Career Counseling: Let's Go Surfing - Use of the Internet for Career Counseling in Schools: Part II
Getting Started
Any computer-based counseling program implies the availability of computers, either individually in the counseling office or classroom, or as part of a computer lab. Student and professional access to these computers will influence effectiveness of CX-Online (or other programs). Training is also an issue. In North Carolina, regional, semi-annual training is provided for counselors. And then, too, user experience and competence with computers as well as time constraints must also be evaluated.
Typically, staff members (teachers, administrators, and career specialists) can be introduced to the essentials of CX-Online in about one hour. This introduction would include a preview of the student resources as well as a detailed explanation of the professional part of the program. One middle school in North Carolina provided training during grade-level planning sessions. Attendance was mandatory, with follow-up instruction available on an as-requested basis.
Student Training (or introduction) also takes about one hour. Four research tools (Daily News, Browse, Search, and Interest Inventory) can be discussed during the first half-hour, with particular focus on the first three. The second half-hour can focus on the interest inventory, which then provides links to specific career descriptions, job opportunities, and interviews with professionals, and even links to college sites that offer the required education. These preliminary sessions typically generate great interest, and can transition easily into more sessions in either the classroom or counseling office setting.
Day-To-Day Use
Inevitably, any new tool or resource generates initial excitement, only to be rarely used or, worse, ignored later. For the most part, CX-Online is hard to ignore, yet there are several ways the school counselor can increase and maintain the program's visibility and use.
Posting the Daily News in the counseling office or teacher workroom/mailroom not only maintains this visibility but also illustrates one of CX-Online's greatest strengths: every day there is new information on the Internet, and every day CX-Online grabs a piece for viewers to use. Providing teachers with the Math or English 'problem of the day' for featured careers from the Daily News is another effective practice. This can be accomplished through informal discussions, or by placing copies in teacher mailboxes.
Both of these suggestions imply that the counselor is visiting the CX-Online site very day, which can also lead to another use: individual counseling. Building hope is very therapeutic. For example, a student in ISS (In-School Suspension) could be brought into the counseling office and introduced to one or more aspects of CX-Online. One middle school counselor found a dramatic change of outlook when a student began to visualize his future rather than remaining stuck in the present. Further sessions could become contingent on good behavior (not as an excuse out of ISS!).
Without doubt, with a program tied to the Internet with the depth and breadth of CX-Online, any counselor, student, or teacher would be challenged to utilize all aspects of its aspects. The ever-changing potential of CX-Online must be explored and promoted to ensure availability into the future at each school site.
Keeping CX-Online On a yearly basis
As with any good resource, renewal and maintenance must be examined. Summative reviews for administrators that include goals, objectives, and accomplishments are crucial. Will there be funding for renewal of the program? A lot will depend on presentation of accurate, specific, tangible results. Students and teachers could offer experiential reviews, with the counselor adding statistical support. Also, a counselor could offer special orientation/overview sessions in a computer lab for administrators before they make final budget decisions for the following school year. The National Career Development Association (NCDA, 1999) has developed guidelines for using the Internet. CX-Online meets or exceeds several of these (delivery of information about occupations, and providing on-line searches of occupational databases are just two). Additionally, NOICC has developed career development competencies which are closely aligned with the components of CX-Online (NOICC, 1988). Incorporating this documentation into summative reports would also enhance program accountability.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mimi Rothschild is a homeschooling parent, author, children's rights advocate, and Founder and C.E.O. of Learning by Grace, Inc. She and her husband of almost 3 decades reside with their 8 children in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Rothschild co-founded Learning By Grace, Inc. because "our current system of education has broken its promise..." Learning By Grace, Inc. delivers Internet-based multimedia education to PreK-12 children in the United States and throughout the world.
Rothschild has authored a number of books about education published by McGraw Hill and others. Her Daily Education News Blog contains feature stories on alternatives in education.