Literacy in the time of Artificial Intelligence
with Professors Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis
This session will be presented online from the US.
Abstract
The latest mutation of Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, is more than anything a technology of writing.
It is a machine that can write. In a world-historical frame, the significance of this cannot be understated. This is a technology in which the unnatural language of code tangles with the natural language of everyday life.
Its form of writing, moreover, is multimodal, able not only to write text as conventionally understood, but also to “read” images by matching textual labels and to “write” images from textual prompts. Within the scope of this peculiarly mechanical manufacturing of writing are mathematics, actionable software procedure, and algorithm.
Cope and Kalantziis explore the consequences of Generative AI for literacy teaching and learning.
Professor Bill Cope
University of Illinois
Bill Cope is a Professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
His and Mary Kalantzis’ recent research has focused on the development of digital writing and assessment technologies, with the support of a number of major grants from the US Department of Education, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Science Foundation.
Professor Mary Kalantzis
University of Illinois
Mary Kalantzis was from 2006 to 2016 Dean of the College of Education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Before this, she was Dean of the Faculty of Education, Language and Community Services at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, and President of the Australian Council of Deans of Education. She has co-authored or co-edited with Bill Cope: New Learning: Elements of a Science of Education, Cambridge University Press, 2008 (3rd edition, 2022); Literacies, Cambridge University Press 2012 (2nd edition, 2016); and the two volume grammar of multimodal meaning: Making Sense and Adding Sense, Cambridge University Press, 2020.
Professors Cope and Kalantzis have been at the forefront of digital education, developing innovative online tools that transform how we approach learning. Their newest venture, CyberScholar, serves as a versatile platform designed to empower educators by allowing them to customize an AI system tailored specifically to the dynamics of their classrooms. Having already made inroads in six diverse classrooms nationwide, including two in Central Illinois, CyberScholar is set to revolutionize pedagogical practices. Before this broader implementation, Professors Cope and Kalantzis rigorously tested their platform with graduate students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, ensuring that the tool meets the diverse needs of learners.