Parallel Session Proceedings »
3.4.10 Shining a Spotlight of Possibilities on Technology for Gifted Learners
The purpose this presentation is to expose attendees to many, varied, and unusual tech tools to help them meet the unique cognitive and affective learning needs of gifted students. The biggest challenge in today’s technological world is determining which apps and websites best meet the teaching objectives and students learning needs. Sometimes those apps and web sites you have used are no longer supported or available, and you have to find a new tool to use. With the ever-changing technology, it’s a challenge just to keep up, but who has the time to search for just the right tool. In this session, everyone will find something new, or not so new, they can use in their classrooms.
These technology tools help teachers to create authentic, relevant learning in and out of the classroom and prepare students for the business world. Students can work individually or in teams, using the various technology tools as professionals in the various disciplines would be using it, while working on the skills of collaboration, communication, and critical and creative thinking. As tools are demonstrated, strategies and examples of what worked well will be shared to make the most of student engagement and learning. In addition, we will look at different levels of these digital tools. For example, Sway is an excellent, free website to tell a story or explain content with text, photos, videos and music. However, we can increase the level of complexity and sophistication by using the free website/app, Thinglink, to create interactive stories with embedded photos, videos and text in photos. The next level would be Story Spheres, which uses 360 photos to augment reality and immerse the viewer into the interactive story or content with music, text, videos and additional photos. Some of the apps/websites we will explore are Sway, Story Spheres, eMaze, Aris, and Flip Anim. We will also cover tools to help the teachers work smarter and not harder, like IFTTT, FlipGrid, and camscanner. Teachers will leave with a wealth of tools that are tried and true in gifted classrooms by accessing this LiveBinder: http://www.livebinders. com/play/play?id=2222746.