Use of ICT by Educational Counselors

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in educational guidance. It has been elaborated by means of a quantitative design and a survey on a population of 193 counselors, with participation of 86 people from the autonomous community of Extremadura, during the academic year 2021/22. Some results reveal the use of other tools and applications, in addition to the institutional ones, for coordination, search for information and materials, communication, transmission of contents, recommendations or specific materials. In relation to their ICT training profile, although half of them participate in teaching innovation projects and consider them facilitators of their daily work, they show low levels of self-efficacy and self-training; in addition, most of them are self-taught or trained among colleagues, especially women; likewise, very few have received training related to their professional profile and almost all of them would like to receive more specific ICT training. Furthermore, results show that the educational profile influences the use of specific guidance programs for communication with students, the development of the tutorial action plan and academic guidance. As a conclusion, we can deduce the low digital capital and the existing digital gender gap in digital literacy of educational guidance professionals. We propose that it is essential, through digitalization policies, to invest in specific training proposals in line with the new forms of communication, management and organization that currently mark the social circumstances in educational centers.