Gifted and Talented in the 21st Century » activism http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org A blog on technology and gifted education Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:58:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 Video competitions involving real world problems and critical thinking skills http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/11/02/video-competitions-involving-real-world-problems-and-critical-thinking-skills/ http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/11/02/video-competitions-involving-real-world-problems-and-critical-thinking-skills/#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:14:30 +0000 mdeckstein http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/11/02/video-competitions-involving-real-world-problems-and-critical-thinking-skills/ Here are a few more video competitions that might appeal to GT students.

C-Span is hosting an annual documentary competition inviting students to create a 10 minute video on issues that affect the nation. The video must include C-SPAN footage but should also include student exploration of the issue. This would make a great independent or small group project for middle school students who have mastered grade level benchmarks. There are examples of prior year winning projects on their web site. These examples are great models for gifted students to see and think about.

The World Affairs Challenge, challenges students to think about their relationship to the rest of the world. The 2008 theme is Global Health. Students living near Denver, Colorado or San Francisco, California can participate in the full program. Students who are not near one of the challenge cities can participate by submitting a video.

]]> http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/11/02/video-competitions-involving-real-world-problems-and-critical-thinking-skills/feed/ 0 Election and debates, making it real for GT students http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/10/19/election-and-debates-making-it-real-for-gt-students/ http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/10/19/election-and-debates-making-it-real-for-gt-students/#comments Sat, 20 Oct 2007 03:09:59 +0000 mdeckstein http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/10/19/election-and-debates-making-it-real-for-gt-students/ Technology continues to change the way the world functions.  Tech President joined forces with the New York Times, and MSNBC  to launch 10Questions.com, an online presidential debate that’s a fascinating mix of video blogging, tagging and user-generated content.  This is another great way to use Web 2.0 technologies with gifted students. Why not have students brainstorm a few questions to ask the presidential candidates.  Students could vote on the questions to come up with a list of 3 or 4 really good questions. Then play 4 corners, have students select the question that they want to work on.  They create a video of their question and post it according to the rules specified at  10Questions.com .  This is a great way to get students thinking about

1.        What are the big issues in the presidential election this year?

2.      What issues or platforms are they personally concerned about and how do their personal view affect how they view the candidates.

3.      How can they use technology to get involved in the political process?

]]> http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/10/19/election-and-debates-making-it-real-for-gt-students/feed/ 1 Blogging for a Cause http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/10/16/blogging-for-a-cause/ http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/10/16/blogging-for-a-cause/#comments Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:41:43 +0000 mdeckstein http://talentedandgifted.edublogs.org/2007/10/16/blogging-for-a-cause/ One common characteristic of gifted students is their intensity.  Gifted students frequently wish to find ways to help others, and perform good deeds.  In Judaism this is referred to as Tikkun Olam, repairing the world.  In the 21st Century there are so many ways for gifted students to become involved in repairing the world.  Activism is just one of those ways.  Gifted students frequently look for important causes to support.  My daughter recently created a cookbook and sold it donating the proceeds to a local non-profit, CSAW, engaged in helping to resettle and support Sudanese refugees in Boulder, Colorado.    

Yesterday was Blog Action Day. Jamais Cascio says “Blog Action Day is an interesting concept: make the environment a topic of conversation by making it essentially unavoidable for people who read blogs. If it’s successful — and in this kind of effort, success is measured not in practical results, but in levels of participation — I’d expect to see this become a regular type of event, across a variety of issues…. We’re still in the early days of figuring out how to use this Web thing for good.”

It’s so simple, gifted kids need to make a difference.  Blogging is easy, fun, and accessible.  We need to encourage gifted students to find a cause, and blog about it.  Others will read their blog, comment, forward the link to the blog to others… the cycle continues.  Students can connect with others interested in the same cause by searching Technorati for other blogs on their cause.  Social action or community service, needs to be part of all GT programs.  Students need it, the community needs it, our future needs it.  Blogging is such a simple way to start, to get connected to others doing good in the world. 

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