ICT FOR INCLUSIVE LEARNING: THE WAY FORWARD
ICT IN EDUCATIONAL AND VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND
CAREER COUNSELING
Annamaria Di Fabio & Letizia PalazzeschiDEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF FLORENCE
Euracademy Association-CNR-Ibimet, International Conference
Florence, Italy, 10-11 Novembre 2011
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ICT IN VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND CAREER COUNSELING: WHICH CHALLENGE?
European Commission (EC):(2001) Communication on Lifelong Learning:
the key role of lifelong access to guidance; (2002-2007) Expert Group on Lifelong learning:
Policy Handbook (OECD/EC, 2004): it underlines the importance of ICT in guidance:
(2007) The European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN): ICT in guidance and in career guidance: more flexible and accessible services.
European Council at Lisbon, 2000:“the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-
based society in the world”by the year 2010.
ELPGN’s AIMS (2008-2010): 4 Work Packages
In relation to ICT
(Watts, 2009)in particular:
In relation to ICT
(Watts, 2009)in particular:
WP2: access to lifelong guidance; the role of technology.
WP4: better quality of lifelong guidance services.
ICT IN VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND CAREER COUNSELING: WHICH CHALLENGE?
WP1: skills andcompetences forcareerdevelopment.
WP3 is onestablishing cooperation andcoordinationmechanismsin guidancepractice andpolicydevelopment
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Nucuta (2009):
- Planning the use of Internet Service Delivery Web sites with the help of a career guidance practitioner or practitioner interaction without use of a website (via e-mail, chat, telephone, or videoconferencing).
- Planning various services to facilitate distance interventions (supported self-help, brief assistance, or intensive assistance).
- Websites: recommendations indicating the circumstances when self-help is inappropriate and a guidance intervention is needed.
MODALITIES TO OVERCOME ICT LIMITS
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THE NEW PARADIGM FOR XXI CENTURY: THE IMPORTANCE OF LIFE DESIGNING COUNSELING
• Postmodern global economy and information technology: the new paradigm for career construction in the 21th
century, the Life Designing (Savickas et al., 2009).
• Theoretical framework (Guichard, 2010): theories of self-construction (Guichard, 2004, 2005, 2008) and theories of career construction (Savickas, 2001, 2005).
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THE NEW PARADIGM FOR XXI CENTURY: THE IMPORTANCE OF LIFE DESIGNING COUNSELING
Life Designing Counseling introduces a perspective (Savickas et al., 2009): • contextualized
• life-long• preventive• holistic
Life Designing Counseling is an intervention that can make use of ICT in a dynamic way to encourage individual creativity and exploration of their potential (Oyserman, Bybee, & Terry, 2006).
The construct of decisiveness
the construct of engagement in the work world
despite uncertainty (Krieshok, 2003): the subject is encouraged to a reinterpretation of past memories,present experiences and future aspirations.
THE NEW PARADIGM FOR XXI CENTURY: THE IMPORTANCE OF LIFE DESIGNING COUNSELING
THE COUNSELOR ON THE BASIS OF THE WORKING ALLIANCE, HELPS THE SUBJECT:
to identify the problem, to analyze how he/she imagines the future, to reinterpret the life themes, to analyze the problem according to different perspectives, to identify activities where the new identity can be made explicit.
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THE NEW PARADIGM FOR XXI CENTURY: THE IMPORTANCE OF LIFE DESIGNING COUNSELING
Encourage interaction between specialists in life designing and career management experts
(Savickas, 2009).
Life designing (narrative skill), helps people to revitalize their stories, revisit them with greater consistency, continuity and
complexity.
THE NEW PARADIGM FOR XXI CENTURY: THE IMPORTANCE OF LIFE DESIGNING COUNSELING
• Internet makes a breakthrough in the behavioursof the individuals
• Internet is an instrument that has a major position
• Internet can influence or even revolutionize counseling and career counseling (Bernaud & Di Fabio, 2010).
FOCUS ON ICT AND CAREER COUNSELING: WHICH CHALLENGE?
1. Informal sites (forums,blogs)
2. Information Sites
3. Computer assisted Guidance
4. Counseling and career counseling at a distance
Site Typologies (Bernaud & Di Fabio, 2010):
FOCUS ON ICT AND CAREER COUNSELING: WHICH CHALLENGE?
• They allow control of the anxiety related to career choice (social support).
• They offer cheap solutions (the times and an economic point of view).• They authorize anonymity.• They focalize on cleverness, “tips”, coordinates that cannot be found in
official documents. The feeling of being “launched” into a competitive world.
1. Informal sites (forums, blogs)
FOCUS ON ICT AND CAREER COUNSELING: WHICH CHALLENGE?
1. Informal sites (forums, blogs)
Nevertheless:
- The weakness of information exchanged is quite problematic- It gives the illusion of a personal work about guidance, whereas it
gives superficial solutions in many cases.- It seems that it configures career problems or personal problems
without consequences and is adapted for autonomous individuals.
FOCUS ON ICT AND CAREER COUNSELING: WHICH CHALLENGE?
• It consists of information that is available online, categorized and regularly updated.
• It now consists of the biggest volume of career guidance, counseling and job placement.
2. Information Sites
• It includes texts and increasingly videos containing professional interviews.
