AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE UTILIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY BY SCHOOL COUNSELLORS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KAKAMEGA, COUNTY KENYA

Abstract

Technology has become an integral part of every-day life. According to the American School Counsellor Association (2016) technology can be used to promote student development, support academic growth, social and emotional wellbeing and college and career development. The teacher counsellor who lacks training may have difficulties in fulfilling their roles hence the learners will have little confidence in the information they give during counselling. This study focused on investigating the utilization of technology by school counsellors in public secondary schools. The research adopted a descriptive survey design. Stratified sampling, proportionate sampling, purposive sampling and random sampling techniques were employed in this investigation. The study population comprised of all public secondary schools within Kakamega County. This investigation specifically targeted school counsellors, school principals and students of those schools. The study used questionnaires, interviews and document analysis. The Statistical Package for Social Science version 23 was used to analyse the data. Presentation of the data was done using graphs, pie charts frequency tables, and measures of central tendency. The results of the investigation were expected to have implications both practically and theoretically on the educational teacher programs in Kenya. The study was expected to contribute to the improvement of knowledge about use of technology by secondary school counsellors. Practically, the findings gave insight into the inadequacies in the digitalization of school counsellors while making recommendations of the need for best practices for school counsellors.