The Gifted Kids Network

We are about 12 weeks into the pilot of the Gifted Kids Network and I keep asking myself, why are some students successful in the program and others have great difficulty?  What characteristics are necessary for students to be successful online learners?  Are there specific learning styles that learn better in a virtual environment than others?   How can this information guide teachers in selecting gifted students to participate in online learning opportunities?  What can teachers do to maximize opportunities for student success?  How can the environment be designed and modified to respond to the learning needs of students?  I will address these questions in a series of posts related to success in an online learning environment — lessons learned from the Gifted Kids Network pilot program.

Characteristics of students that seem to be having the most success in the program.

• Good at following written directions
• Self directed learners
• Good time management skills
• Don’t procrastinate
• Willing to work both on their own or in groups
• Enjoy discovering new information not having it spoon fed
• Enjoy internet research
• Enjoy trying and learning new technologies/software applications
• Aren’t afraid to try something new
• Have a teacher or parent in their home or school environment that can support their technological questions
• Communicate with teacher/mentor when there are questions or problems
• Keep open communication with the instructor, so he or she knows circumstances that may prevent my meeting a deadline. Requests an extension when cannot meet a deadline.
• Preserver when they don’t understand the first time
• Willing to redo an assignment or activity until they achieve mastery

Characteristics of students that are having the most difficulty

• Trouble following written directions
• Need structured environment
• Disorganized
• Poor time management skills
• Procrastinate
• Prefer to have content provided for them rather than investigating and discovering on their own
• Hesitant in learning new technologies
• Do not speak up when they don’t understand something
• Do not wish to resubmit assignments to achieve mastery

 Suggestions for being successful in an online class

Self-directed and Self-motivated As an online learning student, you need to be self-directed and self-motivated in your approach to learning. Online courses are not easier than traditional classroom courses. Teachers in online classes take the role of facilitator and guide for exploring a subject and not the dispenser of the information. You have to assume a greater share of the responsibility for learning that takes place in an online environment. You may find that online classes require more time, commitment, and discipline.

Learning Style Unlike the traditional classroom where you receive auditory, visual and non-verbal input, the virtual classroom is primarily text-based. Communication occurs almost solely in written form. Print materials are the primary source of directions and information in online courses. Online classes provide less opportunity for verbal interaction. If you learn best by listening and interacting with other students and instructors, if you are dependent upon auditory input, you could be at a disadvantage in an online course, but you can succeed. Online courses frequently offer multimedia opportunities to engage in content.  However, many schools block streaming video sites, limiting the ability to use multimedia in the program.   Students may need to access the class from home in order to view multimedia content.  

Communication Skills In online classes, a lot of the communication is written, so being able to express yourself effectively in writing is important.  What you write is the main source of information available to the teacher and fellow students.

Problem Solver Things will go wrong. You will be more successful if you attempt to resolve a problem that occurs by asking questions and trying to problem solve, rather than waiting for the problem to go away on its own. When you run into an obstacle, seek solutions that allow you to fulfill course requirements. Contact others in the class. Contact your teacher. Propose alternate solutions. If you are experiencing difficulties on any level-either with course content or the technology, communicate this to your teacher immediately.

Ability to Organize and Prioritize Work Because there is more freedom and flexibility in the online environment than in a traditional classroom, you need to be particularly responsible and self-disciplined. The online process requires that you pay careful attention to deadlines, using the online calendar to keep track of your assignments, frequently checking grades to be sure you haven’t missed an assignment, and posting to the discussion forum in a timely manner is essential.

Procrastination Since you don’t have to physically go to class, it’s tempting to put off reading class ‘lecture’ or completing class projects until later.  It is critical to stay current with readings, projects, and any other required tasks. Don’t wait until the last minute to do your work. It seems as if when you are working at the last minute, you can count on having computer problems, the network going down, a snow day or other weather delay preventing you from accessing your school computer.  

Stay on Task You find yourself wandering through cyberspace instead of finishing your reading of course lectures and project descriptions. Online courses have fewer external cues or prompts to return you to the task at hand than do those in regular classroom settings. You will be required to preview, study, and review course material without the direct supervision of the teacher or the stimulation of classroom interaction.

Participation Be an active participate in the online learning community Participate in discussion forums, the lounge, use the class ‘chat’ function when it is offered, and communicate with classmates and the teacher through messaging. Discussion forums take the place of class discussions. Contribute your ideas and comments. Read those of your classmates. Keep comments and discussions positive. You can learn a great deal from each other. No question is too dumb to ask. Someone else probably has the same question.

Academic Honesty Academic honesty and integrity applies to online courses. Cheating on tests, copying from the internet, submitting someone else’s work as your own, and other forms plagiarism or academic dishonestly will not be tolerated. 

Critical Thinking Skills Be able to apply critical thinking and decision making skills to the learning process. The online learning process will require you to make decisions based on facts as well as experience. You must be able to use critical thought to assimilate information and make effective decisions.

Perseverance You must realize and accept that online classes are a different learning environment and that things will not always go as expected. Multiple attempts may be common before tasks are successfully completed. At times, you will be confused and uncertain of what to do, not fully understand something, and have computer and/or network problems. You must persevere and refuse to give up when these situations happen.

My next post will focus on what I’ve learned from the pilot about how I can affect student success. 

An e-portfolio is a collection of a student’s work in electronic format.

1. Supporting files of various formats (text, pictures, video, etc.) 

2. Evaluations, reflections and recommendations 

3. Writing samples
4. Projects prepared for class or extracurricular activities 

5. Evidence of creativity and performance 

6. Evidence of extracurricular activities, including examples of leadership

A portfolio is an opportunity for a student opportunity to reflect on his/her experiences and accomplishments over the year(s).  As students enter high school the portfolio is a way to document activities and accomplishments they want to share with prospective employers and colleges. 

• Begin by creating a record of your accomplishments. What activities have you been involved in? Have you won any awards and special recognition?
• Next reflect on your experiences. What you’ve learned and how you will use the information you have learned?
• Google yourself and see what comes up. Are there any surprises?
• Create a document with your online presence. What are your screen-names, what social networks do you belong to? What will potential employers and schools see about you?

A wiki is a great way to create your online portfolio.  Younger students can keep their portfolio private.  As students begin thinking about college and job search they can share their portfolio with prospective colleges and employers. 

Here is a sample portfolio for a high school junior:

Name:  Jonathan

Educational goals:  pursue a career in public health and medicine

6^th grade

1. yearbook 6^th grade editor of the year
2. Science fair, first place in regional science fair, “how does heat affect metamorphosis?”
3. honor roll second semester
4. math award

7^th grade

1. year book 7^th grade editor of the year
2. history roundtable participant
3. organized video drive to collect videos and games for new hospital
4. honor roll first semester
5. elected to NJHS – Shakelton
6. History day
   1. first place in group documentary category at regional history day competition
   2. Participated in Colorado State history day
7. citizenship award

8^th Grade

1. NJHS secretary and webmaster
2. yearbook Head Editor
3. science fair project on lactose intolerance Got Milk? The Efficacy Of Enteric Coatings
   1. first place in BVSD science fair health and medicine category
   2. first place in Colorado state Science Fair Health and Medicine category
4. volunteer teacher at Hebrew School
5. developed Hebrew calligraphy business
6. citizenship award

Freshman Year

1. Marching band
2. BBYO chapter member, coordinated successful café fundraiser
3. attended Colorado Legislative day as representative
4. webmaster for Cycling To Serve web site – volunteer experience
5. volunteer teacher at Hebrew School
   1. Received award for innovative Hebrew game show program

Sophomore Year

1. marching band
2. attended national student summit on Israel through AIPAC
3. Jewish youth group chapter programming vice president
4. attended National Student Leadership Conference on health and medicine
5. attended film making workshop
6. National History Day – Mickey Mouse: The Triumph of Walt Disney and the Triumph of Imagination
   1. first place in individual documentary category at Regional History Day competition
   2. competed in Colorado State History Day

 Junior Year

1. marching Band, Clarinet Captain
2. Jewish youth group chapter president
3. volunteer leader of youth programming at High Holiday Services
4. Jewish youth group regional board member

 Reflection: Over the last 6 years I have been involved in a variety of experiences that have helped to define my interests and goals.  I am a very creative person and love opportunities to express my creativity using technology, film and music.   I have been active in Jewish youth organizations and taken on a variety of leadership roles.  I also have been active in marching band and again have taken on leadership roles.  My academic interests are in the area of science, particularly biology.  I learned so much from participating in the science fair competitions.  My summer at NSLC in health and medicine helped me to realize that I really enjoy medicine and public health. 

Online presence:

• Facebook:  student profile page
• Video’s I’ve made: 
• My blog:

My students will be beginning their portfolio’s this week. 

Animoto is offering an All-Access pass to educators and their classes to create an unlimited amount of full-length videos & even download them. The pass is good until June 26^th. All they ask is that you keep Animoto  abreast to any and all creative ways you (or any other educators at your school) use their service.  They are planning on posting clever ways their site has been used and provide another way for teachers to get cool, new Web 2.0 teaching ideas.

I hope you will take advantage of this great tool and join me in thanking Animoto for supporting educational use of technology.  It is wonderful to see programs that allow students to experience authentic learning and learn to safely use technological tools of the 21^st century.

My daughter just told me about this cool project from GoodSearch. They are holding a video contest to raise awareness for charities. Create a video that answers the question “Who do you GoodSearch for?” and highlights the cause you care about most. Each week a winning video will be chosen and the organization featured in the video will receive a $100 donation.   What a great way to engage gifted students in learning about video creation and creating a video that makes a difference.   

Vickie Davis, Cool Cat Teacher, wrote a blog today on Technology Driven Differentiation .  Wow, what a great post. It’s definitely worth visiting her site to view her Presentation on this topic. Vickie’s post got me thinking about the ways I use technology to differentiate and what I can do better.  Carol Ann Tomlinson, defines differentiation as adapting content, process, and product in response to student readiness, interest, and/or learning profile

Differentiation is adapting content, process, and product in response to student readiness, interest, and/or learning profile. Technology provides many ways to differentiate.

Content is the knowledge, skills and attitudes we want children to learn. Differentiating content means that all students are learning the same big ideas and principles but are using different levels of complexity, depth, or sophistication. Differentiating content requires that students be pre-tested so the teacher can identify the students who do not require direct instruction. Students demonstrating understanding of the concept can skip the instruction step and proceed to apply the concepts to the task of solving a problem.  Another way to differentiate content is simply to permit the student to accelerate their rate of progress.  Naturescapes is a good example of how to provide tiered resource materials for research on the internet. Lessons can be differentiated by creating tiered podcasts for students and varying the complexity of the material presented in the podcast.

Readiness – One easy way to allow student to progress at their own rate is to utilize hyperlinked PowerPoint presentations.  Each of my online classes begins with a PowerPoint lesson.  The first slide in each PowerPoint includes this information:

Students can self pace through a lesson and go deeper into any topic they are curious about and want to explore further or with more complexity.  Students enjoy this flexibility and it enables me to differentiate content without any additional work!  Blogging is also a perfect tool for differentiating.  Students can be given blog prompts at various levels of Bloom’s and at varying levels of complexity. 

Process refers to the activities that help students make sense of, and come to own, the ideas and skills being taught. Differentiating the processes means varying learning activities or strategies to provide appropriate methods for students to explore the concepts.  In differentiating process, students utilize different methods to learn the same concepts, big ideas, and principles. Like content, process can be varied by student interest and learning preferences as well. It is important to give students alternative paths to manipulate the ideas embedded within the concept. For example students may use graphic organizers, maps, diagrams or charts to display their comprehension of concepts covered. Varying the complexity of the graphic organizer can very effectively facilitate differing levels of cognitive processing for students of differing ability.  Math concepts can be introduced and virtual manipulatives can be offered.  I use wiki’s in my class regularly. Some of the uses include collaborative notes, group projects, providing students with links to additional resources (podcasts, videos, articles and reading materials),

Learning Style – students can be offered a variety of ways to learn content.

• ◦ Podcasts – a collection of files that can be found at a specific website address. People “subscribe” to updated files using a service such as iTunes or an aggregator. When new “episodes” become available in the podcast they will be automatically downloaded to that user’s computer. The user can then listens on his computer or portable media player.
• o The Discovery Channel www.discovery.com/radio/podcasts.html
• o NPR www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php
• o NASA Planet Quest planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/pqPodCasts.cfm
• o National Geographic www.nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/
• o The Education Podcast Network www.epnweb.org/

• ◦ Video files – Videos can also be found to support research projects and presentations.
• o Teachertube (www.teachertube.com) Access educational videos and upload your own content. Create digital storytelling projects and share them with the world.
• o YouTube (www.youtube.com) You Tube is blocked at most schools. Y
• o ou can download video from You Tube into quick time and play it on most any computer. Use zamzar.com to convert to quick time format.

