Cyber--or computer-mediated communication is transforming school counselor education in curriculum delivery, supervision, and professional development, as well as changing the nature of interactions among counselors, school personnel, parents, counselor educators, students, and field supervisors. This article describes how new technologies are influencing school counseling practice and helping counselor educators to train the next generation of school counselors. The article encourages a critical dialogue about the issues, ethics, and unanswered questions pertaining to the use of computer technology in school counselor practice and education.

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Effective communication is the essence of school counseling. In lace of traditional face-to-face encounters, counselors are now using the computer to discuss sensitive, emotionally charged information during counseling and consultation sessions. Computers also are supporting curriculum delivery and supervision in counselor education programs across the country. An entirely new vocabulary is rapidly developing to refer to automated systems and the information age. "Cyber" is a prefix used to describe people, things, or ideas that are connected with computers and the Internet (e.g., cyber-citizen, cyber-space, cyber-ethics).

However, as the medium through which information is disseminated becomes increasingly cyber-driven, there is a risk that such information will be modified in some way by the delivery system itself. Indeed, McLuhan's theory that "the medium is the message" (McLuhan & Fiore, 1967) resonates in today's world of cyber-communication and distance education. Apple (1991) noted that

the new technology is not just an assemblage
   of machines and their accompanying software.
   It embodies a form of thinking that orients a
   person to approach the world in a particular
   way. Computers involve ways of thinking that
   under current educational conditions are primarily
   technical. The more the new technology
   transforms the classroom into its own
   image, the more a technical logic will replace
   critical political and ethical understanding.
   (p. 75)

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN COUNSELING PRACTICE

Cyber-counseling can take several forms, including therapeutic software and online counseling adapted to several theoretical approaches--behavioral, cognitive, educational, and psychodynamic among them. The development of Internet chat rooms allows for direct, online contact between counselor and client. Counseling and consultation via the Internet is a means of reaching remote areas that are without access to counseling services as well as to enhance communication among professionals. Today, school counselors often engage in online communication with colleagues, students, and parents. Technological advances are revolutionizing everyday counseling practices in schools while presenting new ethical challenges.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN CYBER-COUNSELING AND CONSULTATION

Computer-assisted counseling raises ethical concerns about the adequacy and appropriateness of online forms of therapeutic interventions in the treatment of sensitive issues (Maheu & Gordon, 2000). For example, Coomey and Wilczenski (2005) found that text, audio, and video communication of social-emotional information was significantly affected depending on the technological modality. In their study, participants judged a text-based message as more emotionally charged than the same message presented via audio or video modalities. As social-emotional concerns are so often brought to the attention of school counselors, the potential for misinterpretation through cyber-communication may pose a challenge to the provision of optimal counseling services. Online counseling and consultation services test the bounds of professional competence, confidentiality, and informed consent. Vulnerable populations, naive about the effectiveness of computer-assisted psychological services, may be adversely affected through the use of unexamined technologies. Indeed, services delivered via electronic media need close scrutiny by professional organizations. Rapid advances in technology mean that ethical policies require ongoing review and updating.

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN COUNSELOR EDUCATION

In school counseling, computers assist in the education and supervision of graduate students. Many school counseling programs now offer distance learning options in their courses of study. A quick "Google" search revealed 24 online programs in school counselor education; however, at this time, there are no school counseling programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) that are fully online.

To answer the challenges presented by using distance education to train school counselors, graduate programs must undergo significant changes in the near future. Counselor education is assisted electronically by means of Internet connections to information available on the World Wide Web, departmental and program Web pages, PowerPoint lectures, classroom and professional listservs, digitized portfolios, online libraries, electronic journals, CD-ROM databases, and e-mail discussion groups. Educational software platforms designed to support the development of online courses enable distance learning environments to offer asynchronous and synchronous instruction that can supplement or supplant established classroom instruction. Asynchronous strategies deliver curricula through online files that are available continuously, allowing students to access and interact with the system on their own time schedules. Synchronous strategies require a specified time set for online instruction, such as in video-streaming lectures presented to an audience at a prearranged time.