Professor Julia Gillen
Professor of Literacy StudiesProfile
I am Professor of Literacy Studies in the Department of Linguistics and English Language.
My most recent ESRC funded research project is 0-3-year-old children's language and literacy learning at home in a digital age aka Toddlers Tech and Talk (ES/W001020/1 ) June 2022-December 2024. See our summary report and our policy brief.
Since 2002 I have been involved with the A Day in the Life umbrella programme, initially created by C.A. Cameron and myself. It has given rise to numerous projects around the globe making use of our methodology.
I have recently completed a co-authored book from the ESRC funded project Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education, (ES/W000571/1) January 2022 - March 2024. This is available open access.
I belong to a number of organisations including the Literacy Research Association (where I am an Area 12, International, panel chair); UK Literacy Association, the UK Literacy Association and the British Association of Applied Linguistics.
Research Overview
I am exploring and expanding the boundaries of literacy studies.
I work with contemporary and historical topics. My main current interest concerns the activities of very young children in the home with digital media especially as related to language and literacy. A particular focus of interest is the part played by Conversational Assistants (also known as digital voice assistants or smart speakers). I have an extremely longstanding interest in young children's use of phones.
I aim to expand understandings of the relationship of literacy with communication in all modes, finding the discipline of Literacy Studies most helpful, with its diverse methodologies and topics. I am currently, with Uta Papen, developing an edited textbook on Research Methods in Literacy Studies.
A lasting project of mine is the Edwardin Postcard Project. The main collection is now part of Lancaster Digital Collections.
Some years ago I was Co-Investigator in two ESRC projects relating to deaf multiliteracies in India, Ghana and Uganda. I was formerly Co-Chair of Working Group 1 Children in Homes and Communities in the COST IS1640 Action The Digital Literacy and Multimodal Practices of Young Children (DigiLitEY), a member of the management committee and leader of the Day in the Digital Life of children aged 0-3 research strand.
I am the director of the Edwardian Postcard project, having held a FASS impact award and completed an AHRC Creative Exchange mini project. We are constructing a more interactive website and engaging in other activities to connect with family and local history audiences as well as museums and e-heritage users. I am currently completing a monograph.
See also the Day in the Life project website for my involvement with a continuing international programme of inter-generational research.
My (2014) book, Digital Literacies, consolidates empirical and theoretical interests in recent work including on Twitter as a professional practice and online ethnography. Earlier, my research on children and teenagers learning in formal and informal settings including in virtual worlds featured in this book and its associated ESRC seminar series.
External Roles
I review proposals for several different international funding councils and occasionally chair panels. The following are a sample of my past roles.
Member, AHRC Peer Review College, June 2014 - December 2021.
Co-editor, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 2007-present.
I was co-chair Working Group 1 (Digital Literacy in Homes and Communities) of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Programme The Digital Literacy and Multimodal Practices of Young Children (DigiLitEY) June 2017 - April 2019 and led the "Day in the Digital Lives of Children 0-3" research strand of WG1.
Assessor for Learning Technologies Design for Impact SBRI competition with Technology Strategy Board (now Innovate UK). 2014
Honorary Research Associate, School of Graduate Studies, University of New Brunswick, Canada. (2011-2014)
Assessment and Qualifications Authority HE expert panel member advising on GCSE ‘A’ level: English Language and English Language & Literature. 2012-2014
Evaluator, Digital Futures in Teacher Education (DeFT) project - Sheffield Hallam & Sheffield Universities. (2011-2012)
External consultant, Mixed Reality Interactions Across Contexts of Learning (MIRACLE) project, InterMedia, University of Oslo. (2010-2014)
Selected Publications
Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education: How teachers encounter research in an age of evidence-based teaching
Burnett, C., Adams, G., Gillen, J., Thompson, T.L., Lindroos Cermakova, A., Shannon, D.B., Shetty, P. 15/11/2024 London : Routledge. 208 p. ISBN: 9781032544106.
Book
The Edwardian Picture Postcard as a Communications Revolution: A Literacy Studies Perspective
Gillen, J. 13/07/2023 London : Routledge. 158 p. ISBN: 9781032198873. Electronic ISBN: 9781003261322.
Book
How does research reach teachers?: An agenda for investigating research mobilities in primary literacy education
Burnett, C., Gillen, J., Guest, I., Maxwell, B., Thompson, T.L. 3/10/2022 In: Literacy. 56, 4, p. 386-399. 14 p.
