Online and Hybrid Education in a Social Work PhD Program

Online/hybrid education is an increasing pedagogical trend in social work. While previous literature has begun to explore the extent to which online/hybrid education course structures are effective strategies for meeting BSW and MSW program goals and objectives, additional research and discussion is needed to understand how online/hybrid education can help to prepare doctoral students to achieve excellence in their future roles as both researchers and teachers. The present exploratory study investigates PhD students' experiences taking online/hybrid courses and their perceptions of preparedness to teach online/hybrid courses in the future. We interviewed and surveyed 14 PhD students who had taken online/hybrid courses during their doctoral study. The results revealed benefits including flexibility of course time, as well as accessibility and repeatability of material. The drawbacks included limited opportunities to interact with professors and peers. Participants indicated that they would like to be better prepared for future online/hybrid teaching. Our study highlights that increasing online/hybrid education calls for innovative pedagogical strategies and training opportunities for emerging social work educators. We recommend that more comprehensive training experiences be offered to doctoral students to enable introducing them to technological issues, pedagogical strategies, and adaptation of course content specifically for online/hybrid settings.