The social work education literature contains limited discussion of the use of role play in the classroom. This article discusses the logistics of recruiting and utilizing professionally-trained actors to simulate clients in social work role plays. Promising results from assessments of BSW and MSW students with actor-simulated clients are presented. Students described their experiences with the actor-simulated clients in very positive terms. These responses did not statistically vary by program, age, gender, or race.

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Objective Given the rapid growth of distance education in social work, there is need to evaluate contemporary efforts in schools of social work, including multisite assessments of distance learning. This article reports multisite data addressing the question of how students enrolled in distance learning courses at two urban campuses (one using Interactive TV [ITV] and the other videotape) perceive their learning experiences. Method 142 students’ responses were received from voluntarily submitted survey questionnaires querying students regarding their experiences with the technology used in their course, their learning environment, the instructor's teaching skills, and perceived resource availability. Results Respondents at both sites were pleased with their learning experience, with 100% of ITV students and 75% of the students Who viewed videotaped courses indicating they would enroll in distance learning again. Conclusions The opinions of remote student respondents suggest positive learning experiences are had by students in schools of social work, particularly as they experienced these two delivery formats.

Objective: This study evaluated the performance and experiences of distance learning students enrolled in a graduate-level foundation social work research methods course. Method: Students who received face-to-face instruction in a media-readied classroom on the main campus of the university were compared with their remote classmates who simultaneously received course instruction at a regional campus via interactive television (ITV). Students' performance in the course was evaluated. In addition, students' attitudes toward distance education as well as their experiences in this course were assessed and compared. Results: The findings illustrate there were no statistically significant differences in students' performance or attitudes and only minor differences in the assessment of their experiences in the course. Conclusions: With no statistically significant differences found in students' performance or experiences, ITV appears to be a viable technological option for schools of social work to deliver research methods courses.

This article addresses the dearth of research utilizing a quasi-experimental design and student performance measures in assessing web-assisted instruction in social work undergraduate practice courses. Social work students were randomly placed into two sections of a practice course. The experimental section (n = 18) students received 50% of course lectures with web-assisted instruction while the compari-