Torrey Trust at commencement in 2014
Torrey Trust (Ph.D. ’14) is gaining international recognition for her research on how technology can support K-12 teachers and higher education faculty in designing contexts that enhance student learning. The International Society for Technology in Education recently honored her as one of five visionaries in edtech. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Curriculum studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. We spoke with her about her how it all started here at UCSB.
GGSE: What sparked your interest in researching digital media in education?
Trust: As part of my graduate program at San Diego State University, I learned about building a professional learning network (PLN) by following other educators’ blogs and connecting with educators through social media. After my program, I moved to Washington, D.C. to work in at Stanton Elementary School which was in its first year of a turnaround effort. It was the lowest-performing school in the district, with an abysmal passing rate on the state test scores. While working there, I noticed a significant disconnect between the motivated, connected teachers in my digital PLN and the teachers who were struggling in my school. There were very few opportunities for the teachers in my school to get professional development and support.
At the same time, I was able to take what I had learned from my PLN to help a student with Autism advance his math knowledge and skills in a relatively fast manner (Trust published a story about her experience with this student.) Thinking that technology was the silver bullet to transforming education, I applied to a number of graduate schools and emailed faculty to find a good fit. Dr. Richard Durán was one of two faculty who replied to my emails. He was so helpful and interested in my work with technology, I ended up passing up a full ride scholarship to another university to go to work with Dr. Durán at UCSB. When I got there and started my classes, I quickly realized that technology was not the silver bullet to transform education--in fact, it was the teachers.
So, this brought me back to thinking about the disconnect in motivation, support, and learning opportunities between the teachers in D.C. and the ones I had connected with through social media. It inspired my interest in exploring how teachers connect and learn through social media. I ended up writing one of the first articles, "Professional Learning Networks Designed for Teacher Learning" about PLNs as an assignment for Dr. Durán’s class. The article has been cited 170 times since publication in 2012. Since then, I have continued to explore how teachers cultivate digital PLNs through social media. In collaboration with two colleagues, Jeffrey Carpenter and Daniel Krutka, who I reached out to through Twitter, we conducted one of the first large-scale studies about educators’ PLNs. Here’s our research site: https://sites.google.com/view/plnresearch/
In addition to my research about PLNs, I designed a doctoral seminar: EDUC 897C: Seminar in Digital Media Learning, which I am currently teaching. Students and I explore and discuss research related to digital media and its relationship with learning and engage in digital media production projects as described in the course syllabus.
GGSE: One of your research projects—"Building a Digital Reputation"—seems like it can be applicable to many different audiences. How did this project come about?
Trust: This actually started at UCSB. I connected with Joe Sabado [Executive Director, UCSB Student Information Systems & Technology] through my work as a graduate academic peer for the graduate division. Joe was an early adopter of using social media and web design tools to build a digital reputation. Because of his professional digital reputation, he was asked to serve on review panels and present in various capacities. I thought that was an amazing topic for our students to learn about to help them stand out on the job market, so Joe and I partnered up to host a number of workshops for grad students while I was at UCSB. These were some of the first workshops at a college setting about digital reputation. Since then, I have continued to present about cultivating a digital reputation, in addition to teaching and learning with social media, for grad students and faculty at UMass Amherst. I put together the website “Building a Digital Reputation” to curate all of the incredible resources I’ve found over the years about the topic.
GGSE: What advice to you have for K-12 teachers looking to bring more digital media into their curriculum/classroom?
Trust: I’m a strong proponent of meaningful and authentic use of technology in teaching and learning. Far too often teachers will use new tools, devices, and apps either because they are required to by their admin or because they think it will increase student engagement. Today, the digital technologies, apps, and tools that we have are so powerful, they can really redefine and transform learning (see Why Do We Need Technology in Education). In terms of digital media, it can be a very powerful tool for opening up learning opportunities for all students. Teachers can present information (or encourage students to research and curate information) in multiple modalities--images, audio, video, and text. Multimodal learning experiences can reach a wider audience (see Todd Rose’s Myth of the Average). A great example of this is my colleague Dr. Robert Maloy’s resourcesforhistoryteachers wiki which has over a million views. Dr. Maloy asks his students to curate multimodal primary resources to present a historical topic or standard on a single wiki page. This allows his students (future history teachers) to develop their expertise in the topic/standard and provides a space for teachers and students to learn more about the topic/standard by reading, watching, listening, and exploring. Interactive books and websites offer multimodal learning as well, which allows students who struggle at reading, English Language Learners, and special needs students choose how they consume content.
