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Inclusion, Gifted, Talented-21st Century Challenges
Inclusive Education and Gifted/Talented
Meeting the 21st Century Challenge
A Keynote Address
Joyce Pittman, Ph.D.
Abu Dhabi University

Abu Dhabi, UAE
October 30-November 1, 2010
Do not copy or distribute without written permission from author, Dr. Joyce Pittman. Email:
globaltechresearch@rocketmail.com
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Table of Contents
Opening 3
The Problem 4
Introduction: The G/T Inclusion Challenge
5
st
Conditions that Support G/T Learners in 21 Century Education
9
Conceptualizing Gifted/Talented 9
st
What Teachers Need to Know About Inclusive Pedagogy for 21 Century
Learning?
Living in the Information Revolution 13
Basic Principles: Restructuring Teacher Education in a Digital Age 14
Tools and Strategies to Help Restructure Teaching Methods 15
Why Use Technology? 16
Digital Literacy 17
Student Standards for Using Technology 19
Closing Educational Equity Gaps 20
Summary 21
Annotated Bibliography 21
References 26
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Introduction
Sadly, new choice policies along with failed school integration in public schooling,
while growing in popularity in society as a means to promote greater equity and
educational opportunity in public schooling, are failing to eliminate other barriers
to high-quality digital education in global schools for our gifted/talented students.
There is a critical need to increase access to new high quality learning
opportunities for gifted/talented students; those with exceptional abilities and
special learning needs now require intensive attention. This condition holds
particularly prevalent for gifted/talented students from low and high-income
homes, schools, and communities---often our gifted/talented students may be
nationals, migrants or the poor.
Inclusion principles can be particularly troubling during an increasingly
technological age. Over 60 percent of tomorrow’s opportunities are projected to
require at least a basic level of technological competency and ability to solve
complex problems to function in society and reap the benefits of 21st century
learning, a system fast becoming known as the “conceptual age”.
Inequality can have many sources within the community . . . a major source of
inequality is social class. Economic and social inequality can arise from other
socially defined characteristics that result in different group within the community
having different access to the goods and services of the community. Large
societies such as the United Arab Emirates will contain within its boundaries
many peoples of different qualities and characteristics. These qualities and
characteristics will define the status of individuals within the nation. A most
obvious characteristic is that of citizenship. Citizenship defines the nature of legal
rights, and the type of access one is provided to services offered by the nation.
Related to these characteristics are those of national origin. Often this can lead
to differential treatment in a variety of situations and to degrees of inequality
within any given educational community (Anderson, 2002).
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Conditions: Supporting Gifted/Talented Learners in Education
Social, cultural, and political issues further complicate access to qualified
teachers, appropriate content and support for gifted/talented teaching and
learning. The conditions for learning in public schools interlock with issues
surrounding income, education, race and class that slow down or in some cases,
prohibit the advancement of learning disabled and gifted/talented students
receiving potentially challenging educational experiences made possible through
new educational technologies.
Education gaps are rooted in socio-cultural context of literacy and
technological innovations in society. Widening gaps in access to computer
technology and telecommunications are only two factors threatening the
principles of democratic education by depowering individuals, schools, and
communities. Inadequate access to new digital tools, appropriate content and
training challenges the public education promise of a free and appropriate
education (FAPE) for all people.
Drawing from such a potentially rich pool of information now

possible through new digital technologies and communication
systems can help gifted/talented students to broaden their
understanding of the context in which particular events occurred
and have the potential to link different and possibly opposing points
of view. Such a widening of the historical debate can only serve to
deepen our understanding of the complexities of historical issues
and should be a welcome resource for the history (Author
Unknown).
More threatening is the lack of capacity to make full use of the educational value
of these tools due to inadequate teacher training and poor content. Humanistic
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roles of individual, citizen and worker in a free world are, are thereby threatened
in a democracy when voices, once active become silent in the mainstream of an
economically and technologically driven society due to unawareness. Inadequate
access to new communication systems further extends the opportunity for social
and economic stratification, which thwarts individuals’ capacity to move beyond
one’s existing socio-status to a higher status in life. These issues are intertwined
in society’s historical concept of being a literate citizen, capable and worthy of
participation in society.
I focus ideas in this paper on the principles that I believe are important to
establish and continue our dialogue about the role of inclusion to serving
gifted/talented learners during a technological explosion. I will discuss:
1. Historical definitions and emergence of gifted/talented inclusion principles

2. Visionary ideas for connecting, communicating and changing the
approach to G/T education
3. Global standards of teaching and learning
4. Technology, digital instruction, and empowerment challenges presented
by the 21st Century Learning Framework
These four topics represent ways of thinking and acting that are important to
address problems associated with digital age teaching, curriculum, and the
education divides. More recently, the issue of what constitutes an adequate, high
quality public education has come under question worldwide.
To prepare future teachers to teach in a digital age will require:
1. New assessment tools that address new ways of teaching, learning,
thinking, and standards of success.
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2. Inclusive and virtual learning communities for the gifted/talented.
3. Technological literacy that moves learning and teach beyond the tool or
skills-based level to problem-solving through inquiry and dialogue to
create global understandings.
4. New instructional methodologies through reconstruction of teacher
education programs and models.
Reflective Questions
1. What are the dynamics of the socio-cultural context in the relationships
between inclusion, emerging communication technology, and 21st
Century?
2. What do tomorrow’s teachers need to know and be able to do to
effectively infuse technology to empower gifted/talented students to
become independent and lifetime learners?
3. To what extent do barriers to digital educational learning exist for the G/T
in inclusive education?
4. What is needed in the policy arena to effect support for change in teacher
education to meet the challenge of 21st Century education?
What is Inclusion in the 21st Century Context
To address the challenge of inclusion for all learners including the gifted/talented,
The National Digital inclusion Task Force, a group formed under support by the
U.S. Department of Education expands the inclusion paradigm as Digital
Inclusion in education as follows:
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Digital inclusion in education means ensuring that every student,
regardless of socioeconomic status, language, race, geography, physical
restrictions, cultural background, gender or other attribute historically
associated with inequities has equitable access to advanced technologies,
communication and information resources, and the learning experiences
they provide.
Digital inclusion also means that all learners have opportunities to

develop the means and capacity to be full participants in the digital age,
including being designers and producers (not only users) of current and
future technologies and communication and information resources.
Teachers, administrators, other adults, and community members who help

