Research

What types of technology are you finding used by your GT students?

I teach 3rd grade, so my age group mostly keeps it simple as compared to middle or high school. My class is very familiar with embedding their creations onto our class wiki. They have used Voki, classroomtools.net, Vocaroo, Audacity, BeFunky, Animoto, Wallwisher, and more. Once I am an LMS, I plan to make these monthly projects across the school. On a separate note and at the risk of sounding whiney, this past weekend, my 9th grade GT daughter and her Biology group created a wiki on Malaria ("Bedlam in the Blood"). I was so excited to show them all these great ideas to make their wiki cooler, but they were more interested in the 75 points they earned for "doing it" than the quality of the work itself. That was a direct correlation to the fact that most projects earned 10-12 points, there were literally about 50 total tasks to chose from, and they had to earn 450 points to earn an A. Had the assignment focused on fewer items of greater quality, their investment would have been more significant. Here was an excellent opportunity to integrate technology with science, and instead it became a means to an end. They were workedsheeted to death and the one aspect that catered to their differences was belittled. Not a very GT scenario. KLossing

I find that our GT students are really into social networking. Many of them have Facebook and Twitter accounts. Our news site for the high school is really cool and uses all sorts of widgets. The news website also sends school news via Facebook,if you become a fan and they even Twitter from different sporting events with up to date news. Check it out at []. I also have found that many of our GT students are into video editing, they love to take the Flip Camera and use video editing software such as I-Movie or MovieMaker to create original work. ADavis

Our Alpha students on our campus are also using the flip cameras and video editing using MovieMaker. They are very excited about this project, and even coming to talk to me to find out how the green screen and morning announcements go to do a news cast. They are totally motivated and teaching each other. They also use Glogster a lot on my campus which has been great. Just introduced my teachers to Voki, Blabberize and Xtranormal also this year and teachers allowed their higher students to complete their projects using these tools. Their creativity was awesome! CHames

Our GT students typically using technology for research and entertainment. The types of technology being used are Google docs, mp3 players, cameras, cell phones, and video chatting with web cams. Some students felt that they are naturally curious as to how things work while others have no interest in knowing the back side of devices as long as they suit their basic purpose. Students admitted that they are not interested in figuring out how things work, they just want them to work. As a specific example I worked with the 7th grade GT class this past semester to create a video using Windows Movie Maker. I gave basic intructions to use the software and set them on their way. I asked the kids again today who only did the minimum following my exact intructions versus who investigated further into the software to create something beyond the expectations. Not one students moved beyond the basic functions of the software. My theory that GT students are using technology at the superficial level seems to be confirmed for the majority of cases. While I don't believe that is a bad thing, I feel we need to recognize that kids aren't really using, exploring, investigating technology in the ways we believe them to be doing so just because they are classified "gifted and talented". JMcClelland