Teaching and learning philosophy Collaborative learning methods are gradually being adopted all over the world...due to a new understanding of how people learn Reflected in the Bologna framework VIRCLASS/VirCamp learning philosophy: –We se learning as an interactive process where students discuss, reflect, collect and analyse information –Where students are active partners in a community of learners –With the aim of constructing new knowledge together

Learning methods Methods used can be problem based learning, case based learning, group work, discussions, reflection and other ways where students become an active part of the learning process. Picture from a Berlin exhibition

The VIRCLASS experience Our VIRCLASS courses have aimed to help students to learn form each other and share information and knowledge about their own country. Our experience from the past 5 years shows that it is possible to stimulate activities, cooperation and collaborative learning among students from different countries, even in an e ‐ learning setting. The Virtual Classroom for social work in Europe

How to build a ”safe” learning environment? Make an open, friendly and inviting atmosphere. A pre-start week to learn to navigate in the virtual learning environment (the VLE). Present tutorials to show how the students can manage the technical side of their new learning environment. Have technical support and backup!

A transparent (open) classroom is the key to collaboration E-Portfolio Peer feedback Teacher feedback Reflection on learning Carefully designed tasks and assignments which requires cooperation among students

Learning material can stimulate collaboration and discussions Audiovisual learning material Screen lectures Triggers Video case

Community of learning Teacher- or student lead collaboration? –Teacher invite students to collaborate through chats, discussions and tasks –Students initiate collaboration by themselves Important to create a learning community both for socialising and professional discussions Theme discussion and on-line “café”

Cooperation versus Collaboration When students cooperate, they solve small tasks on their own, and put the different pieces together as parts of a jig-saw puzzle. But then they have only learned from what they have done, not from other students work Figure of cooperation

Collaboration When students work on authentic tasks where they have to share knowledge, and discuss, they create a new understanding and in this way they increase their knowledge in a more holistic way F. ex. by co-writing in shared documents as google docs Figure of collaboration

Community of Inquiry (Anderson & Garrison) Social presence: students and teachers present themselves on the platform, sharing both professional and personal experiences. Teaching presence: setting the climate for learning, a good course structure, encouraging and facilitating discussions/chats, and a transparent classroom. Cognitive presence is important to achieve deep learning. Through giving students authentic tasks for comparative work they are challenged to develop and co ‐ construct knowledge.

Partners in SW-VirCamp (i): P 1- HiB: Bergen University College, Norway (coordinator) P2 - INH: Inholland University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands P3 - UCM: University of Complutense, Madrid, Spain P4 - HHJ: School of Health Sciences, Jönköping University, Sweden P5 - ISMT: Miguel Torga University College, Coimbra, Portugal P6 - HSM: Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Germany P7 - Swansea: Swansea University, Wales, UK P8 - HSM: Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, Germany P9 - LPA: Liepaja University, Latvia P10-HIBO: Bodø University College, Norway P11-ULHT: Lusofona University, Lisbon, Portugal P12-KHKempen: KHKempen University College, Geel, Belgium

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