• ◦ Articles and reading materials – online databases of magazine articles as well as web sites provide opportunities to provide students with a variety of print material at various lexiles.

Product – refers to culminating projects that allow students to demonstrate and extend what they have learned. Differentiating product allows students to use different methods to demonstrate their knowledge.  Product Differentiating the product means varying the complexity of the product  that students create to demonstrate mastery of the concepts. Students working below grade level may have reduced performance expectations, while gifted students should be asked to produce work that requires more complex or more advanced thinking. It is motivating for students to be offered choice of product.

Rather than have students prepare a traditional presentation, students can be asked to produce a short video on a chosen topic.

For example, my student’s watched two videos   based on We Didn’t Start the Fire. 

They analyzed what Billy Joel was saying about the 40 years he covered. Then they thought about what they would want to say about the years 1985 – 2008.  As a group they are creating a similar video using late 20th century and early 21st century events. 

Interest – students can be offered variety in topics they investigate.

In each of my units I ask student to investigate a particular aspect of the content.  For example in the unit on Ancient China I ask students to create a presentation for the class. They can select an aspect of culture or daily life from one of the Chinese dynasties.  They are to compare and contrast this to either modern China or the modern United States.  The assignment asks student to identify how the practice in ancient China influenced modern society.  Differentiation by interest is built into this assignment as students select which aspect of culture and daily life they wish to investigate. The internet provides easy access to a variety of learning materials on the topic so lack of library or classroom resources does not inhibit student choice. With younger or less technologically experienced students I provide bookmarks or a trail for students to follow. 

Differentiation can occur in the content, process, product or environment in the classroom. Multi media allows you to differentiate for learning and expression style.  High level content available on the internet allows for easy differentiation by readiness.

Want more ideas and resources? 

• Technology to Differentiate.
• A Different Place
• Tools for Differentiated Instruction using Technology
• Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners
• Success through Differentiation and Technology
• Web Tool Boxes
• Using Technology for a More Differentiated Classroom
• Tools for Differentiation

Please share your ideas on how you use technology to differentiate in your classroom.

Photo Sharing Digital photography websites are numerous and offer free services to upload photos, edit them, organize photos into galleries, and share them with others.

• Fauxto (www.fauxto.com)
• Picnik (www.picnik.com) Edit photos online without software on your computer.
• Flickr (www.flickr.com) Share photos and tag both images and parts of images.
• Voicethread (voicethread.com) annotate pictures with text or audio messages.
• Morgufile (www.morguefile.com) View and download royalty-free, high-quality images that are well categorized. Enable students to use professional art and photography in their projects.

Video Create custom videos and share them with others.

• Splashcast (http://web.splashcast.net/) Create Your Own TV Channel.
• Animoto (http://animoto.com/) Create short videos.
• dFilm Movie Maker (http://www.dfilm.com/live/moviemaker.html)
• Jumpcut (http://www.jumpcut.com/)

Document Sharing, Presetation and Collaboration Tools Collaborative documents enable students to work together on a word-processing document, spreadsheet, or presentation.  Collaborative documents are very similar to their single user versions but allow students to work together without being in the same room.  A Wiki is an easy to edit web page that does not require programming knowledge. 

• Google Docs (docs.google.com/) Set up an e-mail account, sharable calendar, and collaborative document account (documents, spreadsheets, and presentations) that you have control over. Write and create collaboratively with your students.
• Wikispaces (http://www.wikispaces.com Offers ad free space for educators. Create an easily-editable collaborative website that uses a wysiwyg editor.
• PBWiki (www.pbwiki.com) Another free wiki site for teachers and students.
• Slideshare (www.slideshare.net) Upload your presentations and share/embed them anywhere. Add voice to create an enhanced presentation. Put Smart Board notes online. Share conference presentations. Share student work in an organized format.

Mapping

• Community Walk (www.communitywalk.com) add pictures and annotations to any map.
• Google Maps ( maps.google.com/)
• Google Earth (http://earth.google.com/)

Research Tools

• Internet Archive (www.archive.org) Access sound files, video files, and documents all shared under creative commons licenses. Remix and mashup others’ content.
• Footnote (http://www.footnote.com Find primary source documents about nearly any subject.

