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International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology
(IJEDICT), 2008, Vol. 4, Issue 4, pp. 35-49.
Teachers’ perspectives on the integration of information and
communication technologies (ICT) in school counseling
Jimmy Tevar Masagca
De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, Cavite 4115, Republic of the Philippines
Noel M. Londerio
San Jose Christian College, San Jose City, Republic of the Philippines
ABSTRACT
This qualitative study presents the different perspectives of teacher-participants from selected
areas in Luzon, Philippines on the use and application of ICT in guidance counseling and the
school counselor’s advocacy role. Certain property of story-telling or conversation (kwentuhan or
pakikipagkwentuhan) was employed. This ethnographic technique is a naturally occurring
phenomenon/process of sharing and telling stories among the individuals to figure out or to make
sense about their world and their experiences. A snowball sampling technique was used that
required the participants to recommend others who are into ICT integration. The open-ended
format or interview schedule was utilized to investigate the different (a) uses of ICT [e.g. internet,
e-mail], (b) problems/issues/gaps on the use and application of ICT or computer technology, and
(c) innovative ways in using/applying ICT in school counseling.
Results indicated that the views of the teacher-participants on ICT use generated the themes on
(1) storing, encoding and preparing of materials/documents, (2) retrieving, distributing and
utilizing data/information related to school counseling, and (3) other uses for entertainment,
leisure and recreational activities. As to the potential uses of ICT, the subjects generated various
uses as what they practice and what they have learned from their graduate courses on
technology in education and knowledge management in education. The issues and problems
mostly relate to the economic aspects, costs, administrators’ attitudes towards the use of ICT,
quality of information and on the issue of commercialism. Innovative programs presented dealt on
the individual needs of the pupils and on the career services, but not on the ways to improve the
professional capabilities of the guidance counselor.
It was recommended that continuous re-training and establishment of a well-defined capacity
building programs for guidance counselors focusing on individual skills of the counselors as to the
other uses and application of ICT should be undertaken. On future research, accountability of
administrators on ICT integration in school counseling can be carried out as well as more
empirical studies on the different perspectives of administrators on ICT integration were noted.
Furthermore, inquiries related to assessment/evaluation on reliability of information can be done
by looking into the research outputs of students and faculty with the online materials cited on the
bibliography. School counselors are to be guided through school-based in-service training and
education ministry or government - sponsored programs on capacity building by putting
emphases on the benefits of ICT use as well as case presentations of the various experiences of
counselors in the Philippines about ICT integration in the implementation of the school guidance
programs.
Keywords: ICT, guidance and counseling, ICT and education, teachers, Philippines
36 IJEDICT
INTRODUCTION
The 1987 Philippine Constitution clearly states that Science and Technology (S &T) are essential
for national development and progress. The State shall give priority to research and development,
invention, innovation, and their utilization; and to S & T education, training, and services. It shall
support indigenous, appropriate, and self-reliant, scientific and technological capabilities, and
their application to the country’s productive systems and national life (Section 10 of Article IV).
Moreover, Section 17 of Article XIV from the 1987 Philippine Constitution mandates the State to
give priority to education, S&T, Arts, Culture and Sports with the goals of fostering patriotism and
nationalism, accelerating social progress, and promoting total human liberation and development
(de Leon, 2002).
In realizing the aforementioned statutes and national policies, the Philippine Department of
Education (DepEd) stresses that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) must be an
integral part of all learning areas, both hardware and software. Hence, according to the
education department of the country, e-learning and the use and application of ICT must be
employed in all subjects because this is now the most viable intervention in educational reform.
One of the areas in the various services being provided by the school is guidance services or the
school counseling services. Through the implementation of the school guidance program various
goals and objectives of developing and honing young children to become good and productive
citizens of the country could be attained. Thus, our qualitative study on the perspectives of
teachers on the use and application of ICT in guidance and counseling was carried out in order to
outline the various ways in which the school can be cognizant to the statutes and policies of the
State as to the benefits of ICT. Through the efficient and effective use of ICT, school counselors
are in a better position to provide administrators, teachers, parents, and students the appropriate
timely information needed to help all students to set ambitious goals and to realize their goals.
