Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Missouri
Literacy, AI, digital citizenship, and game-based learning
Research and professional learning for literacy in a changing digital world.
Dr. Sam von Gillern is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Missouri; approved for promotion to Associate Professor, effective September 1, 2026. His work helps educators, schools, universities, and organizations make thoughtful decisions about AI, digital literacies, digital citizenship, games, and literacy learning.
Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award recipient for a 2027 AI literacy project with rural Chilean K-8 teachers
Peer-reviewed scholarship on AI, literacy, digital citizenship, media literacy, and video game literacies
University teaching across literacy assessment, reading methods, writing, doctoral seminars, and video game literacies
Research Focus
Sam studies literacy education where emerging technologies, teacher education, and public digital life meet.
Artificial Intelligence and Literacy Education
Sam studies how teachers and students understand, question, and use artificial intelligence in literacy contexts, including writing instruction and educator preparedness.
Read more about this workDigital Literacies, