Elizabeth (Betsy) Baker, President University of Missouri, USA
Elizabeth (Betsy) A. Baker is a Professor of Literacy Studies at the University of Missouri, Past President of the Literacy Research Association, former coeditor of Literacy Research: Theory, Method and Practice (LRTMP), and the creator, executive producer, and cohost of the Voice of Literacy podcast. She began her career as a second-grade teacher in Greenville, SC, where she became fascinated by literacy acquisition and development. She holds a BA in Elementary Education from Furman University, and an MEd and EdD in Reading/Literacy Education from Vanderbilt University. Her research agenda takes place at the substantive crossroads of literacy, technology, and teacher education while drawing from sociocultural, cognitive, and systems theories. She seeks to harness the affordances of varied technologies while mitigating challenges to teaching and learning. Research projects include the federally funded development of ChALK (Children as Literacy Kases), naturalistic explorations of the nature of literacy in digital environments, analyses of the literacy learning and pedagogy supported by classroom websites, as well as Talk to Read©, a speech recognition project.
Among others, her research appears in Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, Language Arts, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, NRC Yearbook (now LRTMP), Journal of Reading Education, Reading and Writing Quarterly, Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, Handbook of Research on the Societal Impact of Digital Media, Teacher Education Quarterly, and her edited book, The New Literacies: Multiple Perspectives on Research and Practice with Guilford Press.
Her research, teaching, and service have been recognized by college, campus, state, national, and international awards including the Computers in Reading Research Award (International Literacy Association), Ernest L. Boyer International Award for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology (International Conference on College Teaching and Learning), William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence (Kemper Foundation), and the Thomas Jefferson Award (President of the University of Missouri System).