I recommend that teachers use the Universal Design for Learning principles as a guide for incorporating technology and digital media into their practice. The UDL principle “Multiple Means of Representation” centers on providing students multiple ways to access content, which is exactly what digital media can do. The next principle “Multiple Means of Action and Expression” is about allowing students to show their knowledge in different ways. Students can create or remix podcasts, videos, memes, infographics, and Scratch games with relative ease nowadays. There are so many incredible digital tools available free free or reduced cost, such as Adobe Spark, Canva, Audacity, Powtoon, and YouTube Video Creator. Students can also curate digital media on a website, wiki, or blog to show their knowledge of a topic. The final UDL principle, “Multiple Means of Engagement,” is about connecting to students’ interests. A recent report by Common Sense Media noted that teens spend about 9 hours every day consuming digital media. Bringing digital media into the classroom is a way to increase student engagement.
For current or future teachers looking to bring more digital media into their practice, my graduate students developed a 4-week open online course called “Designing Digital Media for Teaching & Learning” that has won multiple awards and run for more than 500 educators around the world.
Here’s an article describing how we created the course using the UDL principles to increase access to learning.
GGSE: Looking back at your time at GGSE, what are some things you learned/did that have helped you succeed in your career?
Trust: The courses that I took at GGSE were invaluable. They really extended and challenged my thinking about education, teaching, learning, and technology. I had an amazing opportunity to work as a TA for Dr. Dorothy Chun and Dr. Durán. This helped me start to develop my practice as a teacher. Tina Sloan then hired me to teach an edtech class for pre-service teachers, which was an incredible experience especially since I got to design the course from scratch. I believe that the teaching experiences, my class projects (e.g., building an online course about PLNs with Dr. Chun; creating a course syllabus with Dr. DeBacco), and my research focus on Cultural Historical Activity Theory (thanks Dr. Durán!) were the key reasons I was hired at UMass Amherst (as multiple faculty mentioned how impressed they were with my resume after the on campus visit).
Working with the graduate division was another critical component of my grad school experience. In the role of the graduate academic peer, my job was to go learn, participate, and experience everything related to grad life (e.g., research ethics, dissertation formatting, getting a job) and then write blog posts about it for the UCSB GradPost. Through this role, I gained invaluable experiences and information about pursuing a career in academia (e.g., learning to create a mission statement for a job interview). I also developed a strong network of student affairs colleagues and faculty that I reached out to for help during the job search process.
GGSE: What career advice do you have for recent GGSE graduates as they navigate their next steps?
Trust: The best thing that GGSE graduates can do is to use digital tools (e.g., social media, blogs, RSS readers) to expand their professional learning networks and engage in continual learning and professional growth. My research with colleagues Dan Krutka and Jeffrey Carpenter has shown that educators who cultivate PLNs that expand beyond their local contexts are able to get help and motivation for overcoming challenges they face in their practice, advance their professional skills and knowledge, and feel part of a community of educators from around the world. Here’s a course my students designed and facilitated for educators about PLNs.
Of course, GGSE graduates should start with their local connections (e.g., classmates, faculty, research colleagues) and make sure to build lifelong relationships and find ways to stay connected once they leave GGSE (e.g., Facebook, monthly Google Hangouts, Writing Groups).
My other big recommendation is to find a way to manage work/life balance. Sometimes my colleagues laugh when I mention that term because they think it doesn’t exist, but it can. You just have to set boundaries (e.g., no email on weekends or no work after 5pm on weekdays). It can help to identify your professional goals and determine when saying “yes” will help you achieve those goals and when saying “no” is the right thing to do so that you can still enjoy life outside of work. If GGSE graduates head to academia, I highly recommend joining the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity which offers lots of great resources, tips, and support for managing life in academia.