Open AccessUtilising a Virtual Community to practice Community Work theory during COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa
Author(s) -
Elmien Claassens
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of practice teaching in social work and health/the journal of practice teaching in social work and health/the journal of practice teaching and learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.12
H-Index - 6
eISSN - 1746-6113
pISSN - 1460-6690
DOI - 10.1921/jpts.v17i3.1456
Subject(s) - work (physics) , covid-19 , community work , face (sociological concept) , social work , sociology , pandemic , virtual community , online community , community of practice , pedagogy , public relations , medical education , political science , medicine , engineering , computer science , the internet , social science , world wide web , mechanical engineering , disease , pathology , law , infectious disease (medical specialty)
In this practice note, I highlight the challenges social work practice lecturers overcame during a national lockdown midst the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa whilst converting face to face teaching on community work to the online environment. I discuss how a fictitious virtual community was created, enabling students to apply the theoretical knowledge on community work from the practice module. I share the practical application on how students were able to ‘do’ community work in a virtual community and what we as a team of social work practice educators learned as a result.