Nicola Yelland is an Honorary Professor in the Centre for International Research on Education Systems (CIRES) at Victoria University.

Over the last decade her teaching and research has been related to the use of ICT in school and community contexts. This has involved projects that have investigated the innovative learning of children as well as a broader consideration of the ways in which new technologies can impact on the pedagogies that teachers use and the curriculum in schools.

Her multidisciplinary research focus has enabled her to work with early childhood, primary and middle school teachers to enhance the ways in which ICT can be incorporated into learning contexts. Her focus is on making learning more interesting and motivating for students so that educational outcomes are improved.

Areas of expertise

  • Early childhood education
  • gender issues in education and society
  • New technologies
  • Popular culture and children
  • Transformative curriculum and pedagogies

Publications

Professor Yelland is the founding editor of two journals Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood and Global Studies of Childhood.  She is the Series Editor for Routledge (NY) for Changing Images of Early Childhood & has a series entitled Global Childhoods with Springer.

Refereed journal articles

Arnott, L. & Yelland, N.J. (2020). Multimodal lifeworlds: Pedagogies for play inquiries and explorations. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 9(1) 124-146

Arvanitis, E., Yelland, N.J. & Kiprianos, P. (2019). Home means everything to me…’: A study of young Syrian refugee’s narratives constructing homeJournal of Refugee Studies. DOI10.1093/jrs/fez030

Hu, X. & Yelland N.J. (2019). Changing learning ecologies in early childhood teacher education: From technology to STEM learning. Bejing International Review of Education, 1(2). 1-21

Arvanitis, E., Yelland, N.J. & Kiprianos, P. (2019). Liminal spaces of temporary dwellings: Transitioning to new lives in times of crisis. Journal of Research in Childhood Education. 33:1, 134-144.

Yelland, N.J. (2018). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Young children and multimodal learning with tablets.  British Journal of Educational Technology. 49(5). 847-858.

Yelland, N.J. & Gilbert, C,L. (2018). Transformative technologies and play in the early years: Using tablets for new learning. Global Studies of Childhood. 8(2). 152-161. DOI:10.1177/2043610617734985

Yelland, N.J., Muspratt, S. & Gilbert, C.L. (2018) Behind the high stakes testing results: Hong Kong children report on aspects of their schooling experiences. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Global Studies.12(4). 1-17.

Lee, I Fang & Yelland, N.J. (2017). Crafting Miniature Students in the Early Years: Schooling for Desirable Childhoods in East Asia. International Journal of Early Childhood. 49(1). 39-56. DOI 10.1007/s13158-017-0183-7

Xu, A & Yelland N.J. (2017). The investigation of ICT adoption of pre-service early childhood teachers’ teaching practicum. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education.38(3). 259-274. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2017.1335664

Yelland, N.J., Muspratt, S. & Gilbert, C.L. (2017). Exploring the lifeworlds of children in Hong Kong: Parents reporting on after school time use. Educational Review of Research.12(14). 677-687.

View more of Nicola Yelland's research

Books, reports & volumes

Yelland, N.J. & Franz-Bentley, D.  (Eds.) (2018). Found in translation: Connecting reconceptualist thinking with contemporary early childhood practices.  New York: Routledge

Yelland, N.J. & Gilbert, C.L (2016) SmartStart: Pathways to new learning for Indigenous children.  Report to IBM.

Yelland, N.J. & Gilbert, C.L (2015). Inking your thinking. A report to DET (Victoria) and Microsoft.

Yelland, N.J., Butler, D., & Diezmann, C. (2014). Early mathematical explorations (2nd Ed.). Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

Yelland, N.J. & Gilbert, C.L. (2014). SmartStart: Creating new contexts for learning in the 21st century. A report for IBM. Melbourne: Victoria University.

Book chapters

Arnott, L. & Yelland, N.J. (in press). Multimodal childhoods: Lifeworlds and lived experiences of young children in pedagogic cultures.  In N.J. Yelland, L. Peters, N. Fairchild, M. Tesar, M. Perez (Eds.) Global Childhoods. SAGE handbook, London, UK: SAGE.

Yelland, N.J. (in press) STEM learning ecologies: Supporting the transition from preschool to school in productive partnerships. In S. Garvis & C. Chorssen (Eds.). Embedding STEAM in ECE. London:Palgrave.

Yelland, N.J. (2020). Play and learning in the digital age. In A. Kilderry & B. Raban (Eds.). Strong foundations: Evidence informing practice in early childhood.  Melbourne, Victoria: ACER

Yelland, N.J. & Gilbert, C.L. (2020). Digital technologies and literacy contexts for young indigenous children. Global policies and issues. in Tatnall, A. (ed.). (pp 592-607). Springer: New York, NY

Yelland, N.J. & Frantz-Bentley, D. (2018). Found in translation: Reconceptualising early childhood education. In N.J. Yelland & D. Frantz-Bentley.(Eds.). pp8-20. Found in translation: Connecting reconceptualist thinking and contemporary early childhood practices.New York:Routledge. 

Yelland, N.J. & Gilbert, C.L. (2017). Reimagining play with new technologies. In L. Arnott (Ed.) Digital technologies and learning in the early years. London, UK: SAGE.

View all of Nicola Yelland's publications.

Research grants

  • 2018 ARC Discovery. Global childhoods in Asian Century: Connecting policy, educational experiences and everyday lifeworlds of children in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.
  • 2018 STEM Bridge Project. DECD (SA).
  • 2016 Early Learning in STEM Education. Commonwealth DET
  • 2012-2015 SmartStart. IBM

Teaching responsibilities

Postgraduate research students

Completions: 5 Honours students, 10 Master of Education, 15 PhD students.
Current supervision: 8 PhD students, 2 Master of Education Students.

Professional memberships

  • American Educational Research Association
  • Victorian Institute of Teachers
  • Early Childhood Australia 

Appearances in the media

Professor Yelland writes regularly for the Conversation and has been interviewed frequently by ABC Radio National regarding her views on education.