SIUE Alumnus Reshaping Instruction and Learning as President of International Society of Technology in Education
SIUE alumnus Bill Bass, an innovation coordinator for technology integration, information and library media in Missouri’s Parkway School District, is serving as president of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). In this role, he is leading his professional peers in helping to reshape educational experiences for students around the world.
“I’m excited to help craft the vision and future of the ISTE organization,” Bass said. “Serving as president has been an amazing experience that has challenged me professionally and personally, and given me the opportunity to reflect on my leadership approach.”
Bass earned a master of science in education, instructional technology in 2002, and a post baccalaureate in education, web-based learning in 2013, both from SIUE. In the Parkway Schools, he serves as district administrator responsible for the instructional technology and the library program.
“I credit much of the success that I have had as a tech integration specialist and tech coordinator in my district, as well as my work with the ISTE, to the base that I got in my program at SIUE,” Bass said. “SIUE’s program helped me find my passion for bringing technology to students all over the world and helping teachers use that technology in meaningful ways.”
“As a leader, I focus on the authentic, meaningful use of technology in classrooms to help prepare our students for their futures,” Bass continued. “I hope to create conditions where innovative instructional practices can be explored and fostered by our teachers and administrators. I want our students to ask questions and solve real-world problems, and be empowered to make their own informed decisions surrounding their education.”
In 2019, SIUE’s instructional technology program, housed in the Department of Educational Leadership, was nationally ranked as a top 25 affordable master’s degree in teaching. The program is offered 100 percent online, and has been lauded for its excellence and affordability.
SIUE’s program sharpens individual’s abilities to critically and creatively analyze performance problems. Students are prepared to envision flexible solutions to those problems, design creative strategies to bring their vision to life, produce multimedia innovations and evaluate the value add for their employers.
“SIUE’s program focuses on instruction and learning,” Bass explained. “While the technology was critical and I got a strong basis of technical understanding from the program, it was always focused on student learning, and that’s what I was looking for. As a high school English teacher, I wanted to engage my students in what I thought would be an integral part of their future.”
“It became clear that SIUE’s faculty would push my thinking, challenge my ideas and support me both in my studies and my career,” he added. “My biggest takeaway from the program was a strong understanding of the impact of technology in schools. It helped me look outside, beyond my current reality and expanded my mindset, so that I could focus on the long-term impacts of technology in schools, while recognizing the opportunities that were in front of me.”
“Bill was one of those great students who truly invested himself in the process of our program,” recalled Dave Knowlton, EdD, graduate program director and professor of instructional technology. “We are incredibly proud of his success and delighted that he sees us as an abiding piece of that success.”
For more information on SIUE’s instructional technology program, visit siue.edu/education/edld/it or contact Knowlton at 618-650-3948.
Photo: SIUE alumnus Bill Bass.