THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE SOCIO-EMOTIONAL SKILLS AMONG GIFTED CHILDREN

Gifted behaviours are considered the conjunction between an above average ability, high levels of task commitment and high levels of creativity (Renzulli, 1978). According to Renzulli (2002), to this 3-ring conception of giftedness, personality and environmental factors must be added as they have an impact on the person’s ability to engage in creative and productive endeavours. This high ability in one or more domains requires, according to Reis and Renzulli (2004) changes in the school environment, such as the instructional curriculum and teachers’ behaviours.

Not all schools are developing such activities and in those that are, actions have generally more to do with academic contents rather than to socio-emotional tools and competences which are necessary to cope with everyday life, this including school life. Therefore, there is still a long way to go in order to provide these children with the best opportunities for their optimal development and educational training.

The activity here described offered to a group of gifted children, in the context of an out-of-school activity, socio-emotional tools related to emotion regulation and conflict resolution. Different experiential exercises mixed with technologies such as computers, tablets and robots were used. The use of technologies increases children’s motivation and promotes their competences. So they were used as a way to learn how to manage emotions and resolve conflicts, and at the same time to foment team working, to practise problem solving and to develop a participative and creative space that promotes learning.

The activity consists in 6 two-hour-lasting sessions, within which children’s participation was highly encouraged so they worked from their own experiences, their previous knowledge and their interests. Children worked in small groups and used the free of charge computer programme Scratch to create a collaborative story about emotions; and also the Lego Mindstorms robots.

A total of 19 children aged between 8 and 12 years old (M=10.16) participated in the activity. A questionnaire was used in order to gather children’s and their own parents’ perspectives on different issues related to children’s attitudes and competences such as problem solving and accepting constructive critics. The questionnaire was administrated before and after the activity took place. Results show that the activity was highly motivating for the participant children as they had the chance to develop technological competences while having also some impact on children’s socio-emotional skills such as an increasing awareness of the connection among feelings and behaviour. As expected, parents and their children’s perspectives differ to an important extent for some of the questions raised.

The activity carried out opens the door to new ways of intervening with gifted children that uses technology not only to improve digital competences and academic contents but also socio-emotional skills, which are not always as equally developed as cognitive skills among these children.