• The interactivity seems to be poor or non-existent. Too much information kills the information.
FOCUS ON ICT AND CAREER COUNSELING: WHICH CHALLENGE?
• There are often tests on guidance on the Internet• The validity is often unknown, weak or doubtful• If this type of site is utilized alone, it will lead to a very poor
level of service and quality.
It looks like a mirage!
3. Computer Assisted Guidance
FOCUS ON ICT AND CAREER COUNSELING: WHICH CHALLENGE?
• It is the most developed and the best form of distance counseling: it includes the presence of a counselor.
• Different types exist: telephone, e-mail, chat (written), videoconference, orvideochat and audiochat
• These emerging practices are yet to be formalized in terms of the quality principles of the service
• These offer a wide range of answers that address the needs of a distance public.
4. Counseling and career counseling at a distance
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ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE CAREER COUNSELING (Gore & Leuwerke, 2009)
• Internet eliminates the problem of distance.
• Clients can work with professionals from all over the world (Maples & Han, 2008).
• Rural areas or places where there are few career counselors: there is more access to services.
• Online career counseling: to increase access for groups traditionally underrepresented and not served.
• The elimination of distance gives clients the freedom to work with counselors that they are similar in age, gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity.
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ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE CAREER COUNSELING(Gore & Leuwerke, 2009)
Online career counseling and disability:
eliminating the problem of distance, could be very important for those who are forced to stay at home because of physical problems but also psychological (Barnett & Scheetz, 2003).
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LIMITS OF ONLINE CAREER COUNSELING (Gore & Leuwerke, 2009)
• Research: the effectiveness of online counseling hasn’t been established yet (Manhal-Baugus, 2001; Recupero & Rainey, 2005).
• Online counseling: this may foreclose access to non verbal information.
• The training of counselors: specific exercises or supervised experience for professionals hasn’t been provided yet (Berger, 2004).
• Counselors working online: the preparation of emergency plans with local counselors (Recupero & Rainey, 2005). During the work, pressing emotional and personal needs can possibly emerge.
LIMITS OF ON-LINE CAREER COUNSELING (Bernaud and Di Fabio, 2010)
• Very little research to date
• The research that has been done is mostly descriptive and exploratory
• Very little research takes into account the professional domain
Research about the counseling process
and its effects are to be encouraged.
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• Core aim of career guidance in public policy: to ensure that effective services are truly accessible to people who need them at different times of their lives (Sampson, 2009).
• Effective career guidance truly accessible to promote social justice.
• Maximize the cost-effectiveness of theory-based career interventions.
BALANCING EFFECTIVENESS AND ACCESS IN DELIVERING CAREER GUIDANCE INTERVENTION:
THE RISK OF UNINTENTIONAL SOCIAL INJUSTICE
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Need to increase the cost-effectiveness of career guidance interventions through the use of ICT has led to some innovations (Sampson, 2009), as for example:
ICT AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS IN CAREER GUIDANCE INTERVENTION
1) Which tests of efficacy were planned?2) New paradigm for XXI century: “Not to
fit but to enable”. Assessment is still relevant? Which type?
3) It’s mandatory to explore this more, by maximizing videoconferencing: including career counseling in group; e-learning group CSCL on career prevention and career development for all ages.
1) The provision of self-help career resources on Web sites (Sampson, 2008).
2) The use of Internet-based assessment (Barak, 2006;Fassinger, 2005).
3) The provision of services that blend face-to-face and internet-based interventions, including social networking (Barnes, 2008).
Risks to be underlined (Bernaud and Di Fabio, 2010):
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• Individuals who have higher levels of readiness for career choice are better able to benefit from career guidance interventions (Sampson, 2008).
• Differentiated service delivery may maximize the cost-effectiveness of career guidance interventions.
• Individuals with moderate to high readiness for decision making can be cost-effectively served by brief or self-help interventions (Sampson, 2008; Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, & Lenz, 2004).
USING DIFFERENTIATED VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND CAREER COUNSELING INTERVENTIONS
The limited evidence of effectiveness of self-help use of computer-assisted career guidance interventions (Miller & Brown, 2005): probably due to individuals with low to moderate readiness?
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• Anyway, when the professional provides the client with assistance, it greatly increases the effectiveness of the intervention (Miller & Brown, 2005).
• Diagnostic help provided on reception can help clients and professionals to choose the most appropriate type of intervention (Watts, 2005).
• Some research shows the effectiveness of collaborative learning in online contexts, compared with that of face to face (Francescato et al., 2006, 2007).
USING DIFFERENTIATED VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND CAREER COUNSELING INTERVENTIONS
BE CAREFUL! (Bernaud & Di Fabio, 2010)
Suler defends the idea of adisinhibition in the use of the net.
The criteria for the facilitation ofdisinhibition are the following:
- anonymity- Invisibility- asynchrony of exchange- the magic of the use of
technology- the amusing character of the
exchange- the perception of equality in the
exchangeBernaud (2010): underlines the
hypothesis of a paradoxical implication for Internet users.
Suler’s hypothesis (2009):
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THE NEW PARADIGM FOR XXI CENTURY: THE IMPORTANCE LIFE DESIGNING COUNSELING
“The accepted challenge is that our efforts enable rather than just fit (Savickas, 2004)”.
ICT included…!
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