Journal article
Investigating the digital media engagements of very young children in the homes: reflecting on methodology and ethics
Sandberg, H., Gillen, J. 30/09/2021 In: AI Communications. 46, 3, p. 332-351. 20 p.
Journal article
Investigating Research Mobilities: A Methods Resource
Lindroos Cermakova, A., Adams, G., Burnett, C., Gillen, J., Thompson, T.L., Shannon, D.B., Shetty, P., Vackova, P. 11/03/2024 Sheffield : Sheffield Hallam University. 106 p.
Other report
All Publications
Developing a posthuman approach towards the understanding of "writing systems"
18/06/2025 → …
Research
0-3-year-olds’ language and literacy learning at home in a digital age
06/06/2022 → 05/12/2024
Research
IAA - AHRC Impact Acceleration Account
01/04/2022 → 31/03/2026
Research
Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education
04/01/2022 → 31/03/2024
Research
CLAE II: Critical Literacies and Awareness in Education
01/09/2019 → 31/12/2022
Research
Storymakers: Deaf children’s multiliteracies
01/01/2019 → 03/03/2019
Research
Peer to Peer Deaf Multiliteracies: research into a sustainable approach to education
of Deaf children and young adults in the Global South
01/07/2017 → 31/12/2020
Research
The Edwardian Postcard
14/02/2016 → 14/05/2016
Research
Literacy development with deaf communities using sign language, peer tuition, and learner-generated online content: sustainable educational innovation
01/06/2015 → 31/07/2016
Research
Multimodality and Symbols of cultural identity: a literacy studies approach
03/11/2014 → 30/12/2016
Research
Digital Professionalism in Medical Education
16/01/2013 → 31/01/2014
Research
Digital Futures in Teacher Education project
17/10/2011 → 19/10/2012
Consultancy
Digital literacies as media ecology: a case study of communications around cricket.
30/07/2011 → 31/10/2013
Research
Mixed Reality Interactions Across Contexts of Learning
01/01/2011 → 30/12/2014
Consultancy
Edwardian Postcard Project
01/09/2009 → …
Other
Discourse of the School Dinners Debate
01/02/2007 → 31/01/2008
Other
Schome Park
01/02/2007 → 31/12/2009
Other
Day in the Life
01/01/2002 → 30/12/2016
Other
GCRF Global IAA Institutional Award
01/01/1900 → …
Research
Toddlers Tech and Talk: Promoting Communication in the Early Years
Invited talk
Toddlers, Tech and Talk: reporting to the Digital Literacies in early childhood course
Invited talk
published submission of evidence on Media Literacy
Parliament
Multimodality and multiliteracies in Happy Hands School for the Deaf in Odisha, India.
Invited talk
Social media and digital technology in childhood and beyond: friend or foe?
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Literacy Conversations
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
"I ask Alexa to play some nursery rhymes, so that was the first word my daughter learnt." Smart speakers in the homes of children aged 0-36 months
Oral presentation
Launch of new methodological resource to investigate research mobilisation
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Picture postcards and the Edwardian era in Lancaster and Morecambe
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Transhistorical perspectives on language, materials and corpora: Conversations about correspondence
Invited talk
Podcast Julia Gillen: Chlorine and salt do not mix.
Other
Podcast: Edwardian Postcard episode 28 Lancaster City Museums 100 years 100 objects
Other
Investigating research mobilities in primary literacy education in England
Invited talk
Janet Carmichael and the Edwardian Postcard Project
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition
History Past, Present & Future - the IHR Centenary Festival
Festival/Exhibition/Concert
Research mobilities in primary literacies
Invited talk
Kaleidoscope Histories: subtle and contradictory transitions in historical research
Invited talk
Investigating primary literacy education research mobilities in England
Invited talk
Edwardian Picture Postcard Project Lancaster Digital Collections Launch
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Online webinar: “Early 20th century social media: writing postcards around Lancaster and Morecambe Bay.”
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Designing new approaches to investigating primary literacy education research mobiliities in England
Invited talk
Establishing trusting relationships with international partners.
