The Learner Research Network

The Learner Research Network began its life in Sydney, Australia in 1989, with the International Conference on Learning focusing on genre approaches to literacy, and auspiced by the Literacy and Education Research Network. Since then, the focus of the conference has broadened to encompass as one of its themes ‘Multiliteracies’ or a broader range of communications than conventionally understood under the rubric of alphabetical literacy. The conference has also extended its interest into learning more generally, and particularly, the question of ‘new learning’ or the necessary transformations underway in teaching and learning in contemporary social, cultural and technological conditions.

Across three decades, the International Conference on Learning has convened with universities and cultural institutions worldwide, including the University of Barcelona (2009), The Hong Kong Institute of Education (2010), University of Mauritius (2011), Institute of Education, University of London (2012), University of the Aegean, Rhodes (2013), Touro College, New York City (2014), Universidad San Pablo CEU, Madrid (2015), University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2016), University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (2017), University of Athens (2018), Queen’s University Belfast (2019), University of Valencia (2020/2022), Jagiellonian University (2021), University of São Paulo (2023), Utrecht University (2024), and University of Granada (2025). These partnerships anchor the Network’s geographic reach and multilingual exchange

The Network has welcomed many of the field’s most influential voices, including Courtney Cazden (Harvard University), Peter McLaren (Chapman University), Fazal Rizvi (University of Illinois), Jim Cummins (OISE/University of Toronto), Martin Nakata (James Cook University), Sarah Michaels (Clark University), Bill Cope (University of Illinois), Denise Newfield (University of the Witwatersrand), James Paul Gee (Arizona State University), Michael Apple (University of Wisconsin–Madison), Pippa Stein (University of the Witwatersrand), Brian Street (King’s College London), Carey Jewitt (UCL Knowledge Lab), Gunther Kress (University of London), Kris Gutiérrez (University of California, Berkeley), Mary Kalantzis (University of Illinois), Colin Lankshear (Mount Saint Vincent University), Michele Knobel (Montclair State University), Crain Soudien (HSRC, South Africa), and Graça Machel. Together, these speakers have shaped debates on literacy, equity, multimodality, and the social futures of learning.

Guided by its founding chairs—William Cope and Mary Kalantzis—the Network continues to expand thematically and geographically, sustaining an inclusive, evidence-driven conversation that links research to practice across learning communities worldwide.

• 1989 - Literacy and Learning, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
• 1991 - Foundations of Learning, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
• 1993 - Learning in Changing Contexts, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
• 1995 - Learning: The Cultures of Learning; The Languages of Learning; The Business of Learning, Townsville, Australia
• 1997 - Literacy Teaching for the Future, Araluen Arts Centre Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
• 1999 - Languages of Learning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
• 2000 - Learning on a Human Scale, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
• 2001 - Learning for the Future, University of Athens in Spetses, Greece
• 2002 - Navigating Cultures, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
• 2003 - What Learning Means, Institute of Education, London University, London, UK
• 2004 - Learning Today: Communication, Technology, Environment, Society, Institute of Pedagogical Sciences, Havana, Cuba
• 2005 - Designs for Learning, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
• 2006 - Living Issues in Education, Sam Sharpe Teachers College, Montego Bay, Jamaica
• 2007 - Education and Culture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
• 2008 - Educational Values and Values in Education, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA
• 2009 - Learning Across Cultures, Media, and Modes, University of Barcelona, Spain
• 2010 - Creative and Imaginative Futures for Schooling, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong
• 2011 - Sustainable Education and Innovative Learning, University of Mauritius, Mauritius
• 2012 - Multimodality, Literacy, and Learning, The Institute of Education, University of London, UK
• 2013 - Two Decades Exploring Innovation in Education, The University of the Aegean in Rhodes, Greece
• 2014 - New Directions in Pedagogy, Lander College at Touro College, New York City, USA
• 2015 - What Counts as Learning? Big Data, Little Data, Evidence and Assessment, Universidad San Pablo CEU, Madrid, Spain
• 2016 - Education in the Age of the Anthropocene, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
• 2017 - New Media for New Learning, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, USA
• 2018 - Education in a Time of Austerity and Social Turbulence, University of Athens, Athens, Greece
• 2019 - Learning to Make a Social Difference, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
• 2020 - Intercultural Learning in Plurilingual Contexts, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain (Virtual)
• 2021 - Universalism or Particularism: Knowledge and Power in the Process of Decolonization Revisited, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland (Virtual)
  
• 2022 - Intercultural Learning in Plurilingual Contexts, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
  
• 2023 - Literacies and Educational Changes: Rediscussing Digital Learning, Neoliberalism and Post-Pandemic Policies, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  
• 2024 - The Converging Challenges for Inclusive Education: Intercultural Competences and Digital Literacies in Global Contexts, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
  
• 2025 - Human Learning and Machine Learning—Challenges and Opportunities for Artificial Intelligence in Education, University of Granada, Granada, Spain