Nurturing the Global Nature of Giftedness

This week, the global gifted community will have the opportunity to virtually join with participants of the 13^th International Conference of the European Council for High Ability (ECHA) in Münster, Germany.

On Thursday, September 13^th, a highly anticipated Symposium on Social Media and Gifted Education will add a new online component to the conference via Twitter. Five presentations will be followed by a Twitter chat from Global #gtchat Powered by the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT).

Real-world presentations will begin at 8:15AM ET (U.S.) and continue through 9:33AM ET (U.S.). A discussion by #gtchat will follow at the conclusion of the speakers’ remarks using the hashtag #ECHA12. Both participants at the conference, conference speakers and global online participants will be able to interact virtually via Twitter.

Here are the links to the presentations:

Javier Touron’s presentation – Social Networks: Closing the Gap Between Research and Practice  

Peter Csermely’s presentation – Social Media Networks and the Talented Youth  

Roya Klingner’s presentation – The Importance of GlobalGifted Education through Social Media 

Tim Dracup’s presentation – Can social media help overcome the problems we face in gifted education?

Albert Ziegler’s presentation – Cyber Mint Communities 

It will be valuable to review the presentations prior to the start of the Symposium as online participants will be depending on those in Münster to keep them up to date on what is happening at the convention. Using the Twitter application to attend an actual conference is nothing short of cutting-edge use of 21^st century technology. This Symposium represents a giant leap for all involved in adopting this technology. Special thanks to Mr. Tim Dracup for his tireless efforts to bring this about! Thanks also to the team at TAGT for their unwavering support to bring innovation and cooperation to the entire gifted community.

More information on the conference can be found here. Detailed information on the Symposium can be found here. Additional information about ECHA can be found here. To find out what time the Symposium will take place in your time zone, check here.

As a firm believer in the commonality of the gifted experience regardless of where you reside, it would seem that positive outcomes will result as more and more stakeholders in the community come together to learn from each other, collaborate, and support gifted children and their education. Social media provides us with a means to communicate and to work together. Join us on Twitter this Thursday for ground-breaking virtual participation in a major gifted conference as we celebrate Giftedness Across the Lifespan at the 13^th International Conference of ECHA!