The benefits of using ICT in school counseling are so great that there is no need for more
justification as to why there is an urgent need to undertake our study on integrating ICT in school
counseling for the basic education. Several scientists of the National Academy of Science and
Technology (NAST) of the Philippines have attested the significance of ICT in the development of
the country (NAST Annual Meeting of 2002; Ocampo, 2002).
The Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Program or UNDP (2001)
states, “ICT is a pervasive input to almost all human activities. It breaks barriers to human
development in at least three ways: by breaking barriers to knowledge, by breaking barriers to
participation and by breaking barriers to economic opportunity.” Even in the daily lives of teachers
and guidance counselors, the rapid advances in ICT can create new things such as storing
information, retrieving information, handling, distributing and utilizing information. The
advancement of ICT according to Ocampo (2002) is intertwined with globalization and together
creates a new paradigm called the network age.
The above scenario tends to create the same ripples in the area of school counseling, and more
specifically on the job of the guidance counselor in trying to perform its role in the changing
environments of the schools today. There is no doubt that ICT is becoming a pivotal tool for
advancing Philippine S & T (Curley, 2002), engineering (Ablaza, 2002), the academe (Vea,
2002), in governance (Gueco et al., 2002, see related and parallel works of Liu, 2008 and
Chunxiang, 2008) and in re-imaging Philippine education (Rapatan & Bernardo, 2002).
In the Philippines and other countries, school counselors are increasingly recognizing the
benefits of using computer technology to increase their efficiency, to assist in the supervision of
counseling interns, to aid in delivering developmental guidance lessons, and to facilitate individual
counseling areas such as bibliotherapy (Offer & Watts, 2000). Adoption of computer technology
ICT in school counseling 37
into developmental guidance programs is moving toward, however, the use of technology in the
school counselor’s role of social advocate has been largely unexplored and underutilized. This is
according to Lee & Walz (cited by Offer & Sampson, 1999) who tried to examine how school
counselors can use computer technology to fully participate in eradicating institutional and
environmental barriers which impede students’ academic success.
Martin (1998) describes the school counselor of the future as one who will be prepared in a pre-
service program to possess pro-active, socially critical behavior and skills needed to strategically
plan to challenge the status quo in systems where inequities impede students’ academic success.
Moreover, Offer & Watts (2000) presents the current use of ICT in relation to relevant forms of
personal information, advice, and guidance leading to personal development for young people
aged 13 to 19. It also reports that 150 items of software relevant to career education and
guidance (CEG) are currently available. There are hundred of websites that offer help and advice,
and connections are delivered through ICT by having a website, and by sending a CD-ROM
version. Different issues are discussed including but not limited to access, involving young
people, and confidentiality. This paper published in the UK identifies the measures needed to
assure accessibility, impartiality, confidentiality, and quality of technically-mediated services. In a
much earlier paper, Offer & Watts (1997) reviewed the state of the art of application of the
Internet in career guidance and counseling. It describes how the Internet works and the main
services offered, such as e-mails, electronic news groups, etc. Several issues are also presented
in their review that is related to the internet as to the equity, which is also a very important issue
in the Philippine schools. This issue is more popularly referred to as the “digital divide”.
Few studies are available for the review of ICT integration in school counseling. In exploring the
internet, some studies are somehow related to the problem pursued in the present study. In an
earlier paper, Offer & Samson (1999) examine problems relating to standards of quality in
computer-based guidance, including the internet. It stresses the need for the integration of many
resources into a supportive context. It gives importance to the value of preliminary diagnosis of
needs, together with some principles of design in the content and use of computer-based
guidance and relevant websites. In the Philippines, several papers tackle on various topics
related to ICT use in education, e-learning and the integration of ICT in the classroom. These
studies are presented in the succeeding paragraphs. Tinio (2003) emphasizes that the program
on e-curricula for high schools of FIT-ED, aimed to develop interactive, multimedia courseware
for Mathematics, Science, Filipino and English for use in the public secondary schools. Moreover,
Tan (2004) noted that e-learning fosters interaction among students and instructors which
stimulates understanding and the recall of information. An issue on the integration of ICT is about
the 21st century skills according to Tinio (2003) which includes digital-age literacy consisting of (a)
functional, (b) scientific, (c) technological, (d) information literacy. These are the skills needed by
guidance counselors in order to fully integrate ICT in the school counseling program of the
schools in the country.
