Home PublicationsJRTEPast IssuesVolume 32 Number 2

Edited by Dr. David J. Ayersman, Mary Washington College, and Dr. W. Michael Reed, New York University

formerly Journal of Research on Computing in Education

JRTE, Volume 32, Number 2, Winter 1999
Using Interactive Multimedia to Build Child Welfare Competencies in Social Workers

Linda P. Thurston and Elizabeth Cauble
Kansas State University

Abstract

Interactive multimedia has been used in a limited fashion in preservice social work education. Building Family Foundations (BFF) consists of 10 competency-based interactive multimedia modules for preparing social workers for child welfare issues they may encounter in their professional practice. This article will review the process used to develop and produce the program and describe research that evaluated the program in terms of social work students’ content knowledge, self-efficacy, and attitudes toward technology. All measures showed significant pre- to posttreatment changes in knowledge of the material in the module, confidence in applying the new skills in social work practica and on the job, and greater comfort and ease using computers and interactive multimedia in an educational setting.

Contributors

Linda P. Thurston works in the Department of Special Education at Kansas State University.

Elizabeth Cauble works in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Kansas State University.

Address: Linda P. Thurston, Department of Special Education, 306 Bluemont Hall, Kansas State University, 1100 Mid-Campus Drive, Manhattan, KS 66506-5303; 1pt@ksu.edu.

A PDF file of the full article is available. Contact: jrte@iste.org. Please specifiy Volume and Issue number and article name.

Copyright © 1999, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.