Zooming in: Social work supervisors using online supervision

Abstract

A group of geographically dispersed social work practitioners who provide professional supervision responded to an invitation put out through the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) networks to be part of an online group in late 2015. Seven members committed to meeting for one hour every eight weeks using the online meeting platform, ZoomTM. This viewpoint provides an opportunity to share our experience of the development and process of this group, with its potential for ensuring a safe reflective space and ongoing professional development.

Training teacher‐researchers through online collective academic supervision: Evidence from a postgraduate teacher education programme

“…Therefore, CAS is proved to be very useful for postgraduate research supervision (Nordentoft et al, 2013), which has faced many challenges, such as the decreasing supervisor‐student ratio and the increasing pressure for timely completion and active supervision (McCallin & Nayar, 2012). CAS has been implemented to tackle these challenges (e.g., Wichmann‐Hansen et al, 2015; Boud & Lee, 2005), as it encourages peer feedback in addition to supervisor's feedback (Wisker et al, 2007; Rushton et al, 2017) and aims to promote students' academic participation and research capacity (Fenge, 2012). Stracke (2010), for instance, set up peer group meetings in a doctoral programme, with the supervisor playing a moderator's role.…”

“…They prepare a draft report and a PowerPoint presentation on their findings. (MacKeogh, 2006, p. 21)The component of peer supervision extends the traditional supervisor–supervisee dyad to meet the supervisory and learning needs of a particular group (Rushton et al, 2017). MacKeogh's (2006) analysis of the peer interactions on Moodle showed that peer feedback covered topic selection, answering questions on statistics, advising on methods or references, and helping to find participants or distribute questionnaires.…”

“…Brooks (2018) argued that online supervision of Master's students could broaden the scope of supervisees' learning via innovative methods of communication, evaluation, and access to resources. Rushton et al (2017) further summarized the benefits of online CAS to include reduced isolation, increased reflection opportunities, stronger networks, and enhanced wellbeing. Although most studies mentioned above focused on the benefits of online CAS, some studies also mentioned the null effects or even adverse effects of educational technology.…”