Cyber-communication: finding its place in school counseling practice, education, and professional development.

Cyber--or computer-mediated communication is transforming school counselor education in curriculum delivery, supervision, and professional development, as well as changing the nature of interactions among counselors, school personnel, parents, counselor educators, students, and field supervisors. This article describes how new technologies are influencing school counseling practice and helping counselor educators to train the next generation of school counselors. The article encourages a critical dialogue about the issues, ethics, and unanswered questions pertaining to the use of computer technology in school counselor practice and education.

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Effective communication is the essence of school counseling. In lace of traditional face-to-face encounters, counselors are now using the computer to discuss sensitive, emotionally charged information during counseling and consultation sessions. Computers also are supporting curriculum delivery and supervision in counselor education programs across the country. An entirely new vocabulary is rapidly developing to refer to automated systems and the information age. "Cyber" is a prefix used to describe people, things, or ideas that are connected with computers and the Internet (e.g., cyber-citizen, cyber-space, cyber-ethics).

However, as the medium through which information is disseminated becomes increasingly cyber-driven, there is a risk that such information will be modified in some way by the delivery system itself. Indeed, McLuhan's theory that "the medium is the message" (McLuhan & Fiore, 1967) resonates in today's world of cyber-communication and distance education. Apple (1991) noted that

   the new technology is not just an assemblage
   of machines and their accompanying software.
   It embodies a form of thinking that orients a
   person to approach the world in a particular
   way. Computers involve ways of thinking that
   under current educational conditions are primarily
   technical. The more the new technology
   transforms the classroom into its own
   image, the more a technical logic will replace
   critical political and ethical understanding.
   (p. 75)

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN COUNSELING PRACTICE

Cyber-counseling can take several forms, including therapeutic software and online counseling adapted to several theoretical approaches--behavioral, cognitive, educational, and psychodynamic among them. The development of Internet chat rooms allows for direct, online contact between counselor and client. Counseling and consultation via the Internet is a means of reaching remote areas that are without access to counseling services as well as to enhance communication among professionals. Today, school counselors often engage in online communication with colleagues, students, and parents. Technological advances are revolutionizing everyday counseling practices in schools while presenting new ethical challenges.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN CYBER-COUNSELING AND CONSULTATION

Computer-assisted counseling raises ethical concerns about the adequacy and appropriateness of online forms of therapeutic interventions in the treatment of sensitive issues (Maheu & Gordon, 2000). For example, Coomey and Wilczenski (2005) found that text, audio, and video communication of social-emotional information was significantly affected depending on the technological modality. In their study, participants judged a text-based message as more emotionally charged than the same message presented via audio or video modalities. As social-emotional concerns are so often brought to the attention of school counselors, the potential for misinterpretation through cyber-communication may pose a challenge to the provision of optimal counseling services. Online counseling and consultation services test the bounds of professional competence, confidentiality, and informed consent. Vulnerable populations, naive about the effectiveness of computer-assisted psychological services, may be adversely affected through the use of unexamined technologies. Indeed, services delivered via electronic media need close scrutiny by professional organizations. Rapid advances in technology mean that ethical policies require ongoing review and updating.

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN COUNSELOR EDUCATION

In school counseling, computers assist in the education and supervision of graduate students. Many school counseling programs now offer distance learning options in their courses of study. A quick "Google" search revealed 24 online programs in school counselor education; however, at this time, there are no school counseling programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) that are fully online.

To answer the challenges presented by using distance education to train school counselors, graduate programs must undergo significant changes in the near future. Counselor education is assisted electronically by means of Internet connections to information available on the World Wide Web, departmental and program Web pages, PowerPoint lectures, classroom and professional listservs, digitized portfolios, online libraries, electronic journals, CD-ROM databases, and e-mail discussion groups. Educational software platforms designed to support the development of online courses enable distance learning environments to offer asynchronous and synchronous instruction that can supplement or supplant established classroom instruction. Asynchronous strategies deliver curricula through online files that are available continuously, allowing students to access and interact with the system on their own time schedules. Synchronous strategies require a specified time set for online instruction, such as in video-streaming lectures presented to an audience at a prearranged time.