Teehankee (2003) and de Leon & Genova (2003) stress that integrating e-learning to the T & L
that ICT can be integrated by embedding the use of the web in different levels for all classes. In
this case, the teacher and the guidance counselor must choose his/her way in integrating ICT to
T & L or the over-all duties and responsibilities of the counselor. In Canada, the Manitoba
University (1997) model known as the Interdisciplinary Middle Years Multimedia (IMYM) was a
product of several researches. This model is a curriculum ! based model, interdisciplinary, action
research designed to demonstrate how to integrate technology in the classroom. This model
supports teachers in integrating ICT tools in middle-year classrooms, using best practice to add
value to teaching, learning, and assessing.
In another aspect of ICT integration in education, the papers of Masagca et al. (2004) and
Masagca (2002) report that the accountability of the school administration in integrating ICT in the
38 IJEDICT
school curriculum must be greatly considered so that effectiveness and efficiency could be
ensured. It is viewed that every action or any effect rendered will be the concern of the
administrator. Likewise, it is worthy to note that Hopkins (1997) discusses on the support of
administrators in proper planning and upgrading of telecommunications [ICT] infrastructure in
schools that can support state-of-the-art data, voice, and video applications will help teachers in
integrating electronic tools in T & L.
Furthermore, Bradshaw (1995) observes that over one-third of high school students in Canada
are dropping out from schools. However, this researcher believes that the advent of multimedia
computer technology has increased the potential of career interventions, particularly at-risk youth.
A program known as Knowledge for Youth About Careers (KYAC) is one of the interventions that
capitalize on the multimedia computer technology by trying to assist the Canadian government in
addressing school dropouts. This program is anchored on the attribution theory and the self-
efficacy theory. Its video scenes model career development skills like information interviewing,
networking, and other strategies. Students who are with KYAC are allowed to select one or two
main characters and then follow the character as he or she ages from 17 to 28 years old by
touching their chose character’s face on the computer screen. The interactive and computer
mediated situations will allow the students to look for better ways to solve problem with learning
math, reading, and other skills. During the interaction, students are allowed to select from the
thought balloons that will appear on the screen which are said to be related to the characters
depicted on the screen earlier. Ultimately, students are able to find out good reasons to finish
high school among other findings. The aforementioned intervention is heavily based on
multimedia of computer technology.
Theoretical Framework
Although there are some works on the problem of ICT integration in the basic education and
whether elementary or secondary schools in the Philippines are now ready to use and apply ICT
in school guidance, there is no specific conceptual, theoretical, or empirical work on the efficiency
and effectiveness of ICT in the school counselor’s advocacy role in the Philippines. Similar with
the study of Blase & Blase (2002), this particular study used Symbolic Interactionism as a
theoretical framework. This perspective is anchored on the three major premises, namely: (a)
individuals act toward things and people on the basis of the meanings that things have for them;
(b) the meaning of such things are derived from, or arise out of the social interaction that
individuals have with one another, and (c) these meanings are handled in, modified through, an
interpretive process used by individuals to deal with the things and other people they encounter
(Blumer, 1969). The symbolic interactionism perspective views the individual as a social product
who is influenced by others but also maintains distance from other and is able to initiate individual
action (Blumer, 1969 and Mead, 1934). In contrast to some qualitative applications (Blase &
Blasé 2002), the notion of Blumer-Mead (1969; 1934) focuses on the examination of human
subjectivity. Briefly, their notion examines perceptions and meanings that people construct in their
social settings. Several authors have used this view of Blumer-Mead such as the inquiry of
Bogdan & Biklen (1982), Morse (1991), Schwandt (1994), Taylor & Bogdan (1998) and others.
Our study was also supported by the perspective of Meltzer et al. (1975) on symbolic interaction
employed on “what goes on inside the heads of humans” (p.55).
