Bentelspacher organizes international video conference
Carl Bentelspacher, associate professor of social work, successfully organized a collaboration between his Human Behavior in the Social Environment class and a class at the University of Cumbria in England.
The collaboration was in the form of a video conference between the two classes on Friday, Dec. 2. During the video meeting, students interacted by asking questions and sharing perspectives from their diverse cultural experiences.
The groups discussed several topics pertinent to social work. The topics included: the mission of the social work profession; the success of social work in achieving its goals; healthcare issues; and views on social work education in the United States and England.
Bentelspacher was able to organize the unique learning venture with the help of a professor at the University of Cumbria.
“Initially, I met a professor [Paul Harvey, senior lecturer] from the University of Cumbria in England when I was attending a conference in the summer,” said Bentelspacher. “We talked about trying to do some sort of collaboration or project between our social work students.”
Now that the first effort is complete, Bentelspacher hopes that there are more joint projects to come.
“We’re just getting started,” said Bentelspacher. “We discussed the possibility of the students working together on some sort of paper or even doing a student exchange in the future.”
Filed Under: Social Work