Writing

• Glypho (www.glypho.com) Submit a novel idea and collaborate on plot points, chapters, and organization. Work on a class novel or researched book.
• Story Creator 2 (http://myths.e2bn.org/create/) Create your own myths and legends.
• Fodey (http://www.fodey.com/) Create your own newspaper clipping.

City Simulators

• City Creator (http://www.citycreator.com/) Build a virtual city.
• SimCity Classic (http://simcity.ea.com/play/simcity_classic.php) Another city building application.

Graphic Organizers

• Bubbl.us (bubbl.us/) Create graphic organizers on the web and embed it onto any webpage.
• Gliffy (www.gliffy.com) Create diagrams and flow charts.

Cartoons/Comic Strips

• Toondoo (http://www.toondoo.com/Home.toon)
• Comic Strip Generator (http://stripgenerator.com/)
• Make Belief Comics (http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/comix.php)
• Quicktoons (http://www.quicktoons.com/create)
• Howtoons (http://www.instructables.com/group/howtoons/)
• Pixton (http://www.pixton.com/home)

Drawing and other Creativity:

• Letter Pop (http://letterpop.com/)
• Sketchcast( http://sketchcast.com/)
• Create an Art Scrapbook (http://www.artic.edu/artexplorer/)
• Kerpoof ( http://www.kerpoof.com/)
• Google Sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com/)
• ArtPad (http://artpad.art.com/artpad/painter/)
• Architect Studio 3D (http://www.architectstudio3d.org/AS3d/design_studio.html)
• Floorplanner (http://floorplanner.com/) Create a floor plan for a room.

Miscellaneous

• Survey Monkey (www.surveymonkey.com) Create a survey. Take an informal assessment or survey of students. Perform interest and ability surveys.
• CircaVie (http://www.circavie.com/)create an interactive timeline.
• Create A Crossword Puzzle (http://puzzles.puzzled.com/crossword/) create a crossword puzzle.

Please share your favorite tools and sites with us!

I am hoping that the Gifted Kids Network can support students who are underachieving in their current educational setting.   This week’ my personal learning has been focused on research based strategies for engaging underachieving students.  I was thrilled when at the Beyond Giftedness Conference I attended yesterday, Sue Whitnah presented on “Intelligence does not equal success:  Developing habits of mind necessary for students to exel”. It was a fabulous presentation with lots of great information and many things to think about.   According to the research Whitnah presented, underachievement begins in early elementary school and peaks around 8^th grade.  Studies show that just one caring educator can make a difference to a student and we are in a position to reverse underachievement.   

The Problem:

Underachievement is a common concern of educators and parents of gifted students.  Researchers Reis and McCoach define underachievers as students whose performance falls far short of what’s expected, over an extended period of time. 

Siegle and McCoach (2005) identify four underlying causes of underachievement:

• 1. physical, cognitive, or emotional issues, such as a learning disability
• 2. lack of motivation due to mismatch between students and their school environment
• 3. students’ attitudes about themselves and their schooling
• 4. lack of self-regulation and study skills

Of the factors identified by Siegle and McCoach, half are related skills or abilities and half to student motivation. According to  Ford, Alber, and  Heward, “student motivation or rather its absence is a troubling and persistent problem in education.” 

The physical or skill set causes for underachievement can be addressed using specific skill building techniques and accommodations.  The motivational aspects are more difficult to address.   ”Many gifted students do not view their school experience as meaningful. Other gifted students find school topics uninteresting regardless of the level of challenge, because they have developed a well-defined area of interest that is not matched by what happens in school. This leaves them “turned off” to what is taught. Still others do not appear to be interested in anything, either because their early school experiences failed to nourish their natural curiosity or because they doubt their ability to do well. Generally, a student views tasks as meaningful if they gratify a personal interest, are tied to the child’s identity, have an immediate use, or will clearly be useful in the future.”  (Siegle 2006) 

The Solution:

Whitnah had a great quote in her presentation, “true belief in your capabilities comes from having climbed a mountain you thought you couldn’t climb when you first saw it”. Students need to be provided with challenges that they can succeed in order to develop confidence in their abilities. 

There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. “Extrinsic motivation is when a person is motivated by external factors. Extrinsic motivation drives a person to do things for tangible rewards or pressures, rather than for the fun of it.  Intrinsic motivation on the other hand, is when a person is motivated by internal factors. Intrinsic motivation drives a person to do things just for the fun of it, or because she believes it is a good or right thing to do. Intrinsic motivation is by far the most desirable as it is long lasting.” (Fertig, 2006)

The strategies listed here are taken from a variety of research that I have read in the last few weeks as well as Whitnah’s presentation.