Congruent with the Blumer-Mead (1969; 1934) notion of symbolic interaction, the present study
as also noted in the work of Blase & Blase (2002) employed an open-ended theoretical
perspective designed to focus on the meanings teachers constructed on 1) the various uses of
ICT in the day-to-day work of the guidance counselor, 2) issues related to the use of ICT in
guidance and counseling and in developing guidance programs, and 3) what innovative programs
in school guidance can be proposed for the efficient and effective use and application of ICT.
ICT in school counseling 39
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
This study recognized that the values and educational institutions of any given society were
viewed to have an internal logic. It is a legitimate notion amongst us that the integration of ICT in
school counseling could be studied well from inside by the immersion of the researchers. Our
study applied the qualitative– ethnographic or fieldwork research, which aimed to determine the
perspectives of teacher participants on the use and application of ICT in guidance and counseling
and the school counselor’s advocacy role or the day-to-day activities in the school particularly in
the implementation of the guidance program. We were practically concerned with the
interconnectedness of the life of the guidance counselor in the advent of ICT revolution in the
Philippines by having fieldwork or community study of a group of professionals in school
counseling. Certain property of story-telling or conversation (kwentuhan or pakikipagkwentuhan)
was employed in the present study. This ethnographic technique is a naturally occurring
phenomenon or process of sharing and telling stories among individuals to figure out or to make
sense about their world and their experiences. According to Javier (2004) kwentuhan (or story-
telling in the Filipino language) is an occasion for exchange of information, ideas, insights and
individual experiences. This is basically a lively and always a happy group discussion in which the
participants are actively involved (such as in the classroom, over meals and while resting in the
workplace).
Participants and Sampling
Participants of the study are teachers of public and private schools who are currently enrolled in
the master’s program of colleges and universities. These participants have experience as
elementary grade teachers, as guidance counselors, and as teacher in-charge/principals. Clearly,
the study uses a qualitative approach by hiding the actual identities of the participants. To actually
conduct our study in numerous schools, we would normally be required to identify the people
concerned. However, we assumed that the other schools did not allow us to conduct the study,
so that identities are not being considered here.
The study employed a snowball sampling technique (Blase & Blase, 2002) that requires others to
recommend teachers who they believe can have experience about the integration of information
technology, ICT or computer technology in teaching and counseling. We tried to contact by
telephoning school heads and faculty members from different colleges and universities for
referrals in order to help us select the teacher–participants. Initially, the purpose of our study was
explained to those whom we contacted and discussed with them about participation in our study
by fieldwork.
Several authors (Glaser, 1978; Strauss & Corbin, 1998; Taylor & Bogdan, 1998) claim that
snowball sampling techniques are useful in grounded theory research that attempts to draw
samples from a variety of settings. It is known that this technique maximizes variation in the
database to generate a larger number of categories that describe the phenomenon under study.
40 IJEDICT
Instruments of the Study and Data Gathering Procedure
After identifying the teacher-participants, some were approached personally during their free time
of the usual Saturday sessions in the graduate schools. We then contacted (by landline phones
or mobile cellular phones) those who had expressed interest to participate in this qualitative
research. We explained our study, addressed questions and concerns, discussed our
backgrounds and generally got to know the teacher. Teachers in the elementary grades who lack
experience as guidance counselors were excluded from this study.
In the absence of policies and procedures on research dealing with human subjects (in our
college) that may deal with controversial or conflicting views, we decided to just remove, erase
and completely destroy the audiotapes and other records.
In total, 20 teachers participated in our study over a 3 – month period. The sample consisted of
male (n=4) and female (n=16) teachers from rural (n=4), sub-urban (n=5) from urban (n=11)
school locations. The average age of teachers was 28; the average number of years in teaching
was 9. Degrees earned by these teachers included AB/BS (n=14), MEd/MA/MS (n=4) and
EdD/PhD (n=2).
We used an open-ended format to investigate the different questions and developed an interview
guide rather than pre-determined schedule consisting of the threes topics: (a) uses of ICT [e.g.
internet, e-mail], (b) problems/issues/gaps on the use and application of ICT or computer
technology, and (c) innovative ways in using/applying ICT in school guidance.
