Our President Obama and LinkedIn Team Up to Discuss American Jobs

Social Networking tools have dramatically made a space in the lives of millions of America. Not only are they influencing our students, our personal lives, and our teaching, but they are also influencing our professional lives. LinkedIn is a social networking site that has been connecting individuals people professionally since 2002. LinkedIn.com states that they have 120 million members and this membership is growing rapidly at the pace of two new members per second. I have been a member of LinkedIn for a few years, but not until recently have I began to use it consistently as a way to increase my professional network. Through LinkedIn, I have been able to connect with past colleagues, meet professionals with similar research interests, and connect with professionals that have contributed to my professional development. In addition to connecting individuals professionally, LinkedIn has also become an influential voice in the debate and discussion about America's economical challenges. Watch below to view the town hall meeting with our President Barak Obama, hosted by LinkedIn, Putting America Back to Work.

Thank you LinkedIn for focusing on issues that are important to the American people. To learn more about LinkedIn or to join, please click here.

YouTube in the Classroom

One of the great things about the Internet is that there is so much ready-made content available that can be used when educating students. Above is a video that I will be using in one of my online courses next week. In my Counseling Theories course, we will be discussing Gestalt Therapy. This video is a demonstration of Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt Therapy, counseling a client. Students will watch this video and respond to the following prompt:

Fritz Perls conducted Gestalt therapy in a controversial way by using personal confrontation and self-disclosure. Watch the Video of Perls working with client “Gloria.” Do you see examples of confrontation? What is your reaction to such methods? What do you think about this session?

This video will be especially useful because our Counseling Theories course is taught online. This video and others like it can help students gain understanding of the application of the theories we are studying and begin to get an understanding of how theories influence practice. It also helps beginning counselors start to gain an understanding of how a counseling session might look. I remember my first year as a counselor trainee wondering, "Am I doing this right? What are other counselors doing during session." Videos can help new counselors begin to answer some of these questions and give them a reference point as they begin to find their own counseling style and theoretical orientation. 

I found this video easily by going to YouTube and Searching "Gestalt Therapy Counseling Session." I looked at several videos before I chose the one that best suit the need I was looking for.

YouTube also recently introduced YouTube for Educators. This site is very similar to their original site. However, it focuses on the needs of teachers. It has videos organized by subject and has content that has been approved and recommend by teachers. Check out this new site and let me know what you think. How are you using videos in your courses? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Try Skype When Teaching Online

Have you ever taught an online class and thought, "I just need to talk to my students face to face for a little bit?" I have and Skype might just help in those instances.

I chose to experiment with Skype as a way to incorporate synchronous communication in an online course.  I have used Skype to chat with a friend, but I've recently just began to think about ways I might be able to use this in a class. I think that Skype would be a good tool to use in teaching because many students currently use Skype and may be familiar with it. I also like Skype because it allows for video chat, audio chat, and text chat. This will allow students to participate in a variety of ways. I also like chat because it has an app for the iPhone. 

I love Apple's iPad and iPhone and you will "hear" me talk about them a lot, but I am sure that other phones also have the app as well. If I (or a student) can not get to a computer, I can also participate in a Skype conversation from my phone. If you have a two-camera on your phone, you can use the video chat as you would use it on the computer. I also experimented with sending text messages, files, and links in a discussion. When using this as an instructor, I can share files or links about the topic we are discussing. A student will also have the ability to share something that they think may fit with the topic.

Most people sign up for online courses to allow for the time/place flexibility that asynchronous discussions provide. However, I believe that the immediate feedback and other benefits are lost in synchronous chat. Skype allows for students to participate in a synchronous discussion while allowing flexibility in place, some flexibility in time (you can Skype from your phone while on a lunch break), and flexibility in the method of the discussion (video, audio, text, or some combination). I see myself using Skype in an online class when I want to conference with my students or check-in with them. For instance, I will be teaching an advanced theories course next semester. The students have already learned about counseling theories and have taken most of their counseling coursework. In this class, they are accessing their own beliefs on counseling and how individuals change and choosing a their own personal approach to counseling. I plan to use Skype to conference with each student at least one time individually. This will give us an opportunity to discuss their theoretical orientation in an individualized way that will benefit from the immediate feedback and one-on-one discussion. 

Blogging in Counselor Education?

The counseling field has been hesitant to the use of technology for many acceptable reasons. However, I just found a website that may change the minds of many of those who are still hesitant. 

School Counselor Blog

This website contains content that is organized like a journal with the most recent posts on top and meets the criteria for a blog (Downes, 2009). This blog also contains some popular features in blogs such as categories, tags, and links to other resources. This blog was actually started by Danielle Schultz, while she was in graduate school training to become a school counselor. On her blog, she states that she started blogging after constantly searching for ideas and activities to use with her students as an intern.

I can see this blog as being beneficial to use in my teaching in several ways. First, this blog is an excellent resource for students who are getting ready to begin their Practicum or Internship Field Experience. They can find ideas by grade level and topic. Not only does the blog have a ton of resources, but it also posts about current issues in the field. I think having students comment on posts and participate in discussion can help students as they are developing professional identity. The author of the blog, Danielle, also allows for guests posts so, I could also create an assignment where students were required to submit a post to the author of the blog as an assignment. This will help students develop professional identity and give them confidence by helping them to go through the process of developing a post. Not to mention, the excitement and pride of a student if/when their post is accepted and submission. In the field of counseling where consultation is so important, blogs can be a great addition to course content. 

What other sites or blogs do you find beneficial in your teaching?