WHAT IS COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY TALENT?

The education world is changing rapidly with the introduction of computers into the classroom, and so it is to be expected that there would be certain students that far exceed the abilities of their peers in the usage of this new technology. The major purpose of our recent research was to explore an area of talent specific to computers and technology in the larger domain of giftedness. One might question if computer technology talent is a distinct type of talent, or if it is merely a hybrid of verbal and mathematical abilities (reflected in learning computer languages and in solving complex prob-lems), combined with high interpersonal sensitivity. It is our argument that this is a unique area of talent that needs to be studied and special services provided for those identified students. Interviews were conducted last year with a small sample of students, and much more data collection is expected in the near future. Results from our initial re-search suggest that there are two sub-types of computer technology talent among adolescents: programming and interfacing. This find-ing is important because three of the nine students in the study had not been identified as gifted, and yet there was no difference in the quality of their work compared to the other students who had been identified as intellectually gifted. If computer technology is ignored as a domain of talent, we hypothesize that a noticeable group of high potential students are not receiv-ing needed services to develop their potential. Below are preliminary descriptions of the character traits of these two groups. Programmers. These students enjoyed working alone with the computer language and spending hours deciphering code and playing with creative programs. Many had worked on the school’s website or on their own sites since middle school. (Continued on page 5) S u m m e r 2 0 0