The succeeding sentences are modifications from the work of Blase & Blase (2002). Interview-
based protocols were essential in the present study. During the course of the study, some
interviewees/participants present idealized versions of themselves and their situations as
guidance counselors and graduate students in school guidance/school counseling. In order to
address this variation, the inductive-generative approach was employed for reliability and
analysis. In regard to trustworthiness, reliability and consistency in the responses of the
participants, we pursued multiple interviews with each teacher-participant and tried to detect
certain inconsistencies in the data provided. We also compared available information from their
colleagues about official duties and responsibilities as guidance counselor and checked the
availability of internet connectivity and other ICT resources of the schools concerned. In the
analysis, the inductive-generative approach was applied by emphasizing on the meanings and
notions from the idealized responses and then compared to the existing literature about ICT use
and application in other fields. There are possible similarities in the concepts generated by other
inquiries related to e – learning and ICT use such as that of Javier (2006) and Liu (2008), but we
tried to be vigilant about the inappropriate inclusion of the responses. We attempted to carry –
out a line-by-line analysis and discuss amongst the researchers the connections of the said
specific data set to the over-all or entire data set. In this way, we were able to resolve certain
conflicting or contradictory views.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Views on the current uses and application of ICT in the work of a guidance counselor.
In essence we tried to organize the various uses of ICT from our database according to the
dialogues, discussion and interviews of the teacher-participants.
Table 1 presents the different uses and application of ICT as viewed by the teacher-participants.
Three themes were generated on the uses and application of ICT in school counseling,
ICT in school counseling 41
namely: (a) storing, encoding and preparing of materials/documents related to school
counseling, (b) retrieving, distributing and utilizing data/information related to school counseling,
and (c) other uses on entertainment, leisure and recreational activities. As can be gleaned from
the table, majority of the uses given by the participants are mostly focused on encoding or typing
the materials needed in counseling work of the teachers. There are uses which are seemingly of
lesser value in the educational setting for the teaching and learning and policy formulation.
Although, the said uses are too simple, we tried to consider here how these teacher-participants
view about ICTs value or importance in their lives.
Contrastingly, the teacher-participants appear to have more knowledge about the potential uses
of ICT in the future. Perhaps these participants could have learned much from their graduate
classes in Technology in Education or Knowledge-based Management in Education classes.
Table 1: Uses and Application of ICT in School Counseling
Storing, encoding and preparing materials/documents related to school counseling
Typing papers, letters, research work, reports, complaints
Encoding materials being asked by the superiors
Writing letters to the principal, e.g. endorsing a certain complaint
Answering letters of parents, barangay officials and teachers
Sending e-mails to teachers, parents and students
Preparing referral slips and complaints
Computing and determining the over-all performance of students
Informing colleagues through the internet groups
Preparing announcements or brochures for the peer counseling
Retrieving, distributing and utilizing data/information related to school counseling
Looking for data about students information
Finding telephone numbers, addresses and whereabouts of parents
Transferring files to other teachers
Determining the address of the parents work through the web
Other uses on entertainment, leisure and recreational activities
Dealing with birthdays of students
Designing cards, invitations for school activities
Playing on the computer for relaxation
Video-music relaxation
Getting places to visit through the internet
Aside from the fact that access to information is the most important use and application in their
schools, they were saying that in due time ICT use and application in school counseling and
school guidance will deal with most advance uses such as their direct access to computer-
assisted guidance systems and one-on-one or individual guidance at a distance through e-mails
and chatting. These are found in some readings which were included in their syllabus such as
those materials found in peer – reviewed professional journals.
According to some teacher-participants (with doctorate degrees), the aforementioned uses are
now common to them. The other uses and application can be seen in Table 2. This table presents
the over-all answers of the teacher respondents as to the other or potential uses and application
of ICT in school counseling or school guidance.
