Creative use of digital technologies: Keeping the best and brightest in the bush

Abstract

Abstract: Gifted students have been provided the opportunity to study three core subjects through an academically selective virtual high school in western NSW, Australia. At the same time they continue to attend their local public high school for their other subjects. This article presents the mechanisms that have provided this opportunity, and describes successes and challenges that have been overcome. Students are located across 385,000 km2 and meet online through web conferencing to engage in real time. They are also able asynchronously to access study materials in an online repository. Key words: Rural education, virtual schooling, on-line repository