to integrate digital technologies into empowering teaching and learning
practices are important to ensure equitable educational opportunities,
experiences, and expectations that support all learners as full political
participants, academically prepared lifelong learners, and economically
engaged citizens in our democratic society (Digital inclusion Task Force,
2002; Solomon & Resta, 2002).
Conceptualizing G/T
Gqgnè has proposed that “gifts,” which are natural abilities, must be developed to become
“talents,” which emerge through the systematic learning, training, and practicing “of skills
characteristic of a particular field of human activity or performance” (p. 230). This concept of
capability or potential is addressed in Gagnè’s (1995, 1999) Differentiated Model of Giftedness
and Talent (see Figure 1.1). Gagne’s model proposes that the development of gifts into talents
may be facilitated or hindered by two types of catalysts: intrapersonal and environmental.
Intrapersonal catalysts are physical (e.g., health, physical appearance) and psychological
(e.g., motivation, personality, and volition), all of which are influenced by genetic background.
Environmental catalysts are surroundings (e.g., geographic, demographic, sociological); people
(e.g., parents, teachers, siblings, peers); undertakings (e.g., programs for gifted and talented
students); and events (e.g., death of a parent, major illness, winning a prize). Moreover, Gagnè’s
work has recognized that any program that a school develops for gifted and talented students
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should recognize the domain or field in which it is exhibited and the level of the student’s
giftedness or talent (e.g., performing in the top 10%, 5%, 2%, 1%, or less than 1%).
First, I propose that learning is a social event and that technology empowers
access to social learning where students can practice and develop their gifts into
talents. Furthermore, I believe that profound potential for improving instruction for
the G/T in English, Science and Mathematics can be realized, in part, through the
games, arts, athletics and sports. Internet support systems for e-learning provide
extraordinary global learning opportunities through social action. This proposition
is based on the Internet’s capacity to support diverse communication, inquiry,
critical thinking, and high level reasoning.
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Technology integration and Internet are highly underutilized in the classroom.
Much technology integration efforts focus on science and mathematics. As
Science and mathematics struggle to expand humanism and authentic learning,
more technology finds its way into these subject areas—social studies and
history come with a natural foundation of humanism and real-life situations.
However, as we think about teaching English, Science, and mathematics and
analyze the concept of social learning five perspectives emerged in the research
that pointedly relates to 21st Century standards of learning. Access to
● Active social mediation of individual learning (e.g., tutorials or collaborative
team learning);
● Social mediation as participatory knowledge construction (as
conceptualized by a socio-cultural approach);
● Social mediation by cultural scaffolding through expanded dialogue (as
embodied in the accumulated wisdom residing in tools); and
● Social entity and community as a learning system (e.g. the learning of
whole organizations).
● Literacy as a technology
Therefore, I have developed a theoretical framework as a formula for networking
to bring together necessary change. Exhibit 1.
The central focus of effective gifted/talented education in schools includes
technical support, willing people, and appropriate preparation. New teachers
must be armed with the knowledge to examine ways in which revolving web-
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sites, hardware/software, policies, curriculum, and practices (pedagogy) meet
basic conditions of learning or expand learning. In light of the distinction between
the cognitive, acquisition-oriented or situated, participatory-oriented views of
learning, to prepare teachers to orchestrate adequate education for all learners,
teacher education must include educational and communication technologies.
This inclusion must extend beyond access to hardware and software to
pedagogical, social and political understandings of the digital age in a global
society.
If we follow the arguments of Gavriel Salomon, Haifa University, Israel and David
N. Perkins, Harvard University that social learning cannot be fully accounted for
without considering the individual learner, then we can look at how inequities
might emerge in situations where some students have access to technology as a
learning system and others do not. We must also consider the restrictive
constructs that emerge in digital age teaching:
● Gender roles
● Class-based epistemologies and
● Non-standard language codes (Apple, 1998)
Indeed, access to or inadequate access to technology can either support or
exclude social learning in three ways (Perkins and Salomon, 1999). Individual
and social learning relate to one another in online mediated environments
because e-learning and computer assisted learning changes the dynamics of the
learning and teaching process—
● Creates or limits social mediation between the teacher and the student;
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● Transforms or keeps stagnant solo learners to social entities as learners;
● Supports many or a few agents in spirally developing reciprocal
relations… all pending the level of access to technology, literacy, and
relevance.
Educational implications follow, education divides expand... the education divides
are as much about instructional strategies, ways of thinking, and acting as it is
the technology—driving the divides.
What Do Future Teachers Need To Know About Pedagogy (Teaching) In a
Digital-Age
1. Teachers need to understand that in digital education, there are no one-
way streets or cyberways.
● No one way to teach
● No one way to learn
● No one way to assess
● No one way to think
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● No one standard of literacy
● No one standard of success
2. Teacher educators must understand that to restructure teacher education,
we must deconstruct old ways of thinking and acting.
3. Educators in the digital age must become increasingly aware of the reality
of today's information revolution.
4. We must prepare gifted/talented students (teachers) in formal courses, but
also include nontraditional ways, e.g. via telecommunications; they must
also prepare gifted/talented students to become part of informal learning
communities with other professionals who share their interests and
concerns.
5. Educators must encourage gifted/talented students to be fearless in the
use of technology, not afraid to take risks and become lifetime learners.
6. Educators must take on new roles that model new teaching methods that
encourage English, Science and mathematics teachers to pursue their
own inquiries, taking full advantage of digital technologies.
7. New methods for teaching the G/T students must include how to find,
organize, and interpret information, and to become reflective and critical
about information quality and sources—especially software and
information from websites.
Living the Information Revolution
Reportedly, the number of Internet users double in less than a year. The same
report indicates that the amount of information contained by the World Wide Web
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doubles in 90 days (Cerf, 2001). Therefore, educators must begin to deconstruct
traditional frameworks to reconstruct new learning paradigms that bridge subject
areas and create cross-curricular connections to keep pace with the information
age. Educators sometimes call these “communities of learning” or learning
communities.
● Coordinated Studies Model (Team Teaching)
● Linked Course Model (Content-sharing by courses in a database)
● Advanced Placement Model (Allowing students to take courses out of
sequence or outside the school for credit)
Basic Principles: Restructuring Teacher Education for 21st Century
Learning
1. Technology should be infused into the entire teacher education program to
prepare new teachers - not in secluded, inaccessible courses, or in a
single area of teacher education—from foundations, administration to
content during their teaching preparation experience.
2. Technology should be introduced in social context to breakdown barriers
created by multiple literacies, ways of thinking, and understanding the
sociocultural dynamics of living and learning in world without boundaries.
3. Gifted/talented students should experience innovative technology-
supported learning environments in their teacher education program, in
schools and should include mentor teachers, faculty, and gifted/talented
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students working together on projects to discover the many uses of
technology to enhance learning.
4. Teacher education must develop and support models of technology
infusion in English, Science, and Mathematics that provide ample
opportunity for exploring pervasive and regular modeling of new
instructional strategies and creative uses of technology in their teaching
and learning.
5. Teacher education must adopt innovative faculty development programs
that bridge the gaps between theory, practice, and content to extend rich
field-based experiences for gifted/talented students. (www.uc.edu/certi)
Tools and Strategies to Help Restructure Teaching and Learning
The number of schools providing laptops, Ipads, Ipods and ebook tools to their
gifted/talented students has grown worldwide. Computers, presentation software,
electronic simulations, webquests, multimedia tools, CD-ROM, electronic mail,
and the World Wide Web can be used to revolutionize the presentation of
English, Science, and Mathematics in the classroom—yet, the gaps keeps
growing.
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Has the Internet become just a more sophisticated way of distributing nonsense,
wasting the scarce time of a scholar or student? Will the already reduced funds
of the departments or individual gifted/talented students be spent on needless
surfing on the mysterious net?
● Is it possible that, instead, the information networks have become a major
tool of historical research, teaching and study - a tool that can be
employed almost without charge by a growing number of academics, and
a tool that is actually capable of creating considerable savings when
compared with more conventional methods of research?
● Is it perhaps so that any effort to follow international developments in
research demands the use of the latest forms of information technology?
Why Use Education, Information and Communication Technology (EICT)
During teacher workshops, I like to begin by asking: “What would you like to
change about your teaching practice to improve learning opportunities for your
gifted/talented students? What do you wish your gifted/talented students could
learn more about, more often, or differently? What pedagogical practices would
you like to change to improve digital inclusion?” Most commonly, the response is
they want their gifted/talented students more engaged with learning; they want
gifted/talented students to construct new and better relationships to knowledge,
not just acquire information to pass tests; and they want gifted/talented students
to acquire deeper more lasting understanding of
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essential concepts about the world and society ((Bass & Rosenzweig, 1996, p.1).
Seldom is there a mention of how teachers wish to change their own practice—
the response is most frequently what they want from their gifted/talented
students. During these two days, we can change that point of view to a new way of thinking.
Digital Literacy
First, Educators must recognize that a new kind of "literacy" is required to use the
information networks effectively - just like literacy and basic schooling was a
precondition of the use of printed literature in the Early Modern period.
Digital reading and writing, that is reading and writing on a