42 IJEDICT
Table 2: Potential uses of ICT in school guidance and counseling
Getting information for student records through the LAN and the portal
Direct access to computer-assisted guidance systems on the web
Individual guidance at a distance for pupils with problems
Group working through e-mails and newsgroups for colleagues on the net
Community extension programs at a distance with multimedia
The appointment of teachers and staff by electronic mails and videos
School campaign, school marketing and orientation with videos
Associations, groupings, networking and support for counselors
Career guidance using interactive multimedia technology
The aforementioned teachers who stressed that student records can be accessed through the
LAN (local area network) will require a lot of infrastructure support. A LAN which is being referred
to by the teacher-participants (with doctorate degrees) refers to a group of personal computers
and other devices, such as printers or serves, that are located in a relatively limited area, such as
an office, and can communicate and share information with each other. According to them, this is
quite costly on the part of elementary or secondary school located in the rural areas.
Whether we like it or not… our schools today must be equipped with the internet
or with a LAN… some principals are so worried about the cost… but if our schools will not
try to consider this by having access to the net, then our schools in the country will
remain isolated… (A teacher-participant with a PhD degree)
Similar with the Canadian program, KYAC (Bradshaw, 1995), the Philippines can have a
comparable project to be carried out in cooperation with the numerous internet cafes or shops
that mushroom near our schools. There are a lot of pupils and students in the country today who
are said to be confused or in the state of dilemma on what careers to pursue. The said teacher-
participant somehow would like to stress that as we try to tolerate our youngsters to enjoy
computer games, then it would be worthwhile to at least integrate career guidance or orientation
in their gaming sessions. This entry point is an important component of the intervention proposed
here.
Different issues, problems and gaps as to the use and application of ICT in guidance
counseling, particularly on the development and implementation of the school guidance
program in the elementary and secondary school
As revealed by the teacher-respondents, the various issues and problems are shown in Table 3.
The problem of inequality to Internet access was very common among the teacher-participants.
Although most of them have readily available internet access, they were saying that there are a
lot of teachers or guidance counselors in their schools who are still problematic about access. As
an economic-related problem, it appears that the school administrators and government officials
of the education departmentmust seriously take note of this concern. Other support
infrastructures such as electricity, telecommunication services and support shops that focus on
vending or sale of gadgets are also included.
The lack of IT skills is a common problem which can be addressed by having the personal desire
to develop oneself. The school counselor as a professional must continuously upgrade
himself/herself with the computer skills. Schools, colleges and universities in the Philippines have
ICT in school counseling 43
now embarked on developing the capabilities of the teachers in relation to IT or computer
technology. The advent of online grading system and web–based or internet–driven programs in
most colleges and universities necessitates the public school teachers to keep up with the fast
trends in education. The works of Masagca et al. (2002; 2004) punctuate on the lack of the
technological skills of teachers in e-learning programs.
The education department of the country has just recently drafted the five–year Information
Communication and Technology (ICT4E) strategic plan that seeks to link learners to global
resources. According to the Philippine education department’s Secretary Jesli Lapus, it would be
expected that all public elementary schools in the country would have computer laboratories by
2009. On Philippine legislation, Senate Bill 2402 would require every commercial mobile service
to contribute portions of its net revenue earnings from local text messages to the education
department of the country.
We find the problem on commercialism to be more advanced. It seems to us that the teacher-
participant has been involved on advocacy programs that look into the context of “commercialism
and 21st century imperialism”. It was expected that an academic/teacher placed premium on this
problem, which we believe to be so pervasive in the circles of the academic world. The word
“commercialism” according to the participant pertains to the usual output during ‘surfing’ sessions
wherein the materials generated in the search engine give so much display of sites that require
membership, asking one to type the credit card number, enroll or join in the group by paying a
certain fee to be able to access the information needed.
