E-professional

Abstract: This paper describes the outcomes of a study on teacher supply and demand issues in Northern Canada. Using questionnaires and interviews, participants were asked to comment on professional development models currently used and models to be considered. In particular, comments on the use of blended learning as a viable method of e-professional development model were favorable. In subsequent research to follow up those comments, the researcher provided professional development model exemplars and asked the participants to discuss the advantages and disadvantages for rural teaching professionals. The researcher argues that the chosen blended learning model is superior to others as it is based on adult-learning principles. The results of this study are promising as the majority of participants chose blended learning as their primary choice for professional development.

Abstract: This paper explores current and emerging trends in collaborative working and investigates the role of Web 2.0 technologies in establishing networked forms of collaboration across organisational boundaries. The emerging Web 2.0 enabled workplace model recognizes that people are engaged in different tasks to be carried out in parallel, and are part of multiple projects, teams and even organizations. The new forms of collaborative networks enable people and their business environment to increase their productivity and leverage the creative potential of working collaboratively. In particular we explore the domain of managing complex projects. Based on examples of emerging forms of collaborative networks as well as case studies in actual collaborative work processes, we envisage new models of person-based collaboration and study the way they are embedded in organizational networks. The paper concludes in discussing open problems and proposing research themes in the area of networked collaboration of professionals.

