Rate My Professor Jessica Mantei

Jessica Mantei is an Associate Professor in Language and Literacy in the School of Education and Early Start at the University of Wollongong's Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities. She serves as Deputy Head of the School of Education. Mantei earned her Masters in Education (Research) in 2006 and PhD in 2010 from the University of Wollongong. Her career encompasses extensive experience in early childhood, primary, and tertiary education sectors. Her research centers on early literacy teaching and learning across educational settings, transitions between early childhood and school contexts, and the development of proficiency in reading, writing, talking, and listening in both digital and print-based environments. She explores effective pedagogies to improve learner outcomes and examines children's interactions with educators and technology.

Mantei has co-developed the Online Reading Assessment (ORA) tool in 2016 with Lisa Kervin, which assists teachers in evaluating students' online reading proficiency. She has produced teaching resources utilizing eye movement technology and miscue analysis for reading assessments. Her scholarly output includes over 15 peer-reviewed journal articles, five peer-reviewed book chapters, and practitioner-focused texts. Key publications feature 'Design principles for mobile learning' (2009, 261 citations), 'New technologies, new pedagogies: Mobile learning in higher education' (2009, 212 citations), 'Interpreting the images in a picture book: Students make connections to themselves, their lives and experiences' (2014, 115 citations), 'Pretend Play: Children in Control of a Shifting Narrative' (2022), 'Teacher produced video tours of classrooms: what matters for teachers?' (2025), and 'Examining teachers' navigation of their professional identities during induction' (2025). She has delivered invited keynotes, national and international conference presentations, and teacher workshops. Mantei contributes editorially as Associate Editor of the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy.