Technology Education for High-Ability Students

Technologically adept teens not only consume technology voraciously; they create it. Gifted and talented students are attracted to technology for its capacity to transform learners from “receptacles of knowledge to active producers who direct their own learning” (Siegle, n.d.). Beyond the capacity to produce or innovate with technology is the opportunity to conceive and produce innovative technologies, a distinct type of tech giftedness (Siegle, n.d.) and the focus of the present chapter. Technologically skilled teens have been doing this for some time, typically unassisted. It’s not hard to locate the connections between Facebook, Google, and YouTube and their gifted creators. Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, and Steve Chen each participated in gifted programs as youth (Landau, 2010). Literature in this field comes mainly from the popular press; primary sources pertaining to elementary and secondary education are difficult to locate. At the present time, technology creation—to say nothing about its association with giftedness—remains the least documented member of the STEM family. There is a need to focus on current practices and resources that have effectively helped talented teens produce innovative technologies