Supportive Strategies. Classroom techniques and designs that allow students to feel they are part of a “family”.  Examples include:  holding class meetings to discuss student concerns; designing curriculum activities based on the needs and interests of the children; and allowing students to bypass assignments on subjects in which they have previously shown competency.

• Support the students. Students must expect to succeed and know that those around them will support their work. They must learn to trust that their efforts, even if momentarily thwarted, will pay off in the end.
• It’s ok to have to work. Help them understand that challenging situations are opportunities to acquire or improve skills and that encountering difficulty does not mean that they are not intelligent.
• Create opportunities for their children to interact with role models. Students’ expectations are based on the experiences of their parents and role models.
• Teachers and parents should share real life stories that illustrate how we all have to work at and overcome weaknesses and limitations.
• Help students to develop strategies to manage stress. Use humor, optimism, relaxation strategies.

Intrinsic Strategies. These strategies incorporate the idea that students’ self-concepts as learners are tied closely to their desire to achieve academically. Thus, a classroom that invites positive attitudes is likely to encourage achievement. In classrooms of this type, teachers encourage attempts, not just successes; they value student input in creating classroom rules and responsibilities; and they allow students to evaluate their own work before receiving a grade from the teacher.

• Have students set their own goals. Goals should be realistic, attainable, and specific.
• Build on strengths. Help students to take ownership of learning by assuring that they are given assignments and tasks that build on their strengths, are engaging, and provide a challenge that encourages higher-level thinking.
• Give choices. Provide choices to help students feel more “in charge” of, and therefore more invested in, their education.
• Focus on student interests. Interest-based learning is student-centered and increases the likelihood of students being active participants in the learning process. Students have opportunities to focus on topics they consider personally or culturally meaningful and relevant.
• Praise can actually go a long way, as long as it’s the right kind of praise. Focus praise on a particular project, assignment, or problem successfully completed. This kind of praise validates the process in addition to the end result, and lets the child know that you’re really paying attention.
• Assign meaningful tasks. Students tend to be motivated when they find a task meaningful, believe that they have the skills to do it, and find their efforts supported by those around them.
• Document their growth. Talk with students and help them to recognize that they are continually changing and growing and that they have a hand in their own accomplishments and growth. Document their children’s growth by saving their schoolwork or videotaping them performing various tasks and sharing these items with them later. Notice and complement their effort not just their product.

Remedial Strategies. Teachers who are effective in reversing underachieving behaviors recognize that students are not perfect – that each child has specific strengths and weaknesses as well as social, emotional and intellectual needs. With remedial strategies, students are given chances to excel in their areas of strength and interest while opportunities are provided in specific areas of learning deficiencies. This remediation is done in a “safe environment in which mistakes are considered a part of learning for everyone, including the teacher. 

• Don’t assume that “gifted” means “organized.” Some of the most creative thinkers need a whole bunch of help getting those creative thoughts into some manageable and usable form. Teach organizational skills, and provide students with a variety of strategies to create a framework for those big ideas.
• Use student-to-student or self-evaluation in classroom tasks. It’s one thing to hear a teacher or parent hand down a judgment on an assignment. It’s another thing for a student to self-evaluate or work with a peer to identify problems and solutions. Be sure the student has a specific set of criteria to apply to the particular task or project being evaluated.

Incorporate technology. Incorporating technology into the curriculum is one possible way of increasing students’ motivation to learn. Technology is a great tool to engage and empower students to heighten their attitude towards learning and allow them to succeed. 

• Use technology to increase organizational skills. Cell phones and PDA’s are powerful organizational tools and are in the pockets of most middle and high school students. Allow and encourage students to put due dates in their organizers.
• Multimedia provides powerful and engaging opportunities to differentiate content and engage students.
• Use technology to vary work product and encourage students to take ownership of their assignments.

My goal for the next few weeks is to really utilize these strategies with students.

Gifted students in rural communities experience educational challenges that are quite different from their non gifted peers or from their gifted peers in urban or suburban communities. Since they are likely to be the only gifted student, or one of a few students,  in the school rural gifted students often feel different and alone (Attkisson, 1996).

