Creative use of digital technologies: keeping the best and brightest in the bush

Abstract: Gifted students have been provided the opportunity to study three core subjects through an academically selective virtual high school in western NSW, Australia. At the same time they continue to attend their local public high school for their other subjects. This article presents the mechanisms that have provided this opportunity, and describes successes and challenges that have been overcome. Students are located across 385,000 km2 and meet online through web conferencing to engage in real time. They are also able asynchronously to access study materials in an online repository. Key words: Rural education, virtual schooling, on-line repository

[1]  C. June Maker,et al.  Curriculum development for the gifted , 1982 .

[2]  Miraca U. M. Gross,et al.  The Pursuit of Excellence or the Search for Intimacy? The Forced-Choice Dilemma of Gifted Youth. , 1989 .

[3]  A W Tony Bates,et al.  Technology, e-learning, and distance education , 1995 .

[4]  Susan Winebrenner,et al.  Cluster Grouping of Gifted Students: How to Provide Full-Time Services on a Part-Time Budget , 1996 .

[5]  David W. Chan,et al.  Characteristics and Competencies of Teachers of Gifted Learners: The Hong Kong Student Perspective , 2001 .

[6]  Karen B. Rogers,et al.  Re-Forming Gifted Education: Matching the Program to the Child , 2002 .

[7]  F. Gagné Transforming gifts into talents: the DMGT as a developmental theory1 , 2004 .

[8]  Robert Blomeyer,et al.  The Effects of Distance Education on K-12 Student Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis. , 2004 .

[9]  Nada Dabbagh,et al.  Pedagogical Models for E-Learning: A Theory-Based Design Framework , 2005 .

[10]  Laurie Lewis,et al.  Distance Education Courses for Public Elementary and Secondary School Students. 2002-03. E.D. Tab. NCES 2005-010. , 2005 .

[11]  Joyce VanTassel-Baska,et al.  Toward Best Practice , 2007 .

[12]  Howard Nicholas,et al.  Conceptualizing the use of online technologies for gifted secondary students , 2007 .

[13]  Lesley Henderson Multi-Level Selective Classes for Gifted Students. , 2007 .

[14]  Ruth Reynolds,et al.  Quality teaching for quality learning : planning through reflection , 2007 .

[15]  Karen B. Rogers,et al.  Lessons Learned About Educating the Gifted and Talented , 2007 .

[16]  Kathryn Moyle,et al.  The Digital Education Revolution , 2008 .

[17]  J. Gillard,et al.  Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. , 2008 .

[18]  F. Gagné,et al.  Building gifts into talents : Overview of the DMGT , 2008 .

[19]  Manoj Chandra Handa Learner-centred Differentiation Model: A New Framework , 2009 .

[20]  Wilma Vialle,et al.  Gifted students' perceptions of the characteristics of effective teachers , 2009 .

[21]  R. L. Cornu,et al.  Towards constructivist classrooms: the role of the reflective teacher , 2009 .

[22]  F. Gagné,et al.  Motivation within the DMGT 2.0 framework , 2010 .

[23]  Dana L. Thomson Beyond the Classroom Walls: Teachers' and Students' Perspectives on How Online Learning Can Meet the Needs of Gifted Students , 2010 .

[24]  Howard Nicholas,et al.  A Progressive Pedagogy for Online Learning With High-Ability Secondary School Students: A Case Study , 2010 .

[25]  Claire Maree Wyatt-Smith,et al.  Secondary students' online use and creation of knowledge: Refocusing priorities for quality assessment and learning , 2010 .

[26]  Rosemary C. Reilly,et al.  Creative Teachers , 2011 .

[27]  Michael K. Barbour,et al.  The FarNet Journey: Perceptions of Māori Students Engaged in Secondary Online Learning , 2012 .

[28]  Laura Ingerham Interactivity in the Online Learning Environment: A Study of Users of the North Carolina Virtual Public School. , 2012 .

[29]  John McCormick,et al.  The Forced Choice Dilemma , 2012 .

[30]  Denise Wood,et al.  Reaching out: Overcoming distance and supporting rural gifted students through educational opportunities , 2013 .

[31]  Ben Edwards,et al.  The tyrannies of distance and disadvantage: factors related to children's development in regional and disadvantaged areas of Australia , 2013 .

[32]  Acer PISA 2012 : how Australia measures up , 2013 .

[33]  Joanne Bate Like minds learning well together Improving academic, social, and emotional outcomes for gifted students , 2013 .

[34]  Peter J. Fadde,et al.  When to Talk, When to Chat: Student Interactions in Live Virtual Classrooms , 2013 .

[35]  Stewart Riddle Why poor kids continue to do poorly in the education game , 2014 .

[36]  Laura B. Perry,et al.  Australian schools: Engines of inequality , 2014 .