I can be reached at:

Alan Knowles
Chair, Social Work Program
Office: Rm 162, South Campus
Phone: 780-497-5564
E-mail: knowlesa@macewan.ca

Online Courses & Resources

Log in to your BlackBoard courses

Social Work Practice Methods I
Social Work Practice Methods II
Mental Health Intervention
Field Placement Discussion Group
Social Work Program Forum

Current Interests, Recent Projects & Committees:

• Ongoing Research: E-learning and the use of ICTs in Social Work Education and Practice., Blended Learning, and the Evaluation of Reusable Learning Objects in Social Work Education
  
  
• Development of reusable multimedia case-based video scenarios for social work practice  methods courses (Online curriculum development project)
  
  
• National Association of College Social Work & Social Service Programs in Canada, Co-Chair 2008 - 09; Member 2003 - present.
  
  
• Academic Governance Council, Elected Representative, Faculty of Health and Community Studies, January 2009 - present.
  
  
• MacEwan Curriculum Committee, Member 2002 - 2008.
  
  
• MacEwan Distance & Distributed Learning Committee, Co-chair 2003 - 2005.
  
  
• National Sector Study of Social Work in Canada , Member, Steering Committee 1998-2000.

Publications, Conference Presentations & Scholarly Activities

Conference Presentations and Scholarly Activities

Knowles, A.J. (2009). Youth and substance abuse:  A digital resource designed for multiple learning environments. Edmonton; Grant MacEwan College.

Knowles, A.J., & Ballantyne, N. (2008). Authentic learning for the human services. Paper presented at Practical Learning: Achieving Excellence in the Human Services, PEPE 8, January 23-25, 2008, Edinburgh, Scotland, http://www.sieswe.org/pepe2008/index.html

Knowles, A.J., & Ballantyne, N. (2007). Enhancing student learning with case-based multimedia: The views of social work students in Scotland and Canada. HUSITA 8, August 26-29, 2007, Toronto, Canada.

Knowles, A. (2007) Presented: Developing digitized video case scenarios for social work education. Meeting of the National Association of Social Work and Social Service Diploma Programs in Canada. Canmore, Alberta, June 13-15, 2007.

Knowles, A.J. (2007). The Margaret Stonehouse's Case: A digital resource designed for multiple learning environments. Edmonton; Grant MacEwan College.

Knowles, A. (2006) Presented: Initial results of a study examining the reuse of multimedia case based scenarios in online social work courses. Meeting of the National Association of Social Work and Social Service Diploma Programs in Canada. Ottawa, June 14-16, 2006

Co-presented: Workshop with Neil Ballantyne and Sarah Currier from the Stor Curam Work LO Repository, Scotland: A Sharing Profession: How to Develop and Share Reusable E-learning Resources for Human Services Education., HUSITA 7, Hong Kong, August 24-27, 2004.

Knowles, A. (2004) Pedagogical and policy challenges in implementing e-learning in social work education. HUSITA 7, Hong Kong, August 24-27, 2004.

Presented: E-learning in social work education. Meeting of the National Association of Social Work and Social Service Diploma Programs in Canada, Montreal, June1-4, 2004.

Invited Presenter: Approaches to e-learning in helping professions, May 5, 2004, Douglas College, Burnaby, BC.

Invited Presenter: Northern Alberta Social Work Education Summit, Slave Lake, Alberta, February 19-20, 2003.

Reviewer / Editorial Boards

• Member, Review Board, International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Fall 2007 – present.
• Member, Editorial Board, Currents: New Scholarship in the Human Services, Faculty of Social Work/University of Calgary Press, 2002-present.
• Reviewer: The Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 2002-2005.
• Reviewer: Journal of Distance Education, 2005.

Publications

Knowles, A.J., & Ballantyne, N. (2007). Enhancing student learning with case-based multimedia: The views of social work students in Scotland and Canada. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching 3 (4), 363-374

Knowles, A.J. (2007) Pedagogical and policy challenges in implementing e-learning in social work education. Journal of Technology in Human Services. 25(1/2), 17-44.

Knowles, A. (2005) A review of: McGreal, R. (2004) Online education using learning objects. Journal of Distance Education 20 (1), 104-106.

Invited Review: MacFadden, R.J., Moore, B., Herie, M., Schoech, D. (2005) Web-based Education in the Human Services: Models methods and Best Practices. New York Haworth Press.

Invited Review (2004): Heinonen, T., Spearman, L. (2006) Social work practice: Problem solving and beyond (2nd ed.). Toronto: Irwin Publishing.

Knowles, A.J.(2002). E-learning in social work education: Emerging pedagogical and policy issues. Currents: New Scholarship in the Human Services 1 (1). Available url: http://wcmprod2.ucalgary.ca/currents/volumes#volume2_n1

Knowles, A.J. (2001) Implementing web-based learning: Evaluation results from a web-enhanced mental health course. Journal of Technology in Human Services 18(3/4), 171-187. Co-published simultaneously in Miller-Cribbs, J. (Ed) (2001). New advances in technology for social work education and practice. New York: Haworth Press.

Knowles, A. (2000) Implementing web-based learning: Evaluation results from a web-enhanced mental health course. Conference Proceedings The Fourth Annual Technology Conference for Social Work Education and Practice. Charleston, S.C. August 27-30, 2000. Columbia: University of South Carolina.

Schmidt, G. Lafrance, J., Knowles, A., Westhues, A (2000). Social work in Canada: Results from the National sector study. Canadian Social Work 13(2), 83-92.

Knowles, A., & Lafrance, J. (1999). Update: Social work Sector Study. The Advocate, September, 1999.

Knowles, A. (1995). Family centred practice: The importance of systemic approaches to treatment in psychiatric settings. In L.B. Warneke (Ed.), Clinical Notes in Psychiatry (5th ed.). Edmonton: University of Alberta.