On-line programs and distance learning courses can be used to overcome barriers for gifted students from rural communities (Belcastro 2002).  The Internet offers particular benefits from which the smallest and most isolated can potentially gain the most  (Belcastro 2002).   Kulik and Kulik (1982, 1984) have shown that grouping gifted students has a positive effect on learning.  Online learning offers a convenient way for grouping gifted students, particularly those from rural communities where it may be difficult to find larger groups of gifted students in geographically convenient communities. Web 2.0 provides opportunities to connect gifted students from these rural communities with teachers, mentors, and professionals in a variety of subject areas.  

Australia has been a leader in rural education for gifted students.  The Virtual School for the Gifted (which closed March 31, 2007) was an entirely online school which specialized in providing enrichment courses to complement and extend the regular curriculum. According to the description on their web site the Virtual School for the Gifted was an online community where courses were taught and students are involved in small classes working with specialist teachers.  In 1997, Superhighway Teams Across Rural Schools (STARS) demonstrated how student learning was enhanced by the use of communication networks.  Rural gifted students gained increased problem solving ability and higher levels of motivation and task involvement. 

As Abraham Tannenbaum wrote, “‘giftedness requires social context that enables it.’  Like muscle, raw intelligence can’t build if it’s not exercised.” (Cloud, 2007)    Gifted students need to connect with other gifted students in order to grow and develop their intellectual muscle.  Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000) present a conceptual framework of online learning termed “Community of Inquiry Model“.  This model suggests three components:  cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence.  I have utilized the community of inquiry model to develop the  Gifted Kids Network.  Just four weeks into the pilot program, I am already beginning to see the benefits of this model to connect rural gifted students.  By using the community of inquiry model, students engage in high level content, with likeminded peers, and are guided by a teacher/facilitator.  While there are many online distance learning programs that rural students can take advantage of, the connection with other gifted students is paramount. 

When I was a student, current events meant reading the “Week in Review” and clipping an article to share with the class.  Students aren’t just consumers of information any longer; they can easily contribute to the making of news reports. 

“Traditional broadcast media (television and radio) are in a time of transition. Broadcast is being pushed in new directions by the increasing ease of producing compelling material, and by the interactive and social nature of the internet. Blogs and other internet based social networks have given rise to an audience that is eager to engage with and participate in the creation of media.” from the description of a course entitled Producing Participatory Media at NYU 

Howard Rheingold asks, “Might teachers enlist these young people’s enthusiasm for using digital media in the service of civic engagement? I propose one way to do this: help students communicate in their public voices about issues they care about.” Will Richardson writes, “I want my own children to know how to participate effectively in the issues of their day using the way beyond local connections that are now possible. It would be great if they were being taught that in school.”

 ”Whether it is audio, video, photo, or text, iReport is about the user producing content for the world. I wonder if educators, administrators, and stakeholders notice these things, these changes. If they do, are they making connections with the classrooms and the current learning environment?” (Four Eyed Technologist)  CNN through the I-Report is encouraging readers and viewers to contribute to the news; they have made it easy for readers and viewers to contribute using available technology.

In Colorado, 9News encourages viewers to contribute to Your Show by emailing in questions or videos for their show.  Local newspapers offer opportunities to write letters to the editor and submit them online.  Never before has it been easier for students to have authentic opportunities to contribute write about, create videos and audio files on, and become engaged in current events, civics, and the world. 

I encourage you to share your experiences with students and contributing to the news in the comments to this post.  We all learn by sharing ideas and thoughts on what has worked. 

March 6^th is International Darfur Awareness Day.  Many Voices for Darfur is designed to make it as easy as possible for your students to learn about Darfur and participate in the 48 hour blog project. Please encourage your students to make thoughtful comments and pay close attention to spelling and grammar conventions. Comments will open at midnight eastern standard time on March 6, 2008.  Students can either write their own blog or comment on someone else’s.  The most important part is having your students write research based, well thought out, reflective posts.  Once you have had a chance to learn more about Darfur, have your students either write a blog or please post comments to one or more of the following prompts below:

1. If you could visit the camps in Chad and sit down one-on-one with a refugee who is your age, how would you explain what you or others are doing in your country to spread awareness and make a difference?
2. Write an open letter to Omar al-Bashir pleading your case for the Darfur region of Sudan.
3. Write an open letter to leaders in your country to make a case for government support of international efforts in Darfur.

My students will be blogging on our site www.giftedkidsnetwork.com/wp/ .