1. Using Technology in the
Classroom to Differentiate for
Gifted Learners
National Association for Gifted Children
2010 – Atlanta, GA

2. Panelists
Kevin Besnoy, Northern Kentucky University
Brian Housand, East Carolina University
Jann Leppien, University of Great Falls
Del Siegle, University of Connecticut
Elizabeth Shaunessy, University of South
Florida—Moderator

3. Kevin Besnoy
Northern Kentucky University

4. Teachers
• Technology Competency – ability to work with
specific pieces of technology
• Technology Literacy – capacity to understand broader
technical world
• Relationship between the two is on a continuum –
meaning that students must learn to manipulate
technologies in efficient and effective ways
• When left alone –
– Kids can develop technology competency
– Not sure to what extent they will develop the
necessary technology literacies to compete in a
global arena 4

5. 5 (Lucy & Grant, 2010)

6. 6
Photo-visual literacy ~ interpret visual-graphic information
Reproduction literacy ~ create messages in digital format
Branching literacy ~ navigate information in a nonlinear-based
format
Information literacy ~ validate credibility and value of
information
Social-emotional literacy ~ use communication tools in a
responsible and respectful way
(Eshet-Alkalai & Amichai-Hamburger, 2004)
Technology Literacy Skills

7. Brian Housand
East Carolina University

9. You may find
yourself…
You may ask
yourself…
Well, how did
I get here?

12. 1989

13. 2000

20. Pianos
NOT
Stereos

22. “Every man
should have a
built-in
automatic crap
detector
operating inside
of him.”
-- Ernest Hemingway

26. Critical
Consumers
Responsible
Producers

27. Computers
serve best
when they
allow
everything
to change.

29. Jann Leppien
University of Great Falls

30. Using Technology in the Classroom
to Differentiate for Gifted Learners
AudioBooks, E-Text
Research Skills
Literacy Tools
Math Tools
Science Resources
Social Studies Resources
Study Skills Tools
Graphic Organizers
Text-to-Speech

31. Differentiated Instruction
is a model of instruction that
revolves around the belief that
students learn in many different
ways.

32. 32
Differentiation Elements
STUDENT TRAITS:
• Readiness
• Interest
• Learning Profile
• Affect
CLASSROOM ELEMENTS:
• Content
• Process
• Product
• Learning Environment

33. What’s the Point?
Readiness
Growth
Interest
Learning
Profile
Motivation Efficiency

34. A differentiated classroom
provides multiple options for:
Content...taking in information
Process...making sense of information
Product…expressing what student understands

35. Differentiated Instruction
• Providing materials and tasks at varied
levels of difficulty with varying degrees of
scaffolding, through multiple instructional
groups.
• Encouraging student success by varying
ways in which students work: alone or
collaboratively, in auditory or visual modes,
or through practical or creative means.
(Tomlinson, 2000)

36. 36
High Quality Curriculum &
Instruction
 fresh and surprising
 seems real (is real) to the student
 coherent (organized, unified, sensible) to the student
 rich, deals with profound ideas (concept-based)
 stretches the student (rigorous)
 calls on students to use what they learn in interesting
and important ways
 involves the student in setting goals for their learning
and assessing progress toward those goals

37. 37
High Quality Curriculum &
Instruction
 clearly focused on essential understandings and skills
of the discipline that a professional would value
(authentic)
 mentally and affectively engaging to the learner
 joyful-or at least satisfying
 provides guided choices
 allows meaningful collaboration
 focuses on products that matter to students
 connects with students’ lives and world

38. Making Meaning
What do the features look like in practice?

39. Del Siegle
University of Connecticut

40. Technology use
in the classroom
has
progressed
through 3
distinct
stages.

41. Automated
Print

42. Automated
Print
Production
Tool

43. Automated
Print
Production
Tool
Data driven
virtual
learning

45. Technology presents
(a)Extensive sources for access to more advanced
content, as well as communication with experts
in the disciplines;
(b)Contexts for developing and applying critical
and creative thinking skills; and
(c)Tools for constructing and sharing
sophisticated products.

