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##  Let's Go Surfing: Use of the Internet for Career Counseling in                  Schools. ERIC/CASS Digest.                                                   

Career counseling in middle and high school should be tailored to               the unique characteristics of adolescents during those tumultuous               years when they begin to learn more about themselves. Part of the               adolescent's search for identity is the keen desire to explore                  interests, abilities, and new experiences, and to find satisfaction.            Many are facing for the first time a complex decision about the                 reality of work in relation to their own lives. Sorting through                 information useful for making informed decisions about one's life is            crucial to the process. However, information is exploding in every              area of life. Adolescents and the school professionals who help them            have the arduous task of deciphering a mountain of data during their            pursuit of career goals and dreams. Useful and user-friendly                    interactive computer programs exist that can guide students,                    parents, and counselors through the vast and complicated world of               career information. 
Establishing rapport and building a                       relationship are key first steps for school counselors working with             adolescents and their career aspirations. Mitchell, Levin, &                    Krumboltz (1999) proposed that career counselors adopt a "planned               happenstance" (p. 116) approach whereby the counselor helps                     clients "generate, recognize, and incorporate" (p. 117) chance                  events into their career development. Rather than waiting for life              to happen to them, students should be challenged to prepare for the             unplanned so that action can be taken when the unexpected happens.              With its unlimited volume of data, the Internet is a place where                adolescents may experience the unexpected and, with help, can make              use of the information gathered. 
Individuals and counselors often             find that navigating career information can be both complicated and             time consuming. Though access to career information can be obtained             through traditional sources like the Dictionary of Occupational                 Titles (go to www.onetcenter.org) or the Occupational Outlook                   Handbook (go to http://stats.bls.gov/ocohome.htm), these are only               the beginning of a thorough career research, planning, and decision             making process. CX-Online (Bridges, Inc., 2000), in use throughout              the United States and Canada, offers an extensive and interactive               framework allowing students, teachers, and counselors to connect                career information to interests and education. The temptation when              logging onto the Internet is to jump from site to site, seeking just            the right information. The beauty of this program is that once                  students have used some of the basic tools, links are provided that             are an appropriate match for their research. The content of                     CX-Online is written in a style that appeals to adolescents, with               new information appearing daily. Articles not only cover basic                  education, salary, and outlook but also contain interviews with                 people working in those careers featured each day.                              Professionals (teachers) also can benefit from use of a variety of              lesson plans and activities for use in the classroom. 
The National            Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC) together                with is state counterparts, the State Occupational Coordinating                 Committees (SOICCs), accessible on the Internet, contribute a base              of information and links to other sites that further enhance career             knowledge (go to www.noicc.gov). The North Carolina SOICC, in                   collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Public                      Instruction and the Commission on Workforce Preparedness/Job Ready,             has been in the process of integrating CX-Online into schools                   state-wide since 1997. Below are suggestions of how to get started,             how to use CX-Online daily, and how to keep the program year-to-year            are offered. The potential is ever growing and ever changing, just              like the Internet. GETTING STARTEDAny 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                 USEInevitably, 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 BASISAs 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. 
Targeting parents as a group             could also boost the longevity of the program in a school or                    district. Offering the same review information either by mail or                during a PTA meeting could spark interest and support. Additionally,            offering workshops for parents similar to staff and student training            would allow even more exposure for the program. CONCLUSIONIn              the end, the school counselor faces the challenge of being                      the 'expert' who can facilitate the use of any career-counseling                program. Though a daunting task due to the vast nature of the                   Internet and the breadth of CX-Online, few other programs hold such             potential to both streamline and ensure the delivery of effective               career counseling for students. Every day new information becomes               available and, as Mitchell, Levin, & Krumboltz (1999) have                      discussed, being prepared for the unexpected promotes individual                development and career decision making. Mitchell et al. have                    encouraged the notion of open-mindedness in their model, which fits             well with a program like CX-Online. Who knows what will be                      discovered tomorrow? The future can become an adventure to look                 forward to instead of a decision-making time to dread. 
Herr &                 Cramer (1996) warn that "indiscriminate use of the computer may not             be appropriate" and that "individuals must be assisted through a                variety of techniques to use data in a personally meaningful                    manner" (p. 642). That said, school counselors are in a significant             position to help students access information in a meaningful way.               Shedding methods and procedures that are quickly becoming outdated              and utilizing the ever-changing sources of information via the                  Internet depict the nature of the new millennium. Counselors will               hear few arguments from adolescents who are eager to explore,                   question, experiment, and eventually establish themselves in the                world. REFERENCESBridges, Inc. (2000). CX-Online. Available:              http://bridges.com. 
Herr, E. L., & Cramer, S. H. (1996).  Career              guidance through the lifespan: Systematic approaches (fifth ed.).               Boston:  Scott, Foresman and Company. 
Mitchell, K. E., Levin, A.              S., & Krumboltz, J. D. (1999).  Planned happenstance: Constructing              unexpected career opportunities.  Journal of Counseling and                     Development, 77, 115-124. 
National Career Development                         Association (1999). NCDA Guidelines for the use of the Internet for             provision of career information and planning services (On-line).                Available:  http://ncda.org. 
National Occupational Information                Coordinating Committee (NOICC). (1998) National career development              competencies (On-line). Available:                                              http://www.noicc.gov/files/ncompete.html. 
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Joanna Refvem is            a school counselor at Mt. Airy Middle School in Mt. Airy, North                 Carolina. 
ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely             reproduced and disseminated.  This publication was funded by the                U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and                Improvement, Contract No. ED-99-CO-0014. Opinions expressed in this             report do not necessarily reflect the positions of the U.S.                     Department of Education, OERI, or ERIC/CASS.                                 **Title:** Let's Go Surfing: Use of the Internet for Career Counseling in                  Schools. ERIC/CASS Digest.                                                   **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse, University of               North Carolina at Greensboro, 201 Ferguson Building, P.O. Box 26171,            Greensboro, NC 27402-6171. Tel: 336-334-4114; Tel:                              800-414-9769 (Toll Free); Fax: 336-334-4116; E-mail:                            [email protected]; Web site: http://ericcass.uncg.edu.                       **Descriptors:** Adolescents,  Career Counseling, Counselor Role, High Schools,                   Internet, Middle Schools, Program Development,  School Counselors           **Identifiers:**
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