Online Counselor Education: Creative Approaches and Best Practices in Online Learning Environments

Abstract

The explosive and steady growth in online learning has created seismic shifts education and in faculty’s teaching methods and modalities. As a result of the continual market demand for online educational options, counseling faculty are increasingly expected to create, teach, and manage online courses. In some educational settings, this is done with little or no professional development or institutional and financial support for the teacing faculty members. Designing courses to prepare counselors requires instructors to address various learning styles in the digital environment through the offerings of their learning management system.  Assessing students informally and formally can increase understanding, engage digital learners, and prepare counselors for the use of technology in their professional practice. Further, course development requires instructors to discover innovative ways to create a platform for social presence outside of discussion boards. This article offers creative approaches that counselor educators can adopt when designing courses, creating a classroom community, and engaging with students in an online educational environment.

Keywords

• Online education,Best practices,Counselor education,Education

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