Jill Colton

Dr Jill Colton

Senior Lecturer

School of Education

College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences


I research literacy, pedagogy and spaces of learning from a relational socio-material perspective, drawing on actor network theory to study the ‘intra-actions’ of humans, texts, space and materials in teaching and learning practices. I am an English specialist with expertise in digital media and literature for children and young people, who lectures in in the primary and secondary teacher education courses at the University of South Australia. My doctoral study was a critical analysis of the ‘21st century learner’ which investigated the networks of discourse and practice that circulated in a middle school around the subjectivity of the learner as ‘new’. This study explored pedagogy, literacy and agency as the performance of networks of people, texts, technologies and spaces. I have published articles and conference papers about interdisciplinary collaboration, digital literacies, and children's literature. In my recent research I investigated the use of blogging as literacies of dialogue and interaction in hybrid learning spaces and I am currently researching methods of interpreting literature through transmediation in higher education and school contexts. In my current role as Program Director of the Bachelor of Secondary Education (Honours) and Master of Teaching (Secondary) I am actively reviewing curriculum and assessment practices through collaborative inquiry with teacher educators. I consult with schools and professional associations about inclusive teaching and learning practices including approaches to differentiation across the curriculum.    

Special Issue of Australian Journal of Language and Literacy (Guest Editor) 'Stories that matter and the matter of stories' 

Collaborative narratives - using a design thinking inquiry based approach in a higher education context

Digital literacy trailblazers - learning from teachers who are exloring and experimenting with digital tools in the English curriculum

 

 

 

Year Citation
2026 Colton, J., & Man, C. (2026). AI Art generators and the process of transmediation: exploring interpretation and creative screen production with students in a literature and digital media course. Media Practice and Education, 1-16.
DOI
2025 Colton, J., & Lowien, N. (2025). Children’s literature during social and cultural change: editorial to the special issue. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 48(3), 221-228.
DOI
2025 Colton, J., & Forrest, S. (2025). 'You really have to get in there and actually figure it out': engaging pre-service teachers in children's literature through transmodality. Education Sciences, 15(4, article no. 496), 1-21.
DOI Scopus1
2025 Colton, J., & Lowien, N. (2025). Exploring liminality through the linguistic, visual, and material design of there's a ghost in this house. Children's Literature in Education, online, 1-17.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2025 Mirriahi, N., Marrone, R., Barthakur, A., Gabriel, F., Colton, J., Yeung, T. N., . . . Kovanovic, V. (2025). The relationship between students' self-regulated learning skills and technology acceptance of GenAI. AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, 41(2), 16-33.
DOI WoS6
2024 Maher, K., Rigney, L. I., King, M., Garrett, R., Windle, J., Memon, N., . . . Hattam, R. (2024). Curriculum, democracy and pedagogies for justice: a collective futures dialogue. Curriculum Perspectives, 44(2), 105-119.
DOI Scopus6
2024 Leonard, S. N., Devis, D., MacGill, B., Unsworth, P., Colton, J., & Fowler, S. (2024). Enhancing Empathy for Justice: A Methodology for Expansive Teacher Professional Development through Creative Body-Based Learning. Sustainability Switzerland, 16(1), 16 pages.
DOI Scopus2
2024 Colton, J., O'Keeffe, L., Barry, G., White, B., & White, J. (2024). Teacher's perceptions of pedagogical practices in innovative learning spaces. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 32(3), 675-697.
DOI Scopus5 WoS4
2023 Colton, J., Serafini, F., Lovett, T., Forrest, S., Gale, J., Gehling, K., . . . Carter, J. (2023). Readers matter: seven transactions with the visual, linguistic and material elements in a picture book. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 46(3), 219-231.
DOI Scopus3 WoS1
2023 Colton, J., & Carter, J. (2023). Editorial to the Special Issue: Stories that matter: the matter of stories. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 46(3), 213-217.
DOI
2022 Colton, J., Mignone, J., & Newport Peace, D. (2022). Nodes of tension: negotiating epistemic fluency in interdisciplinary co-teaching. Australian Educational Researcher, 49(3), 511-527.
DOI Scopus5 WoS3
2020 Colton, J. (2020). Social, innovative and deep: exploring digital literacies in a year 9 english classroom. Changing English, 27(3), 270-284.
DOI Scopus7 WoS3
2019 Colton, J. (2019). Breaking out, finding and using information: theorising learner identities in assemblages of teaching and learning with technology. Technology, pedagogy and education, 28(4), 425-434.
DOI Scopus6 WoS3

Year Citation
2022 Barry, G., O'Keeffe, L., White, B., Colton, J., & Farmer, L. (2022). Preliminary exploration of noise and student learning in modern flexible education spaces. In N. Kessissoglou, & M. Buret (Eds.), Proceedings of Acoustics 2021 Making Waves: Annual Conference of the Australian Acoustical Society (pp. 1-3). Australia: Australian Acoustical Society.
2021 Barry, G., O'Keeffe, L., White, B., Colton, J., & Farmer, L. (2021). Preliminary exploration of noise and student learning in modern flexible education spaces. In Annual Conference of the Australian Acoustical Society 2021 Making Waves AAS 2021 (pp. 278-280).
  • Sound Scaping: A preliminary exploration of noise and its impact on student learning in situ, Australian Acoustical Society - Education Grant, 01/12/2019 - 30/03/2022

Courses I teach

  • EDUC 3062 English Curriculum: Text Production (2025)
  • EDUC 5163 English for Secondary Teaching 1 (2025)
  • EDUC 3082 Beyond Narrative (2024)

Programs I'm associated with

  • LHSE - Bachelor of Secondary Education (Honours)

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2025 Co-Supervisor Pedagogies for Diversity - Master Part Time Ms Dani Stratford
2025 Co-Supervisor Learning with Generative Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Danielle Marie Cotterell
2024 Co-Supervisor - - Doctorate Part Time Ms Julie Fay Gale
2024 Co-Supervisor Blueprints, builders & balance: Observing the relationship between educational ideals and pedagogical teacher judgements - Master Part Time Mr Jacob Robson
2023 Co-Supervisor 111766 - Exploring the use of Philosophy as a means to enhancing Critical and Creative Thinking - Doctorate Part Time Ms Rebecca Burton-Howard
2020 Co-Supervisor The Networks, Associated Practices, and Value Creation of Social Learning Amongst Teachers Engaged in Practitioner Research Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Ms Lesley-Anne Johnson

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