computer, has permeated all aspects of daily literacy activity in the
U.S.A. Emailing, internet access to information, and word
processing are literate acts that employed by people for personal,
professional, and business communications.
How work is done in the 21st Century is largely being recreated by
computer-related technologies and requisite literacies. Digital
literacy relates to the ability to comprehend and use information in
multiple modes as it is presented on a computer screen.
To be digitally literate, one will have to be able to navigate, locate,
communicate on-line, and participate in digital, virtual and physical,
communities. Literacy definitions in the future will relate to
informatic abilities - a range of meaning-making strategies required
to assemble knowledge in cyberspace (Labbo, 1996).
Yet, it should be encouraging to any humanities, social studies, or history student
that no wide studies in computing or understanding of technology are necessary
if the intention is simply to make use of historical resources on the Internet.
Anyone who has once entered the world of information networks will irresistibly
and constantly learn more about them. Obstacles that prevent entering the digital
world are often based on attitudes rather than on real difficulties.
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Standards for Technology Infusion in English, Science and Mathematics
(iste.org)
http://nets-implementation.iste.wikispaces.net/http://nets-
implementation.iste.wikispaces.net/
http://nets-implementation.iste.wikispaces.net/
Standards for teachers. Standards for teachers are criteria for determining
whether teachers have the capacity to assist their gifted/talented students in
attaining high content and performance standards. These criteria include the
adequacy of their preparation in the subjects they will teach, their ability to
communicate their knowledge, their pedagogical skills, and the degree to which
they stay abreast of their academic and professional disciplines.
The schools, communities, and universities must work together to establish pools
of long-term volunteers are needed to help schools and individual

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teachers learn how to use computers and the Internet effectively in the
classroom. Giangreco (February, 1996) offers ten BEST PRACTICES for regular
teachers in an inclusive setting:
1. Work with other team members,
2. Welcome the student in your class,
3. Be the teacher of all students,
4. Make sure everyone belongs to the classroom community and everyone
participates in the same activities,
5. Clarify shared expectations with team me
6. Adapt activities to the students' needs,
7. Provide active and participatory learning experiences,
8. Adapt classroom arrangements, materials, and strategies,
9. Make sure support services help, and
10. Self-evaluate your teaching through action research.
Summary
Many gifted/talented students are from families that have recently immigrated to
the UAE. UAE public/private schools, gifted/talented students speak over 80
languages. Embracing 21st Century conceptual frameworks is a means to
promote greater inclusion and educational opportunity in public schooling, to
eliminate barriers to high-quality education in for all learners—access to new high
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quality teaching and learning opportunities is essential for full inclusion in society.
This condition holds particularly prevalent for gifted/talented students from low-
income homes, schools, and communities.
Social, cultural, and political issues can further complicate access to qualified
teachers, appropriate content and support for digital learning. Teamwork can
increase access to new digital tools, appropriate content and training challenges
the public education faces in meeting the promise of a free and appropriate
education (FAPE) for all people.
The definition of digital inclusion incorporates the relationships

between education and communication technology, democratic
education, and high quality teaching and learning. Technology,
instruction, and empowerment in English, science and mathematics
curricula to prepare future teachers to teach gifted/talented
students in a digital age, to provide "sound basic education” will
require inclusive and virtual learning communities along with new
instructional methodologies through reconstruction of teacher
education programs and classroom models.
This conference provides many rich opportunities to help us take on new roles.
The models will present new teaching methods that encourage English, Science
and Mathematics teachers to pursue their own inquiries, taking full advantage of
digital technologies to reach the G/T students in classrooms. Educators
sometimes call these “communities of learning” or learning communities.
Gifted/talented students should experience innovative technology-supported
learning environments in their teacher education program and should include
mentor teachers, faculty, and gifted/talented students working together to
discover the many uses of technology.
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Teacher education must develop and support G/T learning including technology
infusion in all subject matter. Such model should include methods that allow
ample opportunity for teachers to spend time exploring pervasive and regular
modeling of new instructional strategies and creative uses of technology practice
through appropriate training and development.
Research shows that gifted/talented students engaged in various technology-
based activities would draw upon expanded thinking skills. The implications are
that if Educators are to prepare teachers to meet 21st Century challenges in a
digital age, the barriers to closing the digital inclusion and education gaps must
be removed.
Conclusion
I close by proposing the following principles to guide G/T learning and teaching:
1. Relevant, appropriate instruction and outcomes for gifted learners
2. Shared responsibility and involvement of educators, parents, and
community for the academic and affective outcomes and growth of gifted
learners
3. A climate of excellence and rigorous curricula for every child
4. Differentiation in curricula, instruction, and assessment supporting tiered
programming and a continuum of services for every gifted learner
5. High quality standards for educators and counselors who work with gifted
learners
6. Identification and gifted programming in all populations of race, culture,
gender, and income level

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Thank you.
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Annotated Bibliography
Journal articles on the impact of technology on gifted/talented and/or

disabled students inclusive k-16
Bybee, R. (2003). The teaching of science: content, coherence, and congruence.

Journal of Science Education & Technology, 12(4), 343-358. Retrieved
from education research complete database.
*This article is focusing on “the contribution of science teacher Paul F-

Brandwein to the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study in the U.S.
Perception on gifted students; Organization of materials that could be used
to encourage the work of highly talented students by the Gifted Student
Committee.
Caraisco, J. (2007). Overcoming lethargy in gifted and talented education with

contract activity packages "i'm choosing to learn!”. Clearing House, 80(6),
255-259. Retrieved from education research complete database.
*In this article the author compares the potential academic and attitudinal
gains of a gifted and talented population using different instructional
methods.
Colwell, C., Jelfs, A., & Mallett, E. (2005). Initial requirements of deaf students for
video: lessons learned from an evaluation of a digital video application.
Learning, Media, & Technology, 30(2), 201-217.
doi:10.1080/17439880500093844.
*This paper reports the findings from an observational study of a digital

video library system, DiVA, involving deaf students and students with other
medical conditions affecting their use of video material. The Digital Video
Applications (DiVA) system supports searching for and playing educational
videos, and displays transcripts of the audio track alongside the video.
De Freitas Alves, C., Monteiro, G., Rabello, S., Freire Gasparetto, M., & De
Carvalho, K. (2009). Assistive technology applied to education of students
with visual impairment. Pan American Journal of Public Health, 26(2), 148-
152. Retrieved from academic search complete database.
*Verify the application of assistive technology, especially information

technology in the education of blind and low-vision students from the
perceptions of their teachers.
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Demski, J. (2008). And access for all.T H E Journal, 35(12), 30-35. Retrieved
from academic search complete database.
*The article examines how changes made to the Individuals With

Disabilities Act (IDEA) are impacting schools in the United States. The
primary impact has been an increase in the need for assistive technologies
in classrooms. This increased demand has also shaped the face of what
assistive technologies are
Eunsook, H., Greene, M., & Higgins, K. (2006). Instructional practices of teachers
in general education classrooms and gifted resource rooms: development
and validation of the instructional practice questionnaire. Gifted Child
Quarterly, 50(2), 91-103. Retrieved from academic search complete
database.
*An instrument to measure teachers' instructional practices, the

Instructional Practice Questionnaire, was developed and validated in three
phases. The questionnaire would be useful for educators and researchers
who are interested in understanding instructional practices of classroom
teachers and in improving classroom instruction for gifted and talented
students.
Fine, L. (2001). Special-needs gaps. Education Week, 20(35), 26. Retrieved from
academic search complete database.
*Focuses on disabled students' access to computer technology and

Internet in the United States. Failure of most schools that have Web sites to
make them accessible to children with disabilities; Incompatibility of Web
sites and software with adaptive devices employed by the disabled to use
computers; Creation of electronic portfolios.
Gentry, J. (2008). E-publishing's impact on learning in an inclusive sixth grade

social studies classroom. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 19(3),
455-467. Retrieved from education research complete database.
*This study combined the use of student authored books and the use of
children's literature with a process created by Conden and McGuffee (2001)
described as e-publishing, which uses students authoring book software
called RealeWriter. The purpose of the study was to determine if e-
publishing assistive technology impacted learning in a social studies class
of 136 sixth grade students included in three school designation groups:
special needs, gifted and talented, and regular education.
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Goodall, H. (2008). Linked in with.Chronicle of Higher Education, 54(28), A11.

Retrieved from academic search complete database.
*Comments are made concerning the Windows Narrator software, a

program designed to help blind students use the Internet.
Grossman, R. (1983). Without shame. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 16(3), 1-2

Retrieved from academic search complete database.
*Comments on the impact of computer-assisted instruction on the

education system of the United States. Educational value of computers;
Applications of computer technology in teaching learning disabled
students; Reservations about the use of computers in schools.
Hess, K., Morrier, M., Heflin, L., & Ivey, M. (2008). Autism treatment survey:
services received by children with autism spectrum disorders in public
school classrooms. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 38(5),
961-971. doi:10.1007/s10803-007-0470-5.
*The Autism Treatment Survey was developed to identify strategies used in

education of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in Georgia.
Holzberg, C. (1998). Helping all learners succeed: special ed success stories.

Technology & Learning, 18(5), 52. Retrieved from academic search
complete database.
*Focuses on the success of students with disabilities, looking at stories of

teachers of disabled students. Details on student participation in activities
involving technology; Benefits of using technology to supplement and
expand the learning process.
Inegbeboh, Bridget O. (2008). Overcoming the barriers to learning faced by

hyperactive students in the department of english benson idahosa
university, benin city. Education,129 (1), 147-153. Retrieved from
academic search complete database.
This article was written from a study that was interested in the hyperactive
students who are gifted. According to this article “Gifted and talented
students need to be cared for in a special way, so that they might not be
frustrated out of the educational system. According to Abosi (2004), "a
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gifted/talented learner could experience learning difficulties if not catered
for. This could result in the development of subversive behavior".
Johnsen, S., Witte, M., & Robins, J. (2006). Through their eyes: student’s
perspectives of university –based enrichment program—the university for
young people project.Gifted Child Today, 29(3), 56-65. Retrieved from
education research complete database.
* The students who participate in the project have appeared to enjoy

technology, the visual arts, performing and developing products in their
areas of interest.
It is noted that designing a curricula based on students' interests appear to
motivate gifted students and develop their beliefs in their abilities to create.
Jones, B. (2009). Profiles of state-supported residential math and science

schools. Journal of Advanced Academics, 20(3), 472-501. Retrieved from
education research complete database.
*This review of 16 state-sponsored residential math and science schools

covers their role in preparing talented students for advanced study in
science, mathematics, and engineering.
Kelly, S. (2009). Use of Assistive technology by students with visual impairments:

findings from a national survey. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness,
103(8), 470-480. Retrieved from academic search complete database.
* This study investigated the use of assistive technology by students in the

United States who are visually impaired through a secondary analysis of a
nationally representative database.
Landsberger, J. (2007). An interview with dr. deborah w. proctor. TechTrends:

Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 51(3),5-9.
doi:10.1007/s11528-007-0031-y.
* An interview with Dr. Deborah W. Proctor, the eCurriculum Director for

Academic Innovations/Minnesota Online, is presented.
Marino M, Marino E, & Shaw S. (2006). Informed assistive technology decisions

for students with high incidence disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children
[serial online],8(6),8-25. Available from academic search complete.
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*Special education teachers and individualized education plan (IEP) team

members throughout the country are struggling to make appropriate
decisions regarding assistive technology for students with high incidence
disabilities.
Mulrine, Christopher, F. (2007).Creating a virtual learning environment for gifted

and talented learners. Gifted Child Today, 30(2), 37-40. Retrieved from
master FILE premier database.
* The article presents information on how to create a virtual learning

environment (VLE) for gifted and talented learners.
Parette, H., & Stoner, J. (2008). Benefits of assistive technology user groups for
early childhood education professionals. Early Childhood Education
Journal, 35(4), 313-319. doi:10.1007/s10643-007-0211-6.
* Assistive technology (AT) has the potential to increase developmental

skills and provide solutions to challenges, such as behavior, attention, and
communication, faced by students identified with disabilities or at risk in
early childhood settings.
Regan, B. (2003). Accessibility in k-12 education. Library Media Connection,

21(5), 58. Retrieved from academic search complete database.
* Discusses key issues concerning accessibility to K-12 education in the

U.S. Impact of the Internet and information technology on students with
disabilities.
Schneider, J. (2009). Besides google: guiding gifted elementary students onto

the entrance ramp of the information superhighway. Gifted Child Today,
32(1), 27 –31.Retrieved from master FILE premier database.
* This article reports on the use of the internet in the education of gifted
students. The article discusses the vastness and speed of the Internet and
describes how it can be used in terms of the information processing
abilities of advanced children.
27

Shaunessy, E. (2007). Attitudes toward information technology of teachers of the
gifted. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51(2), 119-135.
doi:10.1177/0016986207299470.
* This statewide study of teachers of intellectually gifted students

examined teachers' attitudes toward information technology. Participants
were 418 teachers of the intellectually gifted in a southeastern state who
voluntarily responded to a survey about technology attitudes.
Siegle, D. (2004). The merging of literacy and technology in the
21stCentury: a bonus for gifted education. Gifted Child Today, 27(2), 32-35.
Retrieved from education research complete database.
* Lists literacy skills related to technology, describes educational activities

that promote these skills and discusses how those activities fit gifted and
talented students. Definition of technology literacy; Statistics on the digital
technology use of teenagers in the U.S..
Skau, L., & Cascella, P. (2006). assistive technology to foster speech and
language Skills at home and in preschool. Teaching Exceptional Children,
38(6), 12-17. Retrieved from academic search complete database.
* The article reports on the use of assistive technology to foster speech

and language skills at home and in preschool in the U.S.
Taylor, M. (2005). Why council should listen to renoir. Times Educational

Supplement, (4655), 6. Retrieved from academic search complete.
* Presents a perspective related to Joint Council for Qualifications'

response to the extension of 1995 Disability Discrimination Act which
effected last October 2005 that access to art and design qualification could
be barred to those with the greatest physical impairments. Enrichment of
art and design education for many disabled students through the
emergence of information and communication technology.
Wiart, L., & Darrah, J. (2002). Changing philosophical perspectives on the

management of children with physical disabilities—their effect on the use
28

of powered mobility. Disability & Rehabilitation, 24(9), 492-498.
doi:10.1080/09638280110105240.
Yang, H., Lay, Y., Liou, Y., Tsao, W., & Lin, C. (2007). Development and
evaluation of computer-aided music-learning system for the hearing
impaired. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 23(6), 466-476.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2007.00229.x.
* A computer-assisted music-learning system (CAMLS) has been

developed to help the hearing impaired practice playing a musical melody.
The music-learning performance is evaluated to test the usability of the
system. This system can be a computer-supported learning tool for the
hearing impaired to help them understand what pitch and tempo are, and
then learn to play songs thereby increasing their interest in music classes
and enhancing their learning performance.
EndNotes
Historical References (need to update)
Anderson, R H. (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001). Inequality and Conflict
Department of Sociology and the University of Colorado at Denver.
Downloaded: May 25, 2002 from
http://www.cudenver.edu/sociology/introsoc/topics/UnitNotes/week06.html
Bass, R. & Rosenzweig, R. (2002). Rewiring The History And Social Studies
Classroom: Needs, Frameworks, Dangers. Center for History and New
Media, George Mason University. Available:
http://www.air.org/forum/bass.pdf. Retrieved March 30, 2002.
Benton Foundation. (1998). What’s Going On? Losing Ground Bit
by Bit: Low-Income Communities in the Information Age.
Goslee, S. Retrieved May 10, 2002 from
http://www.benton.org/Library/Low-
Income/two.html#priorities
Bromley, H. & Apple, M., Eds. (1998). Education/Technology/Power: Educational
Computing as a Social Practice. New York: State University Press.
Cookson, P. & Shroff, S. (December, 1997). School Choice And Urban School
Reform Teachers College, Columbia University, Retrieved on May 10,
2002. http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/monographs/uds110/index.html
Jyväskylä University Library Information Service. (30 November 1995). Paper
presented at the international seminar "Conceptual History and Political
Science - Projects, Perspectives, and Strategies". Finnish version
presented in an Internet exhibition during the University Day, 13 October
1995, at the Department of History, University of Jyväskylä. Retrieved
May 22, 2002 from http://www.jyu.fi/library/tieteenalat/hum/His-in-Inf-
Rev.html.
29
Labbo, L. (1996). Toward a Vision of the Future Role of Technology in Literacy

Education. Available: http://www.air.org/forum/abLabbo.htm. Downloaded:
March 30, 2002.
Solomon, G. & Resta, P., Eds. (2003). Toward Digital inclusion: Challenges of
Bridging the Divide in Education. Pittman, J., In Empowering Individuals,
Schools, and Communities. Boston Allyn & Bacon (In press).
Status of CFE v. State of New York. In Major Victory for Children of New York
State, Court Strikes Down State's System for Funding Education Declares
that State Must Ensure Adequate Level of Funding in All School Districts.
Retrieved May 10, 2002 from http://www.cfequity.org/pr1-10.html.
U.S. Department of Education. (2002). National Center for Educational Statistics.

