Conference Overview
Next-Gen Learning: Multimodality, AI & Multilingualism, the inaugural conference of the MERLIN (Multimodality in Educational Research and Learning International Network), foregrounds multimodality as a central lens for understanding and shaping the future of education in a world where acquiring knowledge is dynamic and deeply interconnected. As learning increasingly unfolds across digital, physical, linguistic and cultural spaces, meaning-making extends beyond language to include images, sound, gesture, movement, and material interaction, allowing knowledge to be created and experienced in richer, more interactive ways.
At the same time, AI-driven technologies are transforming the ways that multimodal resources are produced, accessed and scaled, introducing new forms of responsiveness, creativity and personalization while intensifying questions of equity, access and the value of human engagement. Drawing on different understandings of multimodality, the conference critically examines how multimodal and multilingual practices can counter industrial-era models of schooling and redefine assessment, teaching and literacies in collaborative and AI-augmented environments.
The conference aims to inspire inclusive, human-centered learning ecologies and to establish a shared vision for multimodal research and practice within the MERLIN community.
Conference Themes
Redefining Learning and Knowledge-Making
Multimodal meaning-making in diverse formal, informal and non-formal (e.g. museums, science centres) learning environments and sites
Multimodality and Learning Across Domains
Exploring how multimodal meaning-making intersects with sociocognitive perspectives, affective and individual difference models and other approaches to learning.
AI-Enhanced Multimodal Learning
Designing, evaluating, and critically reflecting on AI-supported multimodal learning environments and resources.
Multilingualism, Mediating and Translanguaging in Multimodal Contexts
Investigating the interplay of multiple languages, semiotic resources and cultural practices in education.
Future Literacies for New Digital Environments
From digital, visual and data literacies to multiliteracies and new designs for criticality, embodiment and creativity.
Equity, Access, Ethics and Social Justice in Multimodal and AI Learning
Addressing structural inequalities in access, representation, participation and design across scalable learning systems.
Assessment and Collaboration in Multimodal Learning
Developing methods to evaluate collective, interactive and multimodal work while recognizing individual contributions.
Next-Gen Educators and Learners
Preparing teachers and learners as designers of learning