Invited talk
Literacy (Journal)
Editorial activity
Literacy Research: Theory, Method, Practice (Journal)
Editorial activity
Lancaster Literacy Research Centre
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Being Human Festival
Festival/Exhibition/Concert
Celebrating the successes and lessons of the Raising Learning Outcomes Programme
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
COVID-19: thinking differently about education research impact
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Education
Other
UK Literacy Association (External organisation)
Membership of committee
All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Education
Other
Researching young children’s engagements with digital technologies in the home in Europe
Invited talk
“A day in the digital life of children aged 0-3"
Invited talk
I JORNADAS INTERNACIONALES:LA ALFABETIZACIÓN COMO PRÁCTICA SOCIAL
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
I JORNADAS INTERNACIONALES:LA ALFABETIZACIÓN COMO PRÁCTICA SOCIAL
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Writing Edwardian Postcards: a tale of three Londoners
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
American Educational Research Association (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Artistic Layers: The Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong in 2014
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Reconceptualising early childhood literacies: an international conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
“We never teach her ….but she knows”: Young children’s engagement with digital media in homes in the UK and Finland
Invited talk
Enriching children’s learning and lives through multiliteracies
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
University of Helsinki
Visiting an external academic institution
The “letter of the poor?” Investigating writing and images on the Edwardian postcard
Invited talk
PhD examination
Examination
Writing on early twentieth century British picture postcards: through the prism of mentions of India
Invited talk
Exploring social media in the early twentieth century: the picture postcard
Oral presentation
The Edwardian Postcard: breathing new life into early twentieth century social media
Invited talk
PhD examination
Examination
AHRC (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Presenter at "What makes a successful online reader?"
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Brighton Digital Festival
Festival/Exhibition/Concert
Valuing the Visual in Literacy Research
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
The Digital Literacy and Multimodal Practices of Young Children DigiLitEY European COST programme (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Digital Literacies in Education
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Community Day
Festival/Exhibition/Concert
University of Roehampton London, University of Birmingham and The University of Edinburgh (External organisation)
Membership of committee
External examining
Examination
Struggle for the Text
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
New Literacy Practices
Invited talk
University of Stavanger
Visiting an external academic institution
“You might possibly say something…”: Medical students’ dilemmas in developing digital professionalism
Invited talk
Digital Humanities Research Forum
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Project meeting 3 of The Digital Literacy and Multimodal Practices of Young Children (DigilitEY) COST European Cooperation in Science and Technology
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Twitter and humour: Test cricket, the BBC and Jonathan Agnew
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) (External organisation)
Membership of committee
University of Stavanger
Visiting an external academic institution
Symposium on Language, Culture and Medicine
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
The Edwardian Postcard Project
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Edwardian Postcards to and from Lancashire
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
UK Literacy Associaton (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
University of Stavanger
Visiting an external academic institution
Postcards to and from Lancashire - a presentation by Julia Gillen and Cael Rooney.
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Writing postcards in early twentieth century Britain: a revolutionary social networking phenomenon.
Invited talk
Worlds of Literacy 2.0
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Explorations in Ethnography, Language and Communication 5
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
AHRC (External organisation)
Membership of committee
The Edwardian Postcard Project: An illustrated talk about the people who wrote postcards during the Edwardian era, especially in Lancashire.
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
ESRC (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Technology Strategy Board (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Text trajectories
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Language Learning and Teaching in the Digital Age: New Research Methodologies
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
The Edwardian Postcard Project
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
Invited lecture to the BA (Hons) Special Educational Needs students at Liverpool Hope University
Invited talk
Edwardian Postcards to and from Lancaster - a communications revolution
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
The Edwardian Postcard Project
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar
National Council for Teachers of English Annual Convention
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
UK Literacy Association Annual Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Enriching early childhood literacy curricula and practice - a dialogue with Canada
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Twitter and Microblogging: Political, Professional and Personal Practices
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Assessment and Qualifications Authority (External organisation)
Membership of committee
New Media, New Literacies and New Forms of Learning
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
A revolutionary multimodal communications technology: The Edwardian Picture Postcard
Invited talk
Digital literacies: children and teenagers learning in formal and informal settings including in virtual worlds.
Invited talk
Literacy History: pushing the disciplinary boundaries
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
A learning community for teens on a virtual island.
Invited talk
Research in Education (Journal)
Editorial activity
Archaeology with teenagers in a virtual world.
Invited talk
ESRC (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Schome Park: exploring digital literacy practices in a Teen Second Life project.
Invited talk
Journal of Early Childhood Literacy (Journal)
Editorial activity
Award for the best poster given to “Attitudes and practices of medical students in relation to digital professionalism” by Fiona Curtis and Julia Gillen
Prize (including medals and awards)
- CeMoRe - Centre for Mobilities Research
- Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning
- Lancaster Literacy Research Centre