Abstract

This article briefly reviews the growth of technology and the development of standards related to technology in counseling, Pre-K-12 education, educator preparation programs, and the field of school counseling. The development of pre-admission and program outcome technology skills at Indiana State University is discussed along with the specific competencies. Finally, informal observations of associated successes and challenges are shared.

Introduction

            The tremendous growth of technology in counseling has led to the development of counselor technology skill standards, as well as, ethical standards for the use of technology. At the same time, spurred on by business, and government, Pre-K-12 education has experienced even greater development in the use of technology. Here too, there has been the accompanying creation of skill standards. These developments led to standards being developed to impact the university training programs of both counselors and educators. School counseling programs are thus being impacted by technology developments and standards in both the fields of counseling and education and faced with the challenge of creating competencies that meet the technology issues and needs in both arenas. This article briefly reviews the growth of technology and the subsequent development of technology standards in counseling and education and describes the process used Indiana State University School Counselor faculty to create both student outcome and basic entry technology standards.

 Technology in Counseling

While the roots of computer assisted counselor training can be traced back to Wizenbaum’s ELIZA in the mid 1960’s (Bowman, 1998; Granello, 2000), it was not until the 1990’s that technology was truly recognized as a force impacting both the education (Lundberg, 2000; Myrick & Sabella, 1995;) and practice (D’Andrea, 1995; Sabella, 1996) of counselors. Since the mid 1990’s, technology in counseling has been the focus of numerous articles (Casey, 1995; Gerler, 1995; Glover, 1995; Hayes and Robinson, 2000), chapters (Casey, 1998), and books (Bloom & Walz, 2000; Hartman, 1998b; Sabella, 1999).

Technology itself has become a medium through which information and scholarly publication on the use of technology in counseling is disseminated. Online libraries and CD-ROM databases carry full text journal articles. Electronic journals listed by the State Library of Colorado which specifically deal with technology in counseling, education, or psychology currently numbers 37. Listservs, email-based discussion groups, like the International Counseling Network (ICN) and the Counselor Education and Supervision Network-List (CESNET-L), while not specifically devoted to technology in counseling, often contain information related to its use in both training and practice.

Along with the tremendous growth of technology in the field of counseling, professional organizations have seen the need for standards around its use. The National Board for Certified Counselors (1997) saw the impact that on-line technology was beginning to have upon the field of counseling and developed “The Practice of Internet Counseling”. The National Career Development Association (1997) created  “Guidelines for the Use of the Internet for Provision of Career Information and Planning Services” and, while the International Association of Educational and Vocational Guidance does not have ethical guidelines specific to the use of technology, their General Assembly, in the “Declaration of Counsellor Qualification Standards” (1999), declared “an urgent need for internationally recognised qualification standards for counsellors, and … [established] a committee consisting of members from different regions in the world to elaborate a draft of such standards.” Additionally, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) (1999), believing that the effective use of technology was a crucial skill for counselors, created a Technology Interest Network. The members of this network developed “Technical Competencies for Counselor Education Students: Recommended Guidelines For Program Development” which was endorsed by the ACES Executive Council. Even with these ethical and skill guidelines, the concern regarding the use of technology is so great that some continue to call for an expansion of the ethical guidelines and the creation of comprehensive standards for counseling related web sites (Harris-Bowlsbey, 2000).

Technology in P-12 Education

While technology was coming into its own in the counseling field, it was virtually exploding into the field of education. Throughout their eight years in office, the Clinton-Gore Administration made an unprecedented commitment to bring technology into the Pre-K-12 classroom. During this time Congress approved billions of dollars to provide teachers with training and support, develop effective software and online learning resources, provide access to computers, and connect every school to the Internet (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2000). The FY01 budget for the Education Office of Educational Technology alone provides $958 million for education technology and research. Additionally, private industry, such as Microsoft (2000), Intel (Chase, 2000), Hewlett Packard (2000); and foundations, such as the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation (2000), and Verizon Foundation (2000), have given billions of dollars to help schools and teachers obtain equipment and the professional development necessary to effectively integrate technology into the curriculum.

National professional education organizations have developed technology standards. The International Society for Technology in Education, through the National Educational Technology Standards Project (NETS), created Standards for Students (2000a), NETS for Teachers (2000b), and is currently working on NETS for School Administrators.

As the national scene was becoming filled with technology stakeholders, state legislatures and departments of education began to see the importance of technology in education as well. For example, the Indiana legislature passed Education Accountability Act (1999)which requires all schools to create a professional development plan that increases the effective use of technology to improve teaching and learning (Section 2), and, to report on technology accessibility and the use of technology in instruction (Section 12) as part of each school’s accreditation process.

Technology in Pre-Service Educator Training

In response to the demand for technology proficient educators, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) formed a Task Force on Technology and Teacher Education in 1996. This group studied the impact of technology upon education and the ensuing need for teacher education programs to integrate technology education into their pre-service training programs. Their report, “Technology and the New Professional Teacher: Preparing for the 21st Century Classroom” (NCATE, 1997), described the skills needed by educators to help students. The report also called on teacher education training programs to “close the teaching and learning technology gap between where we are now and where we need to be (para. 12).

