National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (School of Education)
Fulbright Program (Keene State College, University System of New Hampshire)
Dean, College of Education (also Professor), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Chair of Education, Research & Innovation Portfolio, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University)
Research Professor, Globalism Institute, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University)
Executive Dean, Faculty of Education, Language & Community Services, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University)
Professor of Education and Director, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, James Cook University
Director, Centre for Workplace Communication and Culture, University of Technology Sydney / James Cook University of North Queensland – Centre for Workplace Communication and Culture
Senior Research Fellow (previously Research Fellow), University of Wollongong – Centre for Multicultural Studies
Mary Kalantzis is a Professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana‑Champaign (UIUC) and served as Dean of the College of Education from 2006 to 2016. A leading figure in multiliteracies, learning design, and technology‑enabled assessment, her work examines multimodal meaning, literacy, and equity in the digital age, and more recently the implications of generative AI for learning. Prior to UIUC she held senior roles in Australia, including Executive Dean at RMIT University (Melbourne), Professor of Education and Director of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies at James Cook University, Director of the Centre for Workplace Communication and Culture (University of Technology, Sydney), and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Multicultural Studies (University of Wollongong). She earned a BA/DipEd (1980) and PhD (1991) from Macquarie University. Sources: UIUC News/Experts and unit profiles; email listing; ORCID from Springer book page; appointment history from UIUC News Bureau.
A literacy pedagogy addressing cultural‑linguistic diversity and multimodal forms of meaning. Reframed pedagogical ‘knowledge processes’ (experiencing, conceptualizing, analyzing, applying) inform design‑rich learning with multimodal texts and equitable participation.
A cross‑modal grammar describing elemental functions of meaning (reference, agency, structure) across text, image, space, object, body, sound, and speech; advances analysis and design of multimodal communication and learning.
A design‑based pedagogical framework operationalizing multiliteracies through knowledge processes and teacher‑as‑designer practices, leveraging social, multimodal, and analytics‑enabled environments for continuous, embedded assessment.
Reading Research Quarterly • Journal
This open‑access article explores the consequences of generative AI for literacy teaching and learning. Part one situates generative AI historically—arguing its significance is comparable to the printing press and equally problematic. Part two proposes a revised “grammar” for literacy in the AI era. Part three describes an experimental application that uses generative AI to support literacy and learning, reporting findings and implications for what the authors call cyber‑social literacy learning.
Multimodality & Society • Journal
Analyzes the scope and limits of generative AI from a multimodal grammar perspective. Part one characterizes LLMs as probabilistic token systems that lack a theory of meaning. Part two maps what is gained and lost when meaning‑making is constrained by text‑bound, statistical approaches. Part three discusses educational applications and how grammatical analysis can guide worthwhile uses of AI in learning.
Educational Philosophy and Theory • Journal
Educational Philosophy and Theory • Journal
Conceptually and empirically examines potentials and limits of AI in education. Argues AI will not “replace” teachers but can transform assessment and pedagogy through embedded, recursive feedback and multimodal evidence‑of‑learning. Reports findings from implementations in CGScholar and outlines human‑centered uses of AI for more individualized, formative learning.
E‑Learning and Digital Media • Journal
Outlines the Learning by Design intervention aimed at classroom and curriculum transformation and teachers’ professional learning. Grounded in multiliteracies, the article details knowledge processes (experiencing, conceptualizing, analyzing, applying), the use of social web technologies for design, and implications for engaged, differentiated, multimodal learning and continuous assessment.
Pedagogies: An International Journal • Journal
Revisits the case for a pedagogy of multiliteracies first articulated by the New London Group (1996). The paper describes changing social and technological contexts of communication and develops a language to talk about representation and communication in educational settings, addressing what constitutes appropriate literacy pedagogy for contemporary times.
Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice • Journal
Argues that standardized, ‘back to basics’ testing cannot adequately capture the skills required in the knowledge economy. Proposes a ‘new basics’ emphasizing autonomy, collaboration, diversity, and multimodal literacy, with corresponding assessments such as portfolios, performances, projects, group work, and embedded analytics.
Cambridge University Press • Book
Develops a transpositional grammar to describe elemental patterns of meaning across modes—text, image, space, object, body, sound, and speech. Moves beyond language‑centered models to a multimodal framework with parts on Reference, Agency, and Structure, offering a cross‑disciplinary account relevant to education, media, design, and cultural studies.
Routledge • Book
This edited book examines how e‑learning ecologies can reconfigure pedagogy. It differentiates learning technologies that reproduce traditional, didactic relations from those that enable genuinely innovative practices. Through cases across K‑12 and higher education, the volume develops an analytical framework for collaborative intelligence, recursive feedback, multimodal knowledge representation, and embedded assessment to support transformative learning.
Cambridge University Press • Book
A comprehensive introduction to literacy pedagogy in today’s new‑media environment. Beyond reading and writing, it addresses multimodal communication—oral, visual, audio, gestural, tactile, and spatial—and integrates practical design of learning experiences and assessment. The second edition expands treatment of grammar, phonics, spelling, standards (e.g., US Common Core; Australian Curriculum), and equity‑focused chapters.
Palgrave Macmillan • Book
Edited collection by two members of the New London Group, bringing together authors who apply the multiliteracies pedagogy. It foregrounds the Learning by Design framework and reports on implementations across contexts, focusing on knowledge processes and learner diversity.
Cambridge University Press • Book
A comprehensive treatment of contemporary debates and challenges in education, balancing theory with practice. With classroom examples, case studies, and online resources, it addresses educational psychology and cognitive science perspectives, assessment, and curriculum developments, offering a framework for rethinking learning in times of rapid social change.
Cambridge University Press • Book
An introduction to literacy pedagogy for today’s new‑media environment, encompassing not only reading and writing but also oral, visual, audio, gestural, and spatial modes. Using real‑world examples, it maps practical methods for designing learning experiences and assessing outcomes across diverse sociocultural settings in school, workplace, and community.
Chandos Publishing (Elsevier) • Book
Addresses how knowledge is documented and how ‘semantic publishing’—from a technically defined semantic web to broader semantic practices—could reshape scholarly communication, authorship, and access. The book examines current representations in journal articles and books and explores implications for changing knowledge ecologies.