Although it may be premature to decide that a particular course or content area in school counseling is not suitable for distance learning, courses that are fact based, presenting historical overviews or educational and psychological foundations, may be more easily adapted to the online environment. Some areas of instruction in school counseling do not seem well suited to distance learning. For example, the individualized nature of supervision needed by graduate students to optimize skill development and to develop interpersonal sensitivity, may require face-to-face interaction with supervisors. On the other hand, cyber-supervision may be useful for professional development. Computer technology can provide the means by which experienced school counselors can access continuing education or the expertise and guidance of professional colleagues in the management of challenging cases.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

Ethical concerns extend to the quality of distance education programs and access to them. It is not clear how well an in vivo course translates to a distance education format. Bernard and colleagues (2004) reported a meta-analysis of the comparative distance learning literature over the past two decades. The results suggested that asynchronous applications of distance education outperform their classroom counterparts on various academic achievement outcomes whereas synchronous applications perform more poorly. An outcome research base is needed to compare graduate-level distance learning with traditional in-class courses in fields such as school counseling, which requires that students develop strong interpersonal skills and clinical judgment.

Although quick and convenient, distance learning carries with it several disadvantages. The interpersonal dynamics between instructors and students are different in face-to-face than distance education settings. Students may have less opportunity to ask questions because the logistics of interacting online are more difficult, considering challenges such as the timing of questions, typing speed, coordination of multiple questions, and the need to keep the discussion flowing. Student-to-student interaction, although technically possible, is limited by the same set of logistical hindrances. In addition, students may censure their communication because it is recorded or may be inappropriate in online discussions because it is depersonalized. Access to the technology needed to support distance learning is an important consideration for ethically responsible practice.

Students and instructors with disabilities may require accommodations to permit full participation in online courses. The Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act (PL 100-407), reauthorized as the Assistive Technology Act in 1998, is interpreted under Section 508 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requiring agencies receiving federal funds to ensure access to electronic information and technology to all people with disabilities. Using simple universal designs will ensure that a course is accessible to students and instructors with a wide range of disabilities (Rose, 2000). BOBBY, created at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), is an HTML validator program that tests for accessibility and is used to find compatibility problems that prevent pages from displaying correctly with various Web browser programs. It can be used to check a site's Web pages for accessibility for people with disabilities (CAST, 2002).

Academic dishonesty is an important issue across colleges and universities where significant numbers of students admit to some type of academic fraud (Ferrari, 2002; Rezaee, Elmore, & Szendi, 2001). Faculty members teaching at a distance should be concerned that the person doing the work online is indeed the student enrolled in the course, and that the academic integrity of their institution is not compromised. Students online must adhere to an honor system in not sharing security codes, in securing permission to repost messages, and in exercising vigilance in restricting messages to valid recipients.

Instructors also face legal and ethical dilemmas when using copyrighted material online. Fair use doctrine and copyright legislation are designed to exempt certain activities, such as teaching and research, from the legal requirements of copyright law (U.S. Department of Justice, 2002). However, the new educational environments created in cyberspace that allow instructors to download audio, video, graphics, text, photos, and radio and TV-like webcasts make the application of the fair use doctrine and copyright law quite complex. The key issue is, who is making money and who is losing money from copying on the Internet? Instructors offering courses online must obtain copyright permission to publish on the Internet, including password-protected class sites.

CYBER-SUPERVISION AND VIRTUAL PRACTICUM/INTERNSHIPS

Supervision requires an interpersonal interaction between two or more individuals for the purpose of sharing knowledge, assessing professional competencies, and providing objective feedback in order to develop counseling and consulting competencies and to facilitate the effective delivery of those services. The Internet provides an opportunity for school counselor education programs to accomplish those same supervision goals at a distance, unencumbered by geographic or time constraints. Yet it is hard to imagine how a field that relies on interpersonal connectedness can foster social skills, which are inherently human, through a machine. Use of online supervisors and virtual practicum/internships in school counseling deserves particular scrutiny in the light of new outcome and performance-based standards recommended by CACREP (2001).

In school counseling, Myrick and Sabella (1995) recommended the use of e-mail for supervisors to share professional information with students in field placements. They described situations in which school counseling students were able to obtain timely assistance with complex cases via e-mail. Still, email or text-based supervision is uncharted territory for supervisors who are accustomed to reading the nonverbal communication of their students. Information available through personal interactions, such as body language or response to feedback, is not accessible via e-mail. The absence of those nonverbal cues can create a sense of anonymity and lack of awareness of the social context of communication, which may lead to offensive or uninhibited behavior (Kiesler, Siegel, & McGuire, 1984). Computer technology that allows real-time video and audio interaction may address this deficiency somewhat (Coursal & Lewis, 2001), but its use is constrained by time availability as well as expense.

The psychological ramifications of cyber-communication are not yet determined. It is not clear how the presentation of written text affects the reader's interpretation of that text--for example, the use of uppercase, dashes, sentence fragments, and abrupt replies. Emoticons (e.g., smiling faces) have become popular to convey affective messages. Indeed, the interpretation may vary with each student. Moreover, supervisors and students alike may not be entirely candid knowing that their words are recorded. Feedback to and from students may become more ambiguous and less useful. Finally, it has been documented that computer-mediated conversation focuses more on task-oriented discussions than on social-emotional issues (Bordia, 1997; Weisband, 1992), so important social and emotional information may be lost through cyber-communication.

ETHICAL CONCERNS WITH CYBER-SUPERVISION

Cyber-supervision poses ethical challenges relating to confidentiality and access. Because e-mail messages are vulnerable to interception by recipients other than those designated, e-mail cannot be considered a confidential form of communication. In fact, a guarantee of absolute confidentiality using any form of computer technology is currently unattainable (Casey, Bloom, & Moan, 1994; Spinello, 2000). Encryption software is available, but cumbersome. Even though privacy protocols are time-consuming, they are essential for communication and record keeping. Assurances that sensitive information can be revealed only when ethically appropriate to do so must be in place.

It is imperative that cyber-supervision also include a plan to address crisis management. Procedures must be in place to ensure students immediate access to a supervisor when faced with a client in crisis. Therefore, supervisors must formulate a contingency plan to manage possible technology failures. The capability for ongoing two-way communication must be ensured.

Cyber-communication also carries with it the possibility that individuals communicating via the Internet may become psychologically distant in interacting with others. Because one cannot see or hear another in a computer exchange, doing harm is experienced as less personal. Inappropriate or unethical behaviors so apparent in face-to-face contact are more subtle online. Breaches of ethics also can occur unintentionally because of lack of familiarity with codes of cyber-ethics, and because counselors and students can become desensitized to others by the lack of interpersonal feedback inherent to cyber-communication.

CONCLUSION

Technology continues to expand the options available to conduct school counseling practice, education, supervision, and professional development. Research and ethics have not kept pace with the issues raised by the rapid changes in school counseling brought about by computers. Many breaches of ethics can occur on the Internet, such as hacking, harassment, defamation, revelation of confidential information, academic fraud, and infringement of intellectual property, rights (Gearhart, 2001). Certainly the American Counseling Association's (ACA) current principles for professional ethics concerning confidentiality, informed consent, and competence arc relevant when using the Internet for counseling practice and education (ACA, 1995).

The question is no longer whether the cyber-medium affects messages, but in what ways does it affect the environment--both positively and negatively. There are many unanswered questions concerning cyber-communication and distance learning for school counseling practice and education: What are the academic, social, and emotional outcomes of distance learning versus those obtained in the traditional classroom? For which students, under what circumstances, and for which content areas is distance learning an appropriate means of providing an education? What are achievement and attitudinal outcomes for school counselors who receive training through the Internet? Does training via computer technology foster the development of psychologically distant counselors? What will be the impact on children and adolescents whom these future school counselors serve in schools? How does technology influence social/emotional communication and understanding? What are salient cyber-ethical issues?

Emerging technologies will continue to offer new and innovative ways to impact school counselor education and practice. It is imperative for responsible counselors and counselor educators to consider both the potential and the pitfalls of these innovations. School counselors must evaluate the outcomes of technological modalities in training and practice. Professional ethics demand careful thought and judicious use rather than blind adoption of flashy technologies. Although communication is the essence of counseling and education and the Internet is an attractive means of facilitating communication, the sharing of information must be done in accord with ethical practice. Only in this way will school counseling ensure that ethical practice does not become secondary to technological trend-setting

References

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The authors are grateful to Dr. Richard Lapan for his assistance with the preparation of this article.

Felicia L. Wilczenski is an associate professor and Susan M. Coomey is a graduate student with the Department of Counseling and School Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Boston. E-mail: [e-mail]