 Technology in School Counseling

            The field of school counseling has been affected by the impact technology has had in both counseling and Pre-K-12 education. The Elementary School Guidance & Counseling journal published a special issue devoted to technology in school counseling in October 1995. In it, John Casey (1995) looked at how the school counselor could use technology as an instructional tool in a developmental guidance program, Myrick and Sabella (1996) looked at the Internet as the next medium for counselor supervision, Rust (1995) described uses for the ICN listserv, D’Andrea (1995) shared how technology could be used to promote multi-cultural awareness, and Shulman, Sweeney, & Gerler (1995) and Glover (1995) wrote articles on the use of technology in substance abuse programs. The general theme of all the articles was that school counselors needed to make it a point to gain the skills necessary to effectively use this important tool. Since this 1995 issue, interest sessions and workshops dealing with technology have become common place at state and national conferences.

            Kenneth Hartman (1998c), wrote “Technology and the School Counselor” for Education Week, in which he described a set of technology skills he believed all school counselors should possess. He not only called for PreK-12 schools and higher education training programs to infuse technology into their school counseling programs, but also for state and national departments of education to mandate technology funds for counseling and guidance. “If we fail to include school counselors in the technology equation…we risk frustrating the public’s expectations [of higher student achievement] and finding ourselves someday in a ditch alongside the information superhighway” (para. 25).

            More recently, Stone & Turba (1999) and Stone and Seabrooks (2000) were the first authors to publish articles dealing with technology in school counseling and school counselor education, respectively, in an electronic journal. Additionally, technology is an area of emphasis in the Wallace-Readers Digest Funds Transforming School Counseling National Initiative (TSCI) administered through The Education Trust, Inc. Hartman (1998a), as a TSCI consultant, developed Guidelines for a Technology Component to the DeWitt Wallace School Counseling Project that were given to the six universities participating in the TSCI project.

School Counselor Technology Competencies

In early 1999, as part of its Transforming School Counseling Implementation Grant, Indiana State University’s (ISU) School Counselor Program began to seriously look at the specific technology skills that school counseling students should be able to perform by the time they have completed their two year masters degree program. In addition to studying the skill sets developed by ACES (1999) and Hartman (1998a; 1998c), focus groups were conducted with area school counselors. A careful review of the current and emerging trends in technology in both education and counseling was carried out in order to ascertain their possible impact upon the field of school counseling. Finally, ISU’s own School Counselor Student Competencies were examined to see what technology skills would help students in the acquisition and performance of these proficiencies. The resulting 10 competencies became the School Counseling Program Technology Proficiencies, which are as follows:

Be a knowledgeable consumer and skilled, effective, and efficient user of computers, technology, and the Internet. Understanding and being skilled in technology does not necessarily mean knowing how to effectively and efficiently use it. For example, unless school counselors know how to efficiently search the World Wide Web, a search for information on Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder will yield tens of thousands of “hits” and take hours of time searching for helpful and reliable information geared to a particular user, be it a student, teacher, parent, or the counselor. Additionally, once resources are found, school counselors must know how to evaluate the validity and applicability of its content.

Be a knowledgeable and effective teacher and facilitator for teachers, students and parents concerning educational and career technology resources. School counselors must not only be proficient users of technology-related educational and career development resources, they must also be able to show students, parents, and educators how to effectively use these resources.

Be familiar with trends in the use of technology in education and their impact upon student academic achievement levels and social, educational, and career development; and, intelligently contribute to the development of a school wide technology plan. Technology can positively or negatively affect not only a student’s academic development, but their personal, educational, and/or career development as well. School counselors have the responsibility to understand the possible impact of technology upon student development and to advocate on behalf of their best interests.

Be able to use a wide variety of technology resources, including Internet tools, appropriate software, and digit cameras, in the development, implementation, and evaluation of counseling and guidance activities. Based upon a sound understanding of the impact of technology upon development and academic achievement, school counselors must be able to effectively incorporate technology into their developmental guidance programs. This would include the development of student competencies that would include the use of technology in areas like study skills and career exploration.

Be able to develop short and long-term technology plans for the counseling department that provide students and families access to guidance and counseling services, and, articulate the opportunities, as well as the ethical and legal implications of technology as a counseling and guidance delivery tool. When designing a comprehensive developmental guidance program, school counselors must think not only about staffing and facility needs, but also realize that the purposeful acquisition and intentional deployment of technology is an integral component of the plan. Technology should not be just a program add on. It should be seamlessly, yet deliberately, infused within the program’s infrastructure.

Be able to design, create, and evaluate an effective, interactive Internet site for a counseling and guidance program. A school’s counseling program Internet site becomes a virtual office where students, families, teachers, area employers, etc. can gain information, submit forms, have discussions and participate in activities and projects. School counselors need to know how to design, create and evaluate effective sites, being mindful of the ethical issues and standards.