Abstract: The paper draws on a small research project involving first year undergraduate social work students at University, focusing on `how students understand the use of social media and social networking sites (or SNS) within the context of a professional identity`. The literature identifies the significant focus on ethics, highlighting professional boundaries and the challenges of maintaining appropriate conduct in online situations. However, recent SNS research in the UK has begun to promote the benefits of SNS both in academic study and in direct practice. The main findings of this study highlight the significant use of social media across participants’ personal, social-role and professional domains, and the importance of ethical and values-based judgements that individuals were developing in advance of undertaking social work training. Nevertheless, other attitudes expressed by participants suggest the complexity of ethical, social-role situations and professional expectations generated by social media use were neither fully recognised nor understood. For educators, the paper proposes a more nuanced understanding of students’ roles is warranted, along with on-going support in the use of social media and professional identity. Introduction This study is based upon a small-scale research project involving six social work students in a focus-group setting investigating how social work students understand the use of social media within the context of professional identity. All those taking part had a breadth of care work experience before coming into University, with some continuing to work part-time in a paid or voluntary capacity. The small-scale Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference Proceedings 2015 2 nature of the study presents a number of limitations to claims of generalised insights, not least the notions of the representativeness of participants and the reliability of the data gathering and analysis methods (Gray, 2014). However, a brief account of the research methods used and the ethical measures that were undertaken will be provided in order to establish a basis for determining research rigor. SNS can be defined as a range of general communication processes and specific electronic tools that are based in the virtual online world of the internet, allowing individuals to construct profile identities in public or semi-public electronic platforms (Boyd and Ellison, 2008); these include tools such as blogs, micro blogs and popular websites such as Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin (Ayres, 2011). SNS use has grown significantly in recent years becoming an indispensable and influential part of many people’s lives in areas such as leisure pursuits, shopping (Earnst and Young, 2011), and also for important sources of health and medical-related information for people with chronic diseases (Oh and Cho, 2015), and more specifically in relation to the provision of health and social care work (Aase, 2010; Anderson and Guyton, 2013; LaMendola, 2010; McKendrick, 2014; Westwood, Taylor, and McKendrick, 2014) and social work education (Kilpeläinen, Päykkönen, and Sankala, 2011; Mukherjee and Clark, 2012). This has been partly driven by the use of Smart Phones and Tablets (Kimball and Kim, 2013) and advert-funded business models (Linklater, 2014) that have revolutionised and mobilised communication possibilities away from the traditional, static sites of the office/ home computer or laptop. Whilst the growth in the use of SNS and the potential for developments in a number of health and welfare practice areas has largely been welcomed in , for example, personalisation (Ayres, 2011), it has not arrived without critical examination. For example, it has generated questions about the constitution of online professionalism (Cain and Romanelli, 2009; Megele, 2012). Importantly, other health and social care academics and professionals have identified a number of concerns about the maintenance of professionalism within SNS (Anderson and Guyton, 2013), highlighting the blurred distinctions between personal and professional domains and the lack of over-arching policies from professional bodies for SNS use. Moreover, according to Fuchs, any discussion of social media needs to be placed within a theoretical perspective that takes in power and class; it is not just what social media is and does, but who controls the functions and form of social media that are fully rooted in the business imperatives of profit generation (Fuchs, 2014). Helpfully, Anderson and Guyton chronicle the changing nature of communications between professionals such as social workers and service users, reporting the challenges to the traditional modes of understanding boundaries and ethical practice through the increasing use of the internet and SNS. There are possibilities of increased self-disclosure by clinicians and the potential for changes to the client/clinician relationship, particularly where professionals offer online advice or guidance (Anderson and Guyton, 2013). These changes have led to what some commentators suggest is the blurring of public Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference Proceedings 2015 3 and private domains (Ballantyne, Duncalf, and Daly, 2010) with the potential for ethical violations (Fang, Mishna, Zhang, Van Wert, and Bogo, 2014). Whilst it is possible that professionals could refrain from using SNS for fear of blurring professional boundaries, Cooner suggests this may not be practical, helpful or even possible and that for social work educators there is a responsibility to develop social work students who are able to engage with social media, practising in a manner that recognises for example, matters of confidentiality, public confidence and personal and professional boundaries (Cooner, 2014). In addition, a number of commentators emphasise the need for practitioners to be fully cognisant of digital technology in order to understand the issues that arise from its use and subsequently, manage their own use of SNS in personal and professional domains (Gutheil and Brodsky, 2008; McBride, 2011). Recently in the UK there have been the beginnings of work with social work students on the use of SNS as a professional development tool by focusing on a range of teaching and learning skills such as blogging (McKendrick, 2014), the use of Facebook in skills development (Cooner, 2014) and book groups as a means of reflection (Taylor, 2014). In particular, the work by Westwood has highlighted the possibilities of using blogs as a tool for critical reflection on values (Westwood, 2014), while Thackray places more emphasis on students, “engaging in online communities and using social media in the development of personal professional and social networkscommunity building requires participation” (Thackray, 2014, 14). In England and Wales the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) are responsible for the registration health and social care professionals and more specifically, for the governance of social work training in England. Although there are expectations to abide by the Guidance on Conduct and Ethics for Students (Health and Care Professions Council, 2012) in matters of communicating effectively with service users and maintaining high standards of personal conduct, there is little that can help students or educators in determining whether it is appropriate for students to accept a service user `Friend Request` (a Facebook function) for example (Cooner, 2014). Research conducted by Jent, Eaton, Englebert, Dandes, Chapman and Hershorin explored the ethical challenges faced by health practitioners, and although focusing on another professional group, the findings can be insightful for social work educators. Their results suggest a high proportion of health practitioners did not believe that patient SNS posts were private and that they would not inform them that their SNS had been accessed, even when the nature of the information might mean that a follow-up action needed to be taken (Jent et al., 2011) (such as contacting parents or the police). Other research highlights the possibility of over-familiarity that SNS use encourages, and that the ease of contact meant that service users could re-initiate a connection through Facebook, leaving the social worker conflicted Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference Proceedings 2015 4 and possibly anxious about personal safety and professional responsibilities (Mishna, Bogo, Root, Sawyer, and Khoury-Kassabri, 2012). Professionalism, Eprofessionalism and professional identity The development of social work students’ understanding of ethics and SNS use can be viewed within a perspective of E-professionalism, which suggests that the professional behaviours and attitudes have their origins in the practice world, but beyond this are understood in terms of the additional responsibilities and attention to contexts that the virtual world demands (Cain and Romanelli, 2009). This view presents SNS as acting only in the form of a conduit (as the term media suggests) through which professionalism is demonstrated. However, this is not universally accepted. Others see Eprofessionalism as involving the online persona of professional based on the meaning of their online activities and interactions with others (Megele, 2012). Moreover, if definitions and understandings of Eprofessionalism online go beyond viewing it as merely an extension of the expectations of professionalism in practice it will, in part, depend on whether there is a sound understanding of what constitutes professionalism and professional identity in the first instance. Unsurprisingly, a number of queries are posed about the nature and identity of social work as a profession per se (Mackay and Zufferey, 2015), due to its hierarchical structures and restricted autonomy (Etzioni, 1969 in Bowles, Collingridge, Curry, and Valentine, 2006; Higham, 2006; Thompson, 2007). Others have highlighted the inconclu