Innovations for Enhancing Education of Career Counselors Using Technology

✍ Scribed by MARVA J. LARRABEE; BONNIE L. BLANTON

• Publisher: American Counseling Association
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 692 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-0787
• DOI: 10.1002/j.2161-1920.1999.tb01005.x

✦ Synopsis

Research on a CD-ROM containing 10 presenter-controlled modules for instruction supports the conclusion that research be done with in-service education that includes employment counselors.

As early as 1990, initiation of various types of career development programs was linked to the impact of technological change and economic uncertainty on business and industry and their employees (Schmidt, 1990) concomitant with discussions in the educational forum. Forecasts of technology as a revitalizing boost to educational practice were made as early as the 1970s (Thompson & Montgomery, 1994). By the year 2000, continued educational reform will include not only quality educational software and multimedia tools but also diverse technology use in instruction (Hedley & Ellsworth, 1992).

Although technology is implemented in a variety of educational settings, it still has not permeated the pre-service and in-service areas offered to professionals charged with assisting students and clients with career development. Many counselors receive updated education through in-service training programs in which technology is seldom a factor. The National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) became a prominent force in the 1980s (Blanton, 1995) through the most frequently offered in-service training program in career development (i.e.. Improved Career Decision Making [ICDM] workshops provided by State Occupational Information Coordinating Committees [SOICCs]). In 1994 and 1995. "train the trainei' ICDM workshops conducted through the Career Development Training Institute (CDTI) and the Center on Education and Work (CEW at M m J. Larrabee is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of South Carolina at Columbia.