Brian Baker
Education leader building the future, one project at a time.
I am an equity-focused advocate, instructional leader, and researcher. In my 19 years working as an educator, first in Silicon Valley and later in Oregon, I have had the privilege of serving in an array of roles that have given me a comprehensive understanding of critical education issues. These included teacher, policy advocate, consultant for several edtech developers, instructional coach, school district administrator, and the Digital Learning Education Specialist for the Oregon Department of Education. I have also contributed to national and international projects led by SETDA, CoSN, TeachAI, and am a proud alumnus of the EDSAFE AI Alliance Catalyst Fellowship.
I currently wear several hats:
Chief Learning Officer @24th Century Education: Providing a variety of services to schools and other organizations to help develop future-ready classrooms.
Research and Insights Specialist @PowerMyLearning: Leading the qualitative and quantitative research for a national pilot of and contributing to the development of an AI-enabled instructional tool.
Lead Consultant @Media Literacy Now: Leading the establishment of the Oregon Media Literacy Coalition, a partnership of over 40 organizations supporting youth media and digital literacy.
I reside in Corvallis, Oregon with my wife, Catherine, and our dog, Samwise, although I miss my Bay Area roots on rainy days.
Portfolio of Work
Thank you for visiting my portfolio. I have curated these samples to demonstrate some of the ways I have supported schools and other organizations to become future-focused. If you have questions or would like to see additional resources, please feel free to contact me:
While leading AI and media literacy efforts for the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), I recognized that schools needed support integrating these multi-literacies into daily instruction. I created and led an ad hoc team of subject matter experts within the agency, resulting in a toolkit designed to help educators, school leaders, and support staff build a shared understanding of what information literacy is, why it matters, and how to teach it across all grade levels and subject areas.
Working at ODE helped me reflect on how many district leaders in the state work, and grapple with digital learning issues in isolation. To address that, I created the Oregon Digital Learning Cadre, a statewide community of practice supporting educators across the state. While this resource simply links to its announcement, I’m proud to say the Cadre is continuing to bring together leaders from across the state.
Also during my time at ODE, I supported school districts with AI policy and AI literacy. These are complex issues that touch up on both existing challenges and novel ones posed by the advent of this powerful technology. I created this resource guiding district leaders to develop policy in collaboration with their school community and in alignment with their needs, values, and mission.
Additional thought leadership around AI in education
Leading ODE’s AI literacy and policy efforts offered me several other opportunities to lead professional learning around critical issues:
After leaving ODE, I continued supporting schools and Educational Service Districts (ESDs) around AI policy and literacy in a consulting role. This is the deck from one of our full day workshops with K-12 leaders. Our themes:
AI introduces both benefits and risks
AI policy should be developing in collaboration with the school community, especially those most likely be victims of algorithmic bias
AI policy and use should be defined by internal needs and values, not external narratives
The Yarg Foundation, Media Literacy Now, and I understood that there are dozens of organizations contributing to youth media (AI/digital) literacy with little coordination or collaboration between them. Thus, we devised the idea of the OMLC: a growing, diverse coalition of over 40 organizations whose work touches upon media literacy education. We are planning to begin shared project implementation in resource development, public engagement, and legislative advocacy this summer, calling for a combined approach to media, AI, and digital literacy education.
Media Literacy Now, co-sponsors of OMLC, asked me to author this blog post to provide a foundation of thought leadership in support of the Coalition’s integrated approach to multi-literacies.
The podcast’s host, Eoin Bastable, invited me on after learning about my work related to media, AI, and digital literacy. We had an opportunity for a wide-ranging and in-depth discussion on topics vital to schools and the youth they serve.
The National Parents Union invited me to be a panelist for their recent webinar examining how the introduction of AI into schools and life more broadly is impacting youth and their communities.
Contributor
I have also had the opportunity to serve as a contributor to several recent projects:
Foundations of Numeracy - PowerMyLearning: This framework outlines four cornerstones and 16 essential building blocks for PreK–5 math learning. Designed for teachers, leaders, families, and policymakers alike, it offers a shared, research-based roadmap to help every student build strong mathematical foundations.
EdTech Quality Indicators Guide - SETDA: A framework offering practical guidance for school leaders evaluating and procuring edtech tools.
Sustainability Procurement Guidelines - CoSN: Provides practical strategies to help schools make purchasing decisions that support both financial and environmental goals.