U.S History: The Nation’s Report Card. Downloaded: May 25, 2002 from
www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ushistory/
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast

Response Survey System, Internet Access in Public Schools and
Classrooms: 1994-2000.
U.S. Department of Education. (2002). National Center for Education Statistics.

Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Washington: DC.
NCES 2002–029, Retrieved May 10, 2002.
http://www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ushistory/
Other Supplemental Web Instructional Resources

Documents, Quotations, and Teaching Activities
Quotes from: Cuban, L., Turkle, S., Postman, N., Schweitzer, A. and Clinton, B.
Retrieved from May 10, 2002 from
http://it.pedf.cuni.cz/~bobr/Hmind/quotat.htm#stoll
United States Archives and Records Administration. (2002). Digital
Classroom.
http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/constitution_day/constit
ution_day.html

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Inclusion, Gifted, Talented-21st Century Challenges

Inclusive Education and Gifted/Talented

Meeting the 21st Century Challenge

Joyce Pittman, Ph.D.

Abu Dhabi University

Inclusion, Gifted, Talented-21st Century Challenges

Inclusion, Gifted, Talented-21st Century Challenges

while growing in popularity in society as a means to promote greater equity and

educational opportunity in public schooling, are failing to eliminate other barriers

to high-quality digital education in global schools for our gifted/talented students.

There is a critical need to increase access to new high quality learning

opportunities for gifted/talented students; those with exceptional abilities and

particularly prevalent for gifted/talented students from low and high-income

homes, schools, and communities---often our gifted/talented students may be

nationals, migrants or the poor.

Inclusion principles can be particularly troubling during an increasingly

technological age. Over 60 percent of tomorrow’s opportunities are projected to

require at least a basic level of technological competency and ability to solve

learning, a system fast becoming known as the “conceptual age”.

Inclusion, Gifted, Talented-21st Century Challenges

Conditions: Supporting Gifted/Talented Learners in Education

Social, cultural, and political issues further complicate access to qualified

teachers, appropriate content and support for gifted/talented teaching and

prohibit the advancement of learning disabled and gifted/talented students

receiving potentially challenging educational experiences made possible through

new educational technologies.

Education gaps are rooted in socio-cultural context of literacy and

technological innovations in society. Widening gaps in access to computer

technology and telecommunications are only two factors threatening the

principles of democratic education by depowering individuals, schools, and

communities. Inadequate access to new digital tools, appropriate content and

training challenges the public education promise of a free and appropriate

education (FAPE) for all people.

Drawing from such a potentially rich pool of information now

Inclusion, Gifted, Talented-21st Century Challenges

in a democracy when voices, once active become silent in the mainstream of an

economically and technologically driven society due to unawareness. Inadequate

and economic stratification, which thwarts individuals’ capacity to move beyond

in society’s historical concept of being a literate citizen, capable and worthy of

gifted/talented learners during a technological explosion. I will discuss:

1. Historical definitions and emergence of gifted/talented inclusion principles

quality public education has come under question worldwide.

To prepare future teachers to teach in a digital age will require:

1. New assessment tools that address new ways of teaching, learning,

thinking, and standards of success.

Inclusion, Gifted, Talented-21st Century Challenges

skills-based level to problem-solving through inquiry and dialogue to

create global understandings.

4. New instructional methodologies through reconstruction of teacher

education programs and models.

1. What are the dynamics of the socio-cultural context in the relationships

between inclusion, emerging communication technology, and 21st

2. What do tomorrow’s teachers need to know and be able to do to

effectively infuse technology to empower gifted/talented students to

become independent and lifetime learners?

education to meet the challenge of 21st Century education?

What is Inclusion in the 21st Century Context

U.S. Department of Education expands the inclusion paradigm as Digital

Inclusion in education as follows:

Inclusion, Gifted, Talented-21st Century Challenges

Digital inclusion also means that all learners have opportunities to

Teachers, administrators, other adults, and community members who help

capability or potential is addressed in Gagnè’s (1995, 1999) Differentiated Model of Giftedness