The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) honored five visionaries in edtech with the coveted ISTE Making IT Happen Award at the ISTE Conference & Expo in Chicago. One of those five winners was Torrey Trust, alumna of the Gevirtz School at UC Santa Barbara. The Making IT Happen award honors outstanding educators and leaders who demonstrate extraordinary commitment, leadership, courage and persistence in improving digital learning opportunities for students.
Trust, an assistant professor in the department of teacher education and curriculum studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, focuses her research on how technology can support K-12 teachers and higher education faculty in designing contexts that enhance student learning. Her research interests include instructional design, teacher professional development, social media, web 2.0 tools, online communities of practice, professional learning networks, online teaching and learning, makerspaces and 3D printing. Trust is the president of the ISTE Teacher Education Network, where she brings vision and strong leadership. Trust received her Ph.D. from the Department of Education on 2014.