Chair of Counselor Education ‘Sleeps Safe’ Knowing Edthena Protects Sensitive Video Data

Nadine Hartig has been using video with students in Radford University’s Counselor Education program for many years. For students learning the counseling process, says Nadine – who is the chairperson of the Counselor Education Department – the use of video is widely considered a best practice.

In her previous use of video, however, Nadine became concerned about the privacy of clients’ information. She says her processes had some holes in security that were problematic, and it kept her up at night.

It was this prioritization of privacy and data-protection that compelled Nadine to try Edthena three years ago.

Today, all students in Radford’s Counselor Education program use Edthena to record, reflect and receive feedback on their counseling sessions.

When did you realize that Edthena might be a good fit for your program?

The moment I realized I loved using Edthena came by way of a burst of relief. I woke up one day and I realized that I was no longer trying to keep track of flash drives that held confidential and private information. The videos my students were sharing to Edthena were safe!

For this reason, I started sleeping much better. And that made a believer out of me.

That said, while the security of the video needs to be there, so does the ease of use. And both seem to be with Edthena.

I’ve never had to answer any questions about how to actually use Edthena from either my faculty or students. That is amazing. No other system that we have used has been so easy to use.

How do your students use video reflection?

Students access their accounts and practice with each other before seeing clients. The students then record their actual sessions and immediately upload them to Edthena.

Once a session is in Edthena, we allow students to reflect on them session on their own time. All our students sign an agreement saying that they will only view sessions when they are alone in our training suite or another secure location.

I should also mention that, for the instructors, most have embraced the reflection-focused features of the platform. They like the students to mark the video, indicating where different skills are demonstrated or where the student would like feedback or some help.

They also like to mark the sessions with their own feedback. The feedback tools were not the reason I tried Edthena, but they are proving to be helpful and useful to students and instructors.

Do you think video is a valuable tool for Counselor Ed students?

I think all of my colleagues would agree: There is no replacement for seeing yourself on video. Nothing else is as powerful in facilitating growth in both skill and insight.

Video also allows for enhanced supervision between the instructor and the trainee.

Editor’s Note: Platform security is a top priority at Edthena. We are also FERPA and COPPA compliant.