Janette Hughes
PhD
Professor
Former Canada Research Chair, Technology & Pedagogy (2015 - 2025)
Faculty of Education
Contact information
Charles Hall
- Room 352B
Downtown Oshawa
61 Charles Street
Oshawa, ON L1H 4X8
905.721.8668 ext. 2875
Dr. Janette Hughes: Critical digital literacies, Futures Literacy, and digital innovations in education
Dr. Janette Hughes' research explores critical digital literacies, artificial intelligence in education, and innovative teaching approaches that prepare learners to thrive in a digital world. Her work examines how maker pedagogies and emerging technologies can foster creativity, critical thinking, student agency, and equity and inclusion. She also investigates how these approaches can support global competencies, mental wellness, and more accessible learning experiences for all students. More recently, her research has focused on AI Literacy, Futures Literacy, and helping educators navigate the social and ethical challenges of rapid technological change.Bio
Dr. Janette Hughes is a Professor in the Frazer Faculty of Education at Ontario Tech University. She is a former Tier II Canada Research Chair in Technology & Pedagogy (2015-2025). She earned an M.A. (T) in Education from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. from Western University.
Dr. Hughes is an internationally renowned scholar and a recipient of multiple teaching, mentorship and research awards. Her research focuses on digital literacies, artificial intelligence in education, and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. She is particularly interested in how emerging technologies shape human relationships, learning, creativity, critical thinking, and well-being across educational and community contexts. Her work emphasizes human flourishing, ethical AI use, and the cultivation of thoughtful, compassionate, and critically informed engagement with AI throughout the lifespan. Through collaborative research with community organizations, educators, and policymakers, she seeks to develop innovative approaches that empower all learners to engage confidently and critically with digital technologies and AI-driven systems.
Website Google Scholar ResearchGate
Courses taught
Bachelor of Arts (Educational Studies)
- AEDT 3110U - Information Literacy
Bachelor of Education
- CURS 4110U - Curriculum Studies I: IS English
- CURS 4111U - Curriculum Studies II: IS English
- CURS 4210U - Curriculum Studies I: PJ Language Arts
- CURS 4211U - Curriculum Studies I: PJ Language Arts
Graduate
- EDUC 5108G - Youth, Media and Pop Culture
- EDUC 5199G - Special Topics: Social Media and Education
- EDUC 5303G - Technology and the Curriculum
- EDUC 5304G - Digital Literacy: Theory, Practice and Research
Doctoral
- EDUC 7002G - Research Methodology
- EDUC 7003G - Thesis Proposal
Research and expertise
- Critical Digital Literacies, including:
- Critical AI Literacies
- Media Literacy
- Relational AI Literacy
- Ethical and Social Implications of AI
- Human Flourishing and Digital Wellness
- Creativity / Making / Creative Arts
- Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies
- Intergenerational Learning
- Women in AI
For recent publications, follow Dr. Hughes on LinkedIn or ResearchGate.
Grogan-Graham, E., Byers Reid, T., Hughes, J., Petrarca, D. (2026). Insights on innovation: Charting trends in digital education through a novel hybrid AI-human coding methodology. Proceedings of the International Conference on Networked Learning, 15. https://doi.org/10.54337/nlc.v15.10850
Butler-Ulrich, T., & Hughes, J. (2025). Going over the wall: Supporting critical artificial intelligence literacy using narrative design fiction. Journal of Digital Life and Learning, 4(1), 86-115. https://doi.org/10.51357/jdll.v4i1.273
Gadanidis, G., Hughes, J. M., Namukasa, I., & Scucuglia, R. (2024). Computer programming puzzles, mathematics education, and the culture of learning. In L. D. English & T. Lehmann (Eds.), Ways of thinking in STEM-based problem solving. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003404989-16
Hughes, J., Morrison, L., Robb, J. A., & Schira-Hagerman, M. (2023). "It feels like I have a camera in my eye": New methods for literacies research in maker-oriented classrooms. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1098410
Morrison, L. & Hughes, J. (2022). Making the shift to virtual professional learning. Technology, Pedagogy & Education, 32(1), 105-116. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2022.2156918
Maas, M. J., & Hughes, J. M. (2020). Virtual, augmented and mixed reality in K-12 education: A review of the literature. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 29(2), 231-249. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2020.1737210
Hughes, J. & Morrison, L., Mamolo, A., Laffier, J. & de Castell (2019). Full STEAM Ahead: Transforming Learning in Ontario One Makerspace at a Time. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(1), 309-325.
Hughes, J. (2017). Meaningful making: Establishing a makerspace in your school or classroom. What Works? Research into Practice. Literacy Numeracy Secretariat. Ontario Ministry of Education, Toronto: Queen’s Printer.
Hughes, J. (2017). Digital making with "at-risk" youth. International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 34(2), 102-113. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJILT-08-2016-0037
Hughes, J. & Laffier, J. (2016). Portrayals of the Bully, Bullied and Bystander in YA Fiction: Considerations for Schools. Canadian Journal of Education, 39(3), 1-24.
Hughes, J. & Morrison, L. (2014). The Impact of Social Networking and a Multiliteracies Pedagogy on English Language Learners’ Writer Identities. In S. Taylor (Ed.) Writing & Pedagogy Special Issue: Children’s Writing: Perspectives on Teaching and Learning, 6(3), 607-631.