Research seminars

16 June: Gianfranco Polizzi (University of Birmingham)

Media literacy in the age of AI: Evidence and recommendations

This presentation draws on relevant research and evidence to examine the concept of media literacy and its importance in the age of AI, while also considering related and overlapping concepts such as AI literacy. Persistent gaps in media literacy across the UK population will be highlighted, along with some of the challenges involved in equipping both children and adults with the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing digital society. Some evidence‑based recommendations for future research, policy, and practice will also be presented.

Dr Gianfranco Polizzi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Communication at the University of Birmingham. His research examines how different groups develop and deploy the skills and knowledge they need to navigate online risks and opportunities and to participate in a digital society. His academic interests include media and digital literacy, media education, digital resilience, digital inequalities, digital citizenship, civic engagement and democracy. Gianfranco is currently co‑leading a Nuffield‑funded project examining the effectiveness of media literacy pedagogies on the wellbeing of secondary students, as well as a project funded by the Institute for Data and AI exploring AI use among young people aged 18–25 in relation to their mental health and wellbeing. He is a member of Ofcom’s Making Sense of Media Research, Evidence and Evaluation working group, providing advice on media and digital literacy research and provision in the UK. In addition, he sits on the Academic Advisory Group of the All‑Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Political and Media Literacy, run by Shout Out UK.

14 July: Dan Verständig (Goethe University Frankfurt)

Co-constructing critique: Social XAI and Critical Computational Literacy

Digital tools like apps, platforms, and AI systems are often presented as neutral and helpful. However, researchers have shown that they can reflect biases, shape power relationships, and influence society in important ways. This raises a key question for education: what does it really mean to think critically about technology? As digital systems become a bigger part of schools and everyday life, it’s not enough just to study their impact. We also need to rethink what role technology should play in education and society.

Current discussions around explainable AI (XAI) often focus on making algorithms more transparent and understandable. Social explainable AI (Social XAI) expands this perspective by asking how explanations are shaped by social, cultural, and educational contexts, whose perspectives are included, and who benefits from particular forms of explanation and interpretation. Drawing on historical ideas about how people have thought about technology, especially the influence of “romantic” ways of thinking, the talk explores beliefs such as innovation being inevitable, AI being like a human mind, or progress always being good. While these ideas can be appealing, they can oversimplify complex systems and make human decisions seem unavoidable. Combining insights from both the arts and sciences can help challenge these assumptions and develop more meaningful ways of thinking critically about technology.

In the talk, Dan connects these debates with Critical Computational Literacy (CCL). This approach encourages learners to see digital tools not as inevitable, but as shaped by human values, cultures, and histories. In the face of planetary and postdigital challenges, CCL aims to help people read these systems critically, imagine alternatives, and participate responsibly in shaping the futures they make possible.

Dan Verständig is Professor of Educational Theory and Practices of Critical Computational Literacy at the Center for Critical Computational Studies (C3S), Goethe University Frankfurt. His research addresses learning in the context of digitality, with a focus on inequality, civic participation, and creative-critical approaches to coding and data literacy. He is a founding member of the Critical Big Data and Algorithmic Literacy Network (CBDALN) and works with experimental formats such as interactive installations, data-driven art, and playful methods to make digital infrastructures visible and reflect on their societal implications. He also advises NGOs on digital literacy and information security.

8 September: Jie Chao (The Concord Consortium)

More information coming soon.

6 October (7–8:30 pm BST): Eleni Petraki and Damith Herath (University of Canberra)

Advancing robotics education: directions for school and tertiary contexts

Robotics has long fascinated researchers and learners alike, and its significance has grown exponentially with the rise of artificial intelligence and automation in everyday life. This webinar explores the evolution of robotics education within STEAM disciplines, highlighting historical developments and current innovations that address the field’s multidisciplinary nature. While historically fields such as Artificial Intelligence, computer science and robotics were distinct disciplines, research is pointing to pedagogical approaches for integrated STEAM pedagogies. Drawing on the research within the first truly interdisciplinary textbooks (Herath and St-Onge, 2022), we illustrate the redesign of an engineering and robotics curriculum from an Australian tertiary course aimed at equipping future engineers with the diverse skills demanded by a growing workforce. The session concludes with evidence-based recommendations for best practices in robotics pedagogy, emphasising theory-driven methods and interdisciplinary learning approaches.

Eleni Petraki is an Associate Professor in Curriculum Design and Human–AI Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Canberra. She has over 26 years of experience in language teaching and teacher education, spanning curriculum design, educational research, and applied linguistics. Eleni was a Chief Investigator and recipient of an ARC Discovery National Competitive Grant (2020–2025) in the field of machine education and artificial intelligence. Her research focuses on curriculum design, education for human–AI collaboration, artificial intelligence in education, and interaction analysis and communication.

Damith Herath is a Professor of Robotics and Art at the University of Canberra and leads the Collaborative Robotics Lab, a multidisciplinary research team with strong industry partnerships. An award-winning entrepreneur and a roboticist, Professor Herath has over two decades of experience leading complex robotic integration projects. In 2011, he founded Australia's first collaborative robotics startup, which was recognised as one of Australia's most innovative young tech companies in 2014. Professor Herath has also chaired several international workshops on Robots and Art and is the lead editor of the seminal book "Robots and Art: Exploring an Unlikely Symbiosis," a significant contribution to the field featuring leading roboticists and artists.

10 November: Doreen Boyd (University of Nottingham)

More information coming soon.