ABSTRACT
In Georgia, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the country's provision of psycho-social services while disrupting social work education worldwide through the forced shift to remote teaching. Although information and communication technologies had permeated social work education in Western countries long before the onset of COVID-19, the Georgian educational system had not yet recognized distance educational modes, which made the shift to remote teaching very difficult. This chapter analyzes the results of two years of remote social work teaching in Georgia in two universities within the context of Georgia's current social development. The positives and challenges of teaching social work practice in both universities are highlighted, and well-organized distance learning—in contrast to remote teaching—is shown to provide a solid academic education to students. In fact, distance education can attract candidates from remote regions of Georgia who are traditionally unable to attend university because of high levels of poverty. This chapter demonstrates that distance learning has a significant role to play in fulfilling the social work profession's commitment to equality and social justice as it opens up opportunities for marginalized people to access education and also helps remedy the lack of professionally trained social workers in rural areas.
