One evaluator pointed out that we were near the end of the PDI and someone asked "When will blogs be covered?". Well, actually, segments 2-4 before the break were all about blogs, more specificaly about this blog called CCC and LWPS. Click here to go to segment two of the agenda script and explore up to the break.

But perhaps we need to start with some basics about what a blog is, how many different types there are and why you should choose LWPS as your blogging platform.

A blog is ...

Wikipedia has a good article about blogs. Concentrate on just the overview and 4 Anatomy of a blog entry.

This Google search "A blog is" should also be informative.

So many types of blogs.

There are many kinds of blogging platforms and CCC and LWPS are just one example. Wikipedia has a comprehensive listing of some of the more popular ones. Elgg, the engine that powers LWPS, will someday appear there.

Why LWPS should be your blogging platform

LWPS is a very unique blogging platform. Unlike the very popular MySpace.com and Facebook, LWPS (and CCC specifically) is tightly focused on the issues and concerns that are dear to those in the career development industry, namely life and work planning and development. There is no other blogging platform in the world (that I know of - and I check regularly) that combines all of the following features, functions and foci.

1. A commitment to the CD industry to support, use and expand NCDA services and resources.



2. A commitment to each lifework decision maker to only focus on lifework planning and offer a no-fee service for a basic account.



3. A commitment to each career cybercounselor and client to offer a secure and private web space to conduct counseling sessions.



4. Personal, professional and/or community weblogs to collect (journal) (self-) knowledge, apply it and reflect upon it.



5. Keyword tagging to quickly and easily find weblog  posts and people who share common interests and goals.



6. Private, semi-private and public access restrictions for weblog posts and files.



7. File repositories to store digital (ePortfolio) artifacts (documents, pictures, video, audio).



8. ePortfolio development, and RSS feeds and aggregation

Only LifeWork Planning Services (LWPS) can make this claim!

A short video demonstration

I think you will find this short video demonstration of Elgg to be very informative. It exists in a post on the Elgg.net blog. This LWPS post introduces you to it.

Return to the Questions from PDI # 5 participants about career cybercounseling and the Career Cybercounseling (CCC) community project.]]> http://lifeworkps.com/cybercounsel/weblog/959.html http://lifeworkps.com/cybercounsel/weblog/959.html Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:30:06 GMT "Open site"

We need to qualify what is meant by an "open site".

During the PDI, I explained that any post you create on CCC (or anywhere on LWPS) could be public, private or restricted to a pre-defined set of authorized readers. So, in this case, only "public" posts would constitute an "open site". To dramatize this, I claimed that this post (with this URL http://lifeworkps.com/hubbard/weblog/166.html) contains everything personal and confidential about me. You can not access it because it exists in a database on a server somewhere. The next sequnetial post #167 is public and you or anyone in the world can access it.

There is a qualified valid concern that the datastream that builds post # 166 each time you see it is not encrypted (yet) and could be a security risk. But I could say the same for e-mail that some cybercounselors are using today in their sessions - unless they use some kind of encryption program on both ends.

One should also consider reasonableness and degree of risk. There have been several times when I have sent my Credit Card information to someone in an unencrypted e-mail. I trusted the recipient and I assessed that the likelihood of someone monitoring my e-mail to farm my confidential information was extrememly low. I was willing to take that risk. I think it is reasonable to expect that cybercounselors and cyberclients can use that same judgement. Matter of fact, NBCC's guideline #10 allows for some latitidue here by advising cybercounselors "If encryption is not made available to clients, clients must be informed of the potential hazards of insecured communication on the Internet. Hazards may include unauthorized monitoring of transmissions and/or records of Internet counseling sessions." When such sensitive transmissions are anticipated, the cybercounselor may want to use more secure channels an/or require face-to-face communication.

Intake form

Certainly a blank intake form, similar to this one that Sally uses, can be "public" and reside on an open site. But once it is filled out, then what? I think that depends totally on the judgement of the cyberclient and cybercounselor and what is contained in the intake form.

Return to the Questions from PDI # 5 participants about career cybercounseling and the Career Cybercounseling (CCC) community project.

Sally just pointed out to me that I don't know for sure that "no one has started a career cybercounseling relationship/session on CCC." Online counseling relationships may not be broadcast to the CCC community. Excellent point! She also told me to invite you to look at her LWPS site, lifeworkps.com/sallyg so you can begin to see how one counselor is approaching cybercounseling. She said you can view her (1) Profile, (2) Services, (3) New Clients (including Intake), etc. by clicking on the links in her "gold" box in the upper right.

1. Welcome, career cyberclient, to the Career Cybercounseling (CCC) community, project, website and blog.
   
   
2. Welcome, career cybercounselor, to the Career Cybercounseling (CCC) community, project, website and blog.
   
   
3. 
   
   
4. 
   
   
5. 
   
   
6. Questions from PDI # 5 participants about career cybercounseling and the Career Cybercounseling (CCC) community project..
   
   
7. 
   
   

Questions/comments from your evaluations

1. No handouts
   
   
2. Wanted more on career cybercounseling concerns
   
   
3. I like the product and look forward to the August release
   
   
4. Should an intake form exist on an open site?
   
   
5. When will blogs be covered?
   
   
6. I've registered for an LWPS account. Now what do I do?
   
   
7. What would counselor relationship with LWPS be on an ongoing basis?
   
   
8. What is the process of doing CCC (rather than just learn about the LWPS platform)?
   
   
9. What is CCC? How could participants facilitate its use?
   
   
10. Use computer lab to teach the PDI concepts (hands-on)
    
    
11. We have been looking for this kind of platform for a couple of years. I see us using this.
    
    
12. Participants were too diversified in their technical abilities.
    
    
13. How could it be used to meet the needs of various populations?
    
    
14. Would like to know more about ePortfolios, blogs. eCommunities, plus define these terms.
    
    
15. What is cybercounseling? Give examples.
    
    
16. Use technology that works in PDI (lack of Internet access for half of the presentations - include computer access for participants in future presentations).
    
    
17. Describe cybercounseling considerations, how to make a blog.
    
    
18. Include more step-by-step presentations, powerpoints to break up the steps.
    
    
19. Want to learn how to start my own ePortfolio.
    
    
20. ?
    
    
21. (Click here to submit a question or comment to add to this list. If you have registered for an LWPS account and are logged in, just click "Comments" to add your questions or comments. )
    
    
22. ?
    
    

1. What's New?
   
   
2. Work in process.
   
   
3. Issues and concerns about use the Internet to conduct career cybercounseling sessions.
   
   
4. Discussion on how to start a CCC session.