It's fun to think about all the ways that the things that I love overlap. In this blog, I've written mostly about my overlapping interests in social work and education. Here are some things I am doing lately that draw upon these overlapping interests: 1. Professional advocacy:  I recently joined the BPD Technology Committee.  BPD is a group that focuses on undergraduate social work education. As part of this group, I give input regarding recommendations about how to share information about technology with other educators.  I will present on some ways to use technology ..read more

Here is a short video about how to use Google Scholar to find research articles for social work ..read more

Last Fall I accepted a faculty position at the University of North Dakota. One of the draws for me was their long history of providing quality online MSW education, and the university's commitment to improving technology use.  I am learning about teaching online, about effective use of technology in teaching, and about the available resources.  As an evaluator on a federal research grant, I am also learning how to incorporate technology in my evaluation work.  Here are some of my observations: There is a significant learning curve. Teaching online means learning new programs, g ..read more

(c) creative commons brianhendrix I have dedicated the last several years of my research career to studying the problem of child welfare workforce turnover.  High turnover of frontline child welfare workers is a national (and international) problem. The average stay of a child welfare worker in the US is about 2.5 years. So what's the problem? 1.  It takes workers time to learn system issues and effective practice.  Some research suggests it takes about 2 years.  If workers leave just as they are learning the job, they are taking what they've learned with t ..read more

I was excited to see this article in the news today about a research project that offers laptops to elderly people at risk for depression, where they have access to therapy via Skype. Social Work researchers at the University of Texas-Austin have brought laptops to the homes of seniors over 60 who are socially isolated.  This project offers an opportunity for evidence in how to support people who may be hard to reach because of isolation or illness. I am lukewarm, generally, on the issue of internet-based therapy.  Many licensed (and unlicensed) therapists are offering counseling ..read more

Hey friends!  I've made a big move to the University at Buffalo SUNY, where I have joined the faculty as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. I'm really excited to be here at this vibrant School of Social Work in this great community. University of North Dakota (my colleagues, students, community partners) will always have a special place in my heart. And because I started so much work in North Dakota, I will hang on to some of it. I continue to lead the North Dakota Indian Child Welfare Act Partnership Grant as Principal Investigator, and will visit in person several times a year. Here ..read more

I am near lovely San Diego in California, my home state, learning at the NICWA annual conference. If you know me, you know that I care deeply about child welfare issues, and especially that children stay connected to their families. The Indian Child Welfare Act is a federal law that requires child welfare systems to carry out special efforts to keep children connected to their families and tribes, and part of my work is about helping systems make improvements in this area. At this conference we are sharing our work about ICWA compliance in North Dakota.  We've been working on assessing c ..read more

Hello everyone! I am just back from the SWDE 2016 Conference, and it was great.  My favorite part was hanging out with so many wonderful colleagues. Amazing spirit of support for imagining new ways to deliver and assess distance education.  There was also a pretty good twitter crowd, which allowed me to see what was going on at the sessions I didn't get to- and you can see that feed, thanks to Sean who attended via Twitter from his home in New York!  My friend Laurel presented a great session about using Twitter if you've not jumped in to that water yet, and you can find he ..read more

I am at the BPD Conference in Dallas, TX with BSW educators from across the nation.  It's so fun to see friends, make friends, and hear new ideas for teaching and research. I was involved in several sessions and told people I would share resources here.  This morning as part of the technology committee, I promised to share my student tutorial for using Zotero.  Here you go! This is a youtube link to the video. Feel free to share with your students. Laurel Hitchcock and I talked about how we met online, and are now writing a book together (with Nancy Smyth!) about using te ..read more

I am collecting data to help us better understand the ways in which child welfare workers use social media and the kinds of benefits, needs, and concerns they express about its use. I would be most grateful if you would consider completing the survey if you are a current child welfare worker. If you can pass it on to colleagues that would also be great. Dear child welfare administrators, workers and child welfare interns, I am conducting a study to learn about the experiences of child welfare workers related to social media.  This survey takes approximately fifteen m ..read more