| Abstract Efforts to teach basic helping skills to counselors in training using computer assisted simulation continue to evolve. Recent commercial releases include integration of compressed video and text to allow students to view client/counselor interactions and make choices regarding response categories. The use of technological tools to teach basic skills in counselor education and supervision has evolved steadily over the years. From audiotape to videotape, from computer text to interactive multimedia simulation, counselor educators and supervisors have made numerous attempts to integrate new technologies into counselor training ( http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed372357.html] Historical Developments Audiotape, first through reel-to-reel and later through eight-track and cassettes, was adopted during the 1950s and 60s to teach skills. Counseling students used this medium to learn from “the masters” in pre-recorded sessions. Students also created their own audiotapes of counseling sessions in order to demonstrate their competence and obtain feedback regarding their performance. Videotape later became the dominant tool in demonstrating counseling skills and measuring student progress. From the 1970s through the 1990s, widespread use of videotape led to more sophisticated tools. Simultaneous split-screen videotaping of client and counselor allowed more accurate capturing of nonverbal cues. Remote viewing of a demonstration session using one or more monitors allowed the session to take place with more privacy, eliminating the obvious presence of student spectators. Stereo audio channels in videotape allowed dual use of those channels, with the counseling session recorded on one track and supervisor comments on a second track. Similarly, text based comments by a supervisor can now be superimposed on the bottom of the videotaped counseling session with appropriate hardware. | |
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