Table 3: Issues, problems or gaps that relate to the use and application of ICT in school
counseling
Digital Divide: A problem that not all guidance counselors of the Philippines will have the
equitable access to the internet
Lack of IT Skills of Teachers/School Counselors: Undefined and unidentified trainings
needed by guidance counselors for capacity building programs
Unsupportive School Administrators: Perhaps due to the notion of accountability, the
guidance counselor’s quest to use and apply ICT in school counseling
Commercialism of the Internet: Worries of the teachers whether the Internet will remain to be
free to all and too much commercialization of the materials available on the net
Internet Atmosphere Congestion or Traffic: Increasing number of users of the Internet affects
the life of the guidance counselor
High cost of Infrastructure or Support Facilities: The guidance counselors are confronted
with the issue of the high cost of infrastructures/facilities needed to improve the ICT capabilities
of the school towards efficient and effective use and application in school counseling
Doubtful Quality of Information: Reliability and quality of the information provided by the
WWW available for the school counselors
Doubtful Security and Confidentiality of Personal Information: Records/Information of the
guidance counselor when converted from hard data to soft data will be accessible by anyone.
Low quality and questionable reliability of the materials displayed on the web are valid problems.
A number of academics have already expressed their views about quality of the information
found on the web. According to Hung (2004), much of the information available on the Web has
not received the rigorous editing and verification of facts through which traditional print must go.
44 IJEDICT
Moreover, Connel & Tipple (1999) had a study on accuracy of information on the web using the
Alta Vista search engine, while the results of the inquiry of Herring (2001) questioned the
reliability and accuracy of web–based information. Similar with the aforecited studies, our study
also took note of the doubtful quality and reliability of materials available on the web for the use of
the teacher–participants.
Proposed innovative programs and projects in school counseling as to the use and
application of ICT
We asked the teacher-participants on what innovative programs can be proposed so that
elementary schools or secondary schools in the country may start working on how ICT can be
used and applied in school counseling. The unique needs of children in the elementary grades
indicate that guidance counselors should be able to design programs that would certainly meet
these needs. These can be carried out by the use and application of ICT.
Helping pupils and their parents understand one another and work together by making
difficult choices that occur during adolescent age
Most of the teacher-participants believe that it is not only the pupils who should understand that
during the adolescent stage, there are choices to be made. The parents in this regard are
supposedly involved.
In my counseling work… it is normal for me to call the parents of the
pupils who were entrusted to me… the expenses of long distance calls
somehow stopped me from contacting them… With the popularity of
electronic mails, I started contacting them with this mode and the results
were encouraging enough. Although texting is readily available, I find it
worthwhile to send e-mails to their parents… This was the time when
one of the pupils would not want to go to the province for a vacation,
and instead would just stay in the city for some computer
lessons… A choice has to be made...and the parents should know
why the child resists…
Self-understanding of pupils
Some teachers expressed that practical strategies are needed to help their pupils move towards
self-understanding. Innovative ways can be done with the use of videos.
As a guidance counselor of a private school for boys… the concept of
self-understanding is quite difficult to deal with… using videos, film
strips, story telling schemes in CD formats have powerful effects on
self-understanding…
Developing confidence
Only two teachers came up with programs to help young children manage stress. This is quite
new among counselors in the sense that in order to develop confidence and hope for the future,
ICT in school counseling 45
…The pupils must see to it that life is not sad (“dark or bleak”), and that life is not full of
worries. Again we tried to give emphasis on the presence of a play room or counseling
room fitted to pupils whose understanding about life is not bright.
The teacher-respondent continued explaining.
We tried to convince our principal about the need to have technological support in the
school especially when we are trying to develop confidence in them [children]...although
this can be developed without computer technology, video cams and audiotapes… I
believe… that these gadgets helped us in the school in trying to portray a positive image
about the country… by showing to them how beautiful our country is… the Chocolate
Hills of Bohol, the Rice terraces of Banawe and the Tubataha reefs somewhere in
Mindanao can be shown to them…
Developing a strong work ethic
All the teachers we studied reveal that somehow pupils in the school are now lacking the desired
work ethic so as to grow like responsible citizens of the country. The teachers reported several
innovative ways in helping youngsters develop good work ethic. One of the teachers expressed
about developing such to her pupils:
…I am beginning to understand now the significance of chatting when dealing with the
pupils who are supposed to develop a good work ethic at home… or should I say taking
the responsibility of home management or chores at home [when parents are away…]
Through the miracles of chatting … I can continue monitoring one of our pupils whether
he has done his chores or part… this became more realistic with the use of video cams
(which is not allowed among the youngsters…)
Chatting is common thing in our daily lives however, for elementary pupils their parents would not
allow them to have such kind of activity. For college students and high school students, chatting
is such a common thing and would certainly be a good intervention mode in counseling.