46. “Tomorrow’s illiterate
will not be the man [or
woman] who can’t read;
he [or she] will be the
man [or woman] who has
not learned how to learn”
Herbert Gerjuoy as reported by Alvin Toffler (1970, p.
414).

47. “Tomorrow’s illiterate
will not be the man [or
woman] who can’t read;
he [or she] will be the
man [or woman] who has
not learned how to learn
[and to collaborate]”

48. Bill Gates’ 12th Rule for Business
at the Speed of Thought
“Use digital tools to help
customers solve problems
for themselves.”

49. Issues with the
Democratization of
Expertise
Empowerment of Selective
Learning

50. Issues with the
Democratization of
Expertise
Empowerment of Selective
Learning

51. Issues with the
All of us know more than any one of
us. The crowd isn’t always right but
neither is the expert.

52. Issues with the
Ushering in a world in which everyone
is an expert in a world devoid of
expertise.

53. Issues with the
Democratization of
Expertise
Empowerment of Selective
Learning

54. Issues with the
Input and output are one-way
streams.

55. Issues with the
Competing stimuli for attention.

56. Issues with the
Democratization of
Expertise
Empowerment of Selective
Learning

57. How can technology be utilized to
differentiate content for gifted
learners?

58. ?ELECTRONIC
BOOKS
W

59. www.manybooks.net

61. http://www.microsoft.com/reader/de
fault.aspx

62. Microsoft offers a free eBook creation software plug in for Word
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/develo
pers/downloads/rmr.aspx

63. www.skype.com

65. How can technology be used to
differentiate the learning process for
gifted learners?

66. • Collaborative Active Reading
Strategy (C.A.R.S)
– Create a wiki - post the reading
– As students read - they identify unfamiliar
text (terms, concepts, and people)
– Research those and embed hyperlinks to
that content
66

67. • Digital Writer’s Notebook: - Ralph Fletcher
–Students record quotations, flesh our story ideas,
explore haunting memories, experiment with
argument and play with language
• Digital Reader’s Notebook
–Students can write their personal reflections about
and responses to what they read. The writing should
reflect vibrant, vigorous thinking. It should support
thinking about books and help scaffold student to
write longer about those books. Students are able to
track their thoughts and enable them to participate in
whole-class or small-group discussions.
67

68. How can product development be
differentiated for gifted learners
through technology?

69. http://www.xtranormal.com/watc
h/6400659/

70. http://mesakids.ed.voicethread.co
m/?#q.b894105.i4764926

71. http://emskeira.edublogs.org/201
0/04/27/th1rteen-r3asons-why-
slide-show/

72. http://animoto.com/play/n33GGqJB
S0waB6S2hxbYJw?utm_content=ch
allenger

75. Hank Levin asserts that research
from the 90s shows that high
productivity, which is currently
not a high stakes focus of schools,
often determines whether a person
succeeds or fails in the workforce.

76. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

77. http://www.musicmasterworks.com

79. How can teachers use technology to
differentiate instructional
methodologies?

80. Asynchronous
Synchronous

81. If your students can
the answer, then you
may be asking the
wrong question.

82. • http://www.socialgo.com/ - create a
social network
82

83. As teachers develop expertise in
teaching gifted learners and using
technology, how might they "raise the
bar" in their own practice? In other
words, how might we see teachers'
practice evolve in harnessing the power
of technology to differentiate
instruction?

84. What is a "critical consideration" in
differentiating instruction through
technology that you would stress to
educators?

85. How can teachers of the gifted work
with the school or district-level
technology support team to develop
differentiated instruction for the
gifted?

86. What is a caution you would give
to educators as they differentiate
instruction with technology?

87. How do you operationalize
"technological literacy" for gifted
learners?