Mapping the Tech Landscape for Social Workers: Part 2

by Julie Munoz-Najar, MSW, LSW, and Alexis Speck Glennon, DSW, LCSW-R

(Editor’s Note: See Part 1 of this series.)

     Welcome back to the social work tech map, Part 2. We’re your guides, two clinical social workers, and only a few tech steps ahead of you. Our previous article discussed why social workers must understand the technology ecology to ensure best practices. We also mapped out “soft” tech skills such as digital literacies and ethics. Now we will overlay that map with the second half of the series on “hard” technologies. We will apply these technologies using examples and case studies to develop our skills in this digitally evolving world. Lace up your hiking boots again, and let’s go on another journey into these exciting and complex technology terms and examples of extended reality (XR), mixed reality (MR), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR).

Extended Reality (XR)

     “X” marks the spot. Extended reality is an overarching term for various types of immersive technology, including VR, AR, and MR. For example, in spaces such as the “Metaverse,” you can experience various alternative realities when using specific apps and equipment such as a headset or augmented reality glasses.

Virtual Reality (VR)

     We’ve all heard the preverbal phrase, “I’m living in my own reality,” but in this case, it is a computer-generated virtual reality in which you can immerse yourself using the most common equipment, a VR headset. Inside that space, you have a 360-degree view in 2D or 3D, can hear the environmental sounds, manipulate objects with your hands using controllers, and walk through the space. VR and 360-degree views can be experienced through headsets using smartphones, tablets, and other devices.

Augmented Reality(AR)

     Augmented reality is a “Computer rendered image or data that is overlaid over the real world where your brain is located. It is the addition of sensory input to your brain while your brain is getting its normal sensory input from its surroundings” (Peterson et al., 2017). Here is a photo taken in one of our offices with an AR image sitting on top of the desk. Hi, little one; welcome to my office!!

Mixed Reality (MR) 

     Mixed reality is one step higher than augmented reality and allows real and virtual elements to interact in an environment, typically using a headset. Think of Tom Cruise’s character in the film Minority Report using large multi-touch surfaces floating in front of you while using hand gestures to view and manipulate data. 

Let’s explore!

     Below are a few professional and playful examples you can use to explore and learn about these various technologies.

VR Scenarios/Simulation Training Programs for Social Workers

     Here are a few other VR recommendations that might spark reactions from empathy to relaxation.  For the first three links below, you will need a VR headset, and the programs must be downloaded to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) with a large storage capacity and a high-speed processor. However, you can view the trailers in the links below. The other links are 360-degree videos that can be viewed in a VR headset through YouTube.

  • VR - Kitty Rescue. This is a playful program where you can experience how powerful VR can be for the mind and body.
  • VR - 1,000 Cut Journey. “Participants embody a Black male, Michael Sterling, experiencing racism as a child through disciplinary action in the classroom, as an adolescent encountering the police, and as a young adult experiencing workplace discrimination.”
  • VR - The Key. This is a 15-minute refugee virtual reality experience with an interactive story. “Participants experience different environments and must face challenges and difficult decisions in each, experiencing loss. The participant will experience a metaphorical journey from danger to safety.” 
  • 360° video - Evolution of Verse. This is a relaxing video of the seasons of nature and life. 

Mental Health and Virtual Therapy Example

Educational or Job Skills Training Programs for Clients

Playful Options

     As with any technology, there are always important considerations and ethical tensions to consider when developing and utilizing these types of technology. Ask questions such as (Kellmeyer et al., 2019):

  • Are there therapeutic alternatives we should consider first? 
  • Will including the technologies change the human-to-human interactions needed for the intervention?
  • Was this technology or the approach designed ethically and/or inclusively?
  • How will this impact vulnerable patients with health issues, physical or psychological harms, or those with limited access or comfort with technology, such as VR hangovers or VR-induced depression, privacy, child safety, and so forth?

          Other critical considerations include:

Bridge to Social Work Practice

Case study #1: Ikea & AR — Designing your office or community space 

     Depending on the social worker, designing an office or community space can be exciting and/or daunting. Augmented reality through companies like Ikea can help social workers design the space.  How does it work? Download the IKEA app and use the IKEA Kreativ function. Scan the room and then, using the embedded AR tool, view the rug in your office or community space. Maybe the red rug does look great with the paint colors, but the blue really brings it all together!  

Case study #1 questions to consider

  • When using extended reality applications, what data does the company collect through these furniture tests? What are the app’s privacy policies? If there are any sensors, are they tracking things such as eye movements?
  • Is all client identification information hidden from the AR tool’s view, such as your computer screen or files?
  • Are clients present?
  • Do smaller local companies use this app? Or only big companies, such as Amazon or IKEA? Does that change your mind as to where you want to purchase the rug?

Case study #2: Digital Wellness — Reconnecting to your physical space  

     As technology becomes more embedded into daily life, we need to consider the impact of the fusion of digital and physical spaces on our wellness. Spending longer periods of time in VR spaces can be an intense contrast to the physical world. How could you intentionally reconnect to your physical or analog reality after experiencing a long VR “session” by yourself and/or with a client?

Case study #2 questions to consider

  • Identify ways you already prepare, recover, and connect when transitioning into different physical spaces, such as home to work. 
  • Will those approaches be as effective when transitioning from virtual to physical spaces? 
  • Will you need to develop new approaches or behaviors to help you transition? What would those be?
  • Are you checking in with your physical and emotional body while engaging in VR spaces?  Are you taking breaks?

Case study #3: Imagine

     Take a few minutes to imagine what type of virtual reality you would create for your clients, students, community, funders, or other stakeholders. 

Case study #3 questions to consider

  • Who would you develop this for? 
  • What purpose would it serve? What would you want the participant to experience or learn?
  • What emotions would you want to invoke?
  • What could the VR provide that analog life could not?
  • How would you prepare participants for the experience?

     Thank you for going on this next leg of the journey with us. As we part ways on the trek, we hope that as social workers, you continue to deepen your digital literacies with a social work lens through curiosity and critical thought. Now you have earned another proverbial tech badge, so unlace those hiking boots, take a sip of water, and remember to rest until next time.

References

Kellmeyer, P., Biller-Andorno, N., & Meynen, G. (2019). Ethical tensions of virtual reality treatment in vulnerable patients. Nature Medicine, 25, 1185–1188. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-019-0543-y 

Peterson, J.,  Bretón, R. & Lelyveld, P. (2017). Virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality definitions [White paper].  GoDigital Media Group. https://godigitalmg.com/wp-content/themes/godigital/media/whitepaper/2017-EMA-VR-AR-MR-Definitions-Final-1.pdf

Julie Muñoz-Nájar is Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she teaches both field and technology courses. She is also an anticipatory social work member at the Social Work Futures Lab. Join Julie @JulieMunozNajar on X.

Dr. Alexis Speck Glennon, LCSW-R, is a clinical social worker in private practice and Assistant Professor at Colby-Sawyer College. Her research area is digital ­­literacy skills for social workers and the social work profession's role in tech justice. She also loves to connect via X @alexis_glennon to keep the #SWTECH conversation going!