A self-proclaimed “gadget-girl,” Betsy Baker has been incorporating technology into her classes since she began her career as a second grade teacher in 1982.

“I used to bring in my Commodore 64 to the classroom,” Baker said. “About all it could do was make little paragraphs of programing snit bits. It’s amazing to see where technology is now.”

Now an associate professor of literacy, Baker was presented the UM System President’s Award for Innovative Teaching in recognition for incorporating technology into innovative teaching methods.

Baker said she was surprised and honored by the award, because it was not something she was striving for.

“I don’t know how innovative my teaching is, but it’s just all one package for me,” Baker said. “The integration of literacy and technology isn’t a passing whim, it’s the core of being literate in our society. For me, it’s a fundamental moral crusade.”

In order to bring the real world to her students, Baker said she incorporates case studies into her classrooms.

Children As Literacy Kases was a case study that tracked five elementary children’s literacy development for eight months, according to Baker’s website.

“The goal was to mesh what’s going on at the university and what happens in real life,” Baker said. “We also modeled how to capture children’s’ literacy growth over time through technology.”

The question Baker said she is trying to answer with her research is whether human beings have to think differently to effectively read and write with digital technology.

“Is reading and writing through technology the same process, just in pixels instead of in print?” Baker said. “The research is consistent in one point, if you let students use technology to read and write, they get engaged. We can get them to fall in love with reading and writing, using technology as a tool.”

Many adults believe elementary through high school students are well-versed in how to read and write with new technology such as emails, blogs and YouTube, associate professor John Lannin said in a letter to the nominating committee for the award.

“Research reveals, however, that this is a misconception,” Lannin said. “K-12 students tend to know how to interact on the few social networking and gaming sites used by their small group of peers—but they know little else.”

If a child cannot effectively communicate their message through “new literacies,” such as the Internet, then they are not literate, Baker said.

“If we don’t get teachers to help students become fluid in multiple medias, we have not taught them to be literate,” Baker said. “In society today, not being literate means not employable.”

Baker’s current research project is working with first graders at Benton Elementary. Baker said she hopes to develop an app for the iPads that will transform dictated text into printable text through technology such as Siri.

“The real reason to read and write is audience,” Baker said. “A student can dictate a story, and then print it off into a book and take it home to mom and dad. It shows these young students that the oral language can be written down.”