28.10.2010
Study Social Work online or abroad
Social Work students in Europe come together to study Community Work at the virtual, online campus in this EU-funded project.The first 23 students from nine European countries have completed the e-learning module 'Community Work from an International Perspective'. Bachelor students and professionals can now apply for three international modules in comparative social work.
The e-learning module has been developed through the EU-funded project, 'Social Work - Virtual Campus', chaired by Bergen University College.
– Issues such as labour migration, immigration, cultural diversity, poverty, alcohol and drugs abuse and child and family issues are common issues for European countries. This affects the professional social work, and should be met by new educational programmes, explains Project Leader Anne Karin Larsen.
Learning through blogs, online lectures and role play
The innovative learning material for the e-learning module is presented in a virtual book that includes case blogs, audiovisual triggers and screen lectures.
Students work with the fictitious ‘Green Park Community’, and through a community blog they plan and develop community work projects that address issues raised by the people around the park. Project title examples are 'Bridging cultures' 'Teenagers in action' and 'Art as the community bridge'.
A useful learning experience
Working with this virtual case represents the practical part of the e-learning module. Students consider this a useful learning experience, as one of the students express in the final survey:
‘The practical part was great. The Green Park Community appeared totally real. Also, the Skype role play made it more realistic.(...) It could be a real situation’.
Courses and practice placements in Europe
Bachelor students can now participate in English-taught Social Work courses and do their practice placements in many European countries. Three optional international modules can be integrated in a Bachelor programme:
-
Social Work in Europe – Commonalities and Differences
5 ECTS credits - September to November, 2010
- Comparative Social Work – A European Perspective on Core Aspects of Social Work 10 ECTS credits - November 2010 to February 2011
- Community Work from an International Perspective
15 ECTS credits - January to June, 2011
The next application deadline for the Community work module is December 1st, 2010.
This includes modules from a previous project, the VIRCLASS Project.
The courses are open for Bachelor students in social work from the partner institutions, but professional social workers and master students can also apply for the courses.
More information and how to apply
These Higher Education institutions can offer courses in English and practice placements:
- Bergen University College, Norway
- Inholland University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands
- University of Complutense, Madrid, Spain
- Miguel Torga University College, Coimbra, Portugal
- Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Germany
- Bodø University College, Norway
- KHKempen University College, Geel, Belgium
Associated partners:
- School of Health Sciences, Jönköping University, Sweden
- Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, Germany
From EU project to consortium
The overall aim of the EU-funded project 'Social Work – Virtual Campus' has been to increase Social Works students' competence and enable them to meet the needs of a knowledge-based, intercultural, socially cohesive European society. Teachers and staff from many European countries have cooperated to create a Virtual Campus, curriculum and learning material.
– Common challenges all over Europe demand intercultural cooperation and development of methods to strengthen social cohesion and reduce ethnocentrism and social exclusion, says Anne Karin Larsen, Associate Professor at Bergen University College.
During the last two years, Larsen has led the project and coordinated the work together with the Project Steering Committee (partners from Madrid; Jønkøping, Haarlem and Mannheim).
The EU project is now closed, but seven of the institutions are still collaborating through a consortium to continue administering the Virtual Campus.
Read more
Sist endret: 10.11.2010