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3.9.12 Wired from Birth: Technology and the Gifted Adolescent Brain
While many adults are confident users of technology, we are also keenly aware that we are not digital natives, as our children are. This gap — between knowing how to use tech and growing up tech-fluent in a plugged-in world — is the location of our discomfort and worry about what all that screen time is doing to children, especially if they are gifted. We will cover recent research describing the cognitive and social-emotional impacts of swimming around in that technology and offer both concrete suggestions and resources adults can use to help them bridge the gap.
Author(s):
Jill Wurman
JWW@TheGraysonSchool.org
The Grayson School
United States
Jill Williford Wurman is Director of Research at The Grayson School, a position demanding familiarity with the most current understanding on gifted education topics, including academic performance, pedagogy, social-emotional development, longitudinal outcomes, and best practices in gifted education. She has presented on gifted children both internationally and nationwide, at the World’s conference in Sydney; at NAGC’s annual conference; at SENG’s annual convention; at MIT; and at the American Psychological Association’s national convention. Her particular areas of interest include gifted girls, the profoundly gifted, and the importance of academic struggle and failure for gifted students.
Melissa Bilash
MBilash@TheGraysonSchool.org
The Grayson School
United States
Melissa Bilash founded The Grayson School, Pennsylvania’s only independent school designed specifically for gifted learners. She serves on NAGC’s Legislative and Special Schools Committees, and co-authored “Personnel Preparation” for NAGC’s 2016 publication, A Guide to State Policies in Gifted Education (2nd ed.). One of only 78 federally-trained Special Education Advocates, she has testified before Congress and met with Senators, Representatives, and U.S. Dept. of Education staffers regarding best practices in gifted education. Ms. Bilash, a presenter at international and nationwide conferences, has been awarded Special Congressional Recognition and was her state’s inaugural “Innovator Award” winner for her work.