Meet the team
Bill Cope
Professor,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Bill Cope is a Professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a leading scholar in the fields of literacy and technology-mediated learning. His recent research has focused on the development of AI-supported digital writing and assessment technologies. In conjunction with Common Ground, he has led the development of CGScholar and CyberScholar platforms with the support of grants from the US Department of Education, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.
Mary Kalantzis
Professor,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
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 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.
Duane Searsmith
E-Learning Technical Specialist,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Duane Searsmith is an E-Learning Technical Specialist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he leads development work on the CyberScholar platform. With over two decades of experience in artificial intelligence and advanced natural language processing , his recent work focuses on using generative AI to create prompt engineering software for writing support and peer review feedback. This software has been deployed in graduate courses at the University of Illinois. Duane holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Case Western Reserve University.
Anastasia-Olga (Olnancy) Tzirides
Research Scientist
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Anastasia-Olga (Olnancy) Tzirides is a Research Scientist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago, with applied research experience at Google. Her work in the learning sciences examines the integration of artificial intelligence in education, focusing on generative AI, human-AI collaboration, and user experience in digital learning environments. She has published widely on AI literacy, feedback systems, and multiliteracies, and presented at international conferences in Europe and the United States. She holds a Ph.D. in Learning Design and Leadership from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Michele Galla
Ed.D. student & AI industry insider,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Michele Galla is an EPOL Ed.D. student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an AI industry insider with a rich, 28-year history in K-12 education, highlighted by her leadership in developing statewide online learning programs in Alaska. With 11 years of pioneering online instruction and eight additional years in higher education, she is a results-oriented professional adept at crafting innovative and inclusive instructional programs. Michele is a strategic and collaborative leader who excels in optimizing technology to empower students and faculty, ensuring successful educational outcomes in remote, hybrid, and traditional settings.
Tamsyn Gilbert
Director of Program Development and Collaborative Partnerships,
Common Ground Research Networks
Tamsyn Gilbert is the Director of Program Development and Collaborative Partnerships at Common Ground Research Networks, where she leads strategic initiatives across the organization’s global research networks and directs key projects of the Common Ground Media Lab. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Media Studies and Sociology from The New School for Social Research. Tamsyn is also the co-founder of New Criticals and Immaterial Books, and has held roles at The Museum of Modern Art, Anthology Film Archives, and The New School. Her work spans media theory, visual culture, and the intersections of technology, art, and society.
Research & Implementation Partners
Gabriela Zapata
Associate Professor,
University of Nottingham
Gabriela C. Zapata is an Associate Professor in Education at the University of Nottingham. Her main research areas are Generative AI in higher education instruction, assessment, and teacher training; AI literacy across all levels of learning; multiliteracies-based instruction (focus on Learning by Design); and multimodal social semiotics. She has published more than fifty research articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, as well as four books on multiliteracies-based language instruction and four textbooks for the teaching of Spanish as a second language. Her latest edited volume explores the role of AI technologies in multiliteracies-based language education (Routledge), while her forthcoming co-authored book (with Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis) focuses on literacy development in the age of Generative AI.
Vania Castro
Teaching Assistant Professor,
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Vania Castro is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She teaches in the Learning Design and Leadership (LDL) programs. Her research and teaching focus on the integration of digital technologies, mobile devices, and artificial intelligence in teaching and learning, and on how these technologies can foster inclusive, equitable, and engaging educational experiences.
Yu-ling You
Professor,
National Changhua University of Education
Yu-ling You is a professor in the Department of English at the National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan, R.O.C. She has devoted more than a quarter of a century to the pedagogy and research of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) with a particular focus on reading and writing. In recent years, she has turned her scholarly attention towards the burgeoning field of multimodal composing and the genre analysis of multimodal texts. Recognizing the potential of technology in language learning, she has also been exploring the integration of Artificial Intelligence tools to enhance the learning experience for EFL students.
Dora Kourkoulou
Clinical Assistant Professor,
University of Iowa
Dora Kourkoulou is Clinical Assistant Professor of Educational and Instructional Technology at the University of Iowa. She holds a PhD in Educational Policy, Organization and Leadership and an EdM in Human Resource Education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a BA/MA in Classical Literature from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her work explores educational technologies, playful and informal learning, and AI in education. Her dissertation, Cyber-Ludic Pedagogies, examined resistance and defection in video games and their public pedagogies. She co-edited Trust and Inclusion in AI-Mediated Education (Springer) and the issue Data, Media, Knowledge; a globalization volume forthcoming.
José Luis Ortega Martín
Professor,
University of Granada
Professor José Luis Ortega Martín (full profesor) belongs to the Department of Language and Literature Methodology of the University of Granada. He coordinates a Master Degree on the Teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language and is responsible for the module on English as a Foreign Language of the University of Granada´s Master Degree on Teacher Training. Professor Ortega directs a Research Group on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and he is the Spanish Language Scientific Director of the Common Ground Research Networks. Moreover, he has won the University of Granada´s post-graduate Award and the Teaching Excellence Award.
José Luis Ortega Martín
Doctoral Program Coordinator,
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Stuart L. Mattingly, EdD, MBA is the Doctoral Program Coordinator for the Learning Design & Leadership program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, as well as a Cooperating Teacher Field Supervisor for the University of Arizona. Originally, he is from Louisville, Kentucky but currently lives in Tucson, Arizona with his awesome wife. His research interests center around authentic assessment, effective online pedagogy, educational policy change, technology enhanced assessment, and AI in higher education.