Objectively evaluate counseling and guidance software and articulate software needs and plans to school technology professionals and commercial vendors. Schools will look to their counselors for direction in purchasing counseling and guidance related software. Therefore, school counselors must be able to objectively and competently evaluate the match between the objectives of the software purchase and the features of the reviewed software.

Understand the ethical and legal implications of technology, including issues of equity and access and the implications of the digital divide upon students, families, and communities. While skill in the use of technology is important, school counselors have the responsibility to understand the ethical and legal issues which surround the use of technology. Additionally, they must understand ramifications inherent in the digital divide. All decisions concerning technology use must be predicated upon these considerations.

Effectively use technology, including relational databases, spreadsheets and the Internet, that allows the analysis of student achievement and related data; and, how to use technology to support the change needed to raise student achievement levels. It is important for school counselors to know how to effectively and efficiently uses technology to monitor student achievement, from the individual student and classroom levels to the whole grade and school levels. Being able to effectively use technology in data analysis, to spur change in classrooms, and to facilitate whole school reform is especially important with education’s current focus upon high standards and accountability.

Effectively use technology as a tool in advocacy efforts and the procurement of funds and resources. Finally, technology can be an extremely effective tool in the advocacy efforts of school counselors. Whether it is used in the creation of a school board presentation with charts and graphs from presentation software, or in finding grant opportunities on the World Wide Web, technology is an important means to the furtherance of advocacy endeavors.

 Preadmission Basic Technology Competencies

After the above program outcome technology competencies were created, program faculty realized that the only way that students would be able to begin to master these competencies in a two year masters program was to come in with some baseline technology skills. The fact that components of the program would be delivered via distance education over the Internet gave an added incentive to creating a basic set of required technology competencies. The ACES (1999) and Hartman (1998a; 1998c) technology skill sets were again consulted in the development of the Basic Technology Competencies found below. Students must be able to document mastery of each competency or they are required to take a newly created course in Technology for School Counselors. Students enroll in from one to three credit hours depending upon how many basic technology competencies they were able to document.

Indiana State University School Counselor Program Basic Technology Skills

 Discussion  

             While the faculty have not gathered any specific data concerning the outcomes of having these technology competencies (the first class will graduate in May 2001), the author has observed a number of successes and challenges in the integration of technology competencies within the ISU School Counselor Program.

First, when presented with the Basic Technology Competencies, applicants to the program don’t flinch. Perhaps technology has permeated our society enough that most are not afraid of computers any more. In fact, the number of students successfully documenting out of the Technology in School Counseling course dropped significantly from the first to the second year of the Basic Technology Competencies requirement. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues.

Second, with the expectation set that the students will successfully use technology as a foundational tool in their learning process, they seem to just jump in and use it. Email, on-line chatting, and course bulletin board areas are used consistently as the preferred methods of communication among the students. Students report rarely using the telephone to communicate with their peers. School Counselors are often the only professional of their kind in a school building. Developing the habit of communicating electronically as students, may help new counselors create and maintain effective electronic support, peer supervision, and mentoring networks.

Third, students communicate, via email or instant messaging, more often with the instructor than did students in the past. A quick question here, a “please comment on this and return” there, is part of what is perceived as an increase in the amount of communication between students and instructor. While the students benefit from the increased contact, the instructor has the challenge of spending more time in the communication process. Most people can not type as fast as they can talk; thus, emailing and instant messaging take additional time. As technology continues to improve and voice chatting becomes a little more viable, the time cost may be able to decrease.

Fourth, infusing technology into the curriculum requires a commitment on the part of the faculty to gain new skills. It also means that time must be spent converting the curriculum to incorporate the use of technology, as well as, infusing technology into course assignments and learning experiences. This is probably the greatest challenge. Change is difficult and for some, embracing technology is especially onerous. Even those faculty who enjoy the challenge of learning new technology skills are faced with largely increased time demands for curriculum conversion. If counseling departments are going to commit to a true infusion of technology in their preparation programs, they will need to commit significant resources as well.

Fifth, on-site school counseling supervisors seem to really covet students with technology skills. Students have been asked to develop web sites for practicing counselors. They’ve also been asked to create PowerPoint presentations and teach the on-site supervisor how to do it. In fact, ISU, in response to requests by practicing counselors, has provided professional development opportunities through which practicing school counselors could gain technology skills.

Finally, the student outcome technology competencies are admittedly ambitious. The challenge before the program faculty is to create a series of assignments throughout the program that build upon each other so that by the end of their program, students will be able to at least understand how each competency fits within the role and function of the school counselor, how to effectively synthesize their school counseling knowledge with their technology skills, and how to create an effective professional development plan that will enable them to continually hone their skills.

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Peggy LaTurno Hines, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor and School Counselor Program Director at Indiana State University. Dr. Hines was an elementary and middle school counselor. She served as the Principal Investigator for ISU’s Transforming School Counseling Grant, funded by Wallace-Reader’s Digest Funds and administered through The Education Trust, Inc. Inquiries regarding this manuscript may be sent to Dr. Hines at hines@indstate.edu.