Career Guidance and Career exploration activities for children
Most of the teachers we studied mentioned something about the use and application of ICT in
career guidance. Specifically, the teachers gave some innovative activities on career
explorations.
The school can use and apply ICT in the production of career education materials. These
materials are in the video format, web casts and in older versions, the CDs or DVDs…
during career orientations, we found those sessions among children could be enhanced
with the use of film clips or video footages to introduce new careers in the working
place…
To sum up, the teacher participants presented innovative ways that center on the following: (a)
career experience through the internet, (b) professional development of counselors through on-
line or e-learning modes, (c) availability of linked courses from online programs other open or
distance learning agencies available for the guidance counselor, (d) linking schools with the
community though the websites created and establishment of school counseling portals, (e)
linking schools with industry by maintaining useful links in the web or available links for every
46 IJEDICT
concern that the counselor will have during the week, and (f) linking schools with different
agencies involved on child protection through list serve, net groups, chatting, forum boards, etc.
On the overall guidance services, we learned from the teacher-respondents that several
innovative ways can be proposed particularly on: (a) counseling with the use of ICT such as the
internet, e-mails, net groups, (b) Interviews can be done virtually (by mobile phones, videos, etc.),
(c) Information service of schools will be enhanced as to retrieval if student data are uploaded on
the local network, (d) educational placement of children can be carried out by links, (e) Referrals
through the net, (f) Orientation service for children, the parents, community and the alumni
through the portal of the school, (g) follow-up matters can be dealt with easily using ICT gadgets.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Our study observed that the teacher-participants generated a limited number of themes (storing,
encoding and preparing of materials/documents, retrieving, distributing and utilizing
data/information related to school counseling, and other uses for entertainment, leisure and
recreational activities) on the uses and application of ICT in school counseling. However, as to
the potential uses, the teacher respondents have generated acceptable and commendable uses
as what they have probably learned from their graduate courses on technology in education and
knowledge management in education. Moreover, the issues and problems presented are mostly
related to the economic aspects, costs, administrators’ attitudes towards the use of ICT, quality of
information and on the issue of commercialism. Finally, the teacher-participants innovative
programs are mostly focused on the individual needs of the pupils and on the career services, but
not on the ways to improve the professional capabilities of the guidance counselor.
Based on the conclusions provided, it can be recommended that there is a need for continuous
re-training and establishment of a well-defined capacity building programs for guidance
counselors that focus on individual skills of the counselors as to the other uses and application of
ICT. This will erase the notion that ICT is only for encoding the information. Research activities
related to accountability of administrators on ICT integration in school counseling can be carried
out in the future. More empirical studies must be pursued so that different perspectives of
administrators on ICT use and application can be known. Furthermore, inquiries related to
assessment/evaluation on reliability of information can be pursued by looking into the research
outputs of students and faculty with the online materials cited on the bibliography. Lastly, school
counselors must be guided through school-based and the education department’s sponsored
programs on capacity building by putting emphases on the benefits of ICT use as well as case
presentations of the various experiences of counselors in the Philippines about ICT integration in
the implementation of the school guidance programs.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The first author (JTM) expresses his profound thanks to Mr. Elver de Chavez Sison and Joseph
Moreno during the preliminary and final stages in carrying out the research project. Special
thanks to Asso. Prof. Relyn S. Antenor–Cruz Chair of the Professional Education Department, De
La Salle University in Dasmarinas; Dr. Tweety Sayoto, Dr. Florencio Abanes & Dr. Fely Rodelas
(PFD Faculty); and Mr.Raul Monfero of Molino, Cavite for the assistance during the preparation
of the final drafts. The support of Dr. Danilo B. Cruz, Dean of the Graduate Studies programs of
San Jose Christian College is greatly appreciated. Lastly, the authors are grateful to the
comments and suggestions of the anonymous reviewers.
ICT in school counseling 47
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