Bridging the distance in guidance and counselling education: Web-based video-sharing platforms as a tool for accessing and creating information

Rameses De Jesus
University of the Philippines Open University
Los Baños, the Philippines

This paper explores the use of web-based video-sharing sites in an online guidance and counselling course. Given the nature of guidance and counselling — with transactions being private, if not intimate — the introduction of distance as an element in studying and training for this process has brought with it inherent limitations. Web-based video-sharing sites can be used as cost-efficient, ubiquitous, and sufficiently easy-to-use platforms for the exchange of information. While such sites are being used more and more for educational purposes, especially in blended learning, little research has been carried out on their use and usefulness, particularly in online guidance courses. This paper examines the capacity of video-sharing sites to bridge the distance in online guidance education, as information is accessed, created and exchanged from various parts of the globe. The paper provides a brief review of the relevant literature, and describes the use of videos as supplementary sources of information in an online course on basic guidance and counselling, as well as the creation of new information for the class. The teacher’s observations and students’ experiences (through questionnaire responses) on viewing and creating videos are also discussed. Online educators in general, and guidance and counselling instructors in particular, may find the results informative.