Hi, My name is Tierra. I reside south of Atlanta. I currently work in child welfare and desire to transition to developing policies to improve our child welfare practices. I use technology in my personal life to communicate with friends and family via various social media sites. I also use technology to get updates about my community and the world. I currently have an app for most daily tasks at this point. In my professional life I utilize technology to identify resources for clients, track child welfare outcomes and identifying relatives . My personal AI use is limited to AI overviews on google searches online. I would like to learn more about ethical AI usage. I think that technology has allowed the social work practice to become innovative with identifying resources and connecting clients to virtual services when transportation is a barrier. One negative impact of technology maybe the decrease in person services for clients who do not do well virtually.
Hi Tierra,
It’s nice to meet you! I admire that you’re working in child welfare and aspire to transition into policy development that’s such an impactful goal, especially since policy change can truly improve outcomes for children and families on a larger scale. I think your experience on the front lines will give you valuable insight into the areas that need reform.
I can relate to your perspective on technology as well. Like you, I use it for staying connected and for accessing resources that make daily life more manageable. I also agree with your point about how technology has made social work more innovative, particularly in overcoming barriers like transportation by connecting clients to virtual services. At the same time, I share your concern that clients who prefer or need in-person interaction can sometimes get left behind. Finding that balance between accessibility and personal connection is definitely a challenge.
I also think it’s great that you want to learn more about ethical AI use, it’s becoming such a relevant topic for the profession. I’m looking forward to hearing more of your insights throughout the course!
Hi Tierra!
I currently work in child welfare as well and can not wait to transition into something else. What I have enjoyed about my current position is that I learned how to self-start, stay organized, enhance my administrative skills, and learn policy. I think once you work child welfare, you can work anywhere :). I also agree with you about the use of AI, as social workers we still deal with many aging clients who are not as tech savvy, so it is important to have that face to face interaction. I hope this semester treats you well!
Hi Tierra!
You brought up a great point! Having technology has decreased in person sessions. Face to face interactions are better for younger and older clients. However, I can see how it might be easier to do virtual because of demands. Doing virtual appointment might help you reach 10 clients in day and 5 in person appointments because of travel time or because of client’s daily work schedule. Also, I want to know more ways to use AI within ethical perimeters too.
Tierra,
Thank you for sharing your experiences and your thoughts. We all appreciate it.
I am thrilled to hear that you have an interest in developing better child welfare policies. I don’t know if you have taken Social Welfare Policy quite yet, but you will talk alot about that there.
We will be discussing the importance of evaluating social media information this semester, and discussing some of the difficulties social media presents our culture.
We will also talk a great deal about the loss of the interpersonal communication channel and what that means, not just for clients, but for our society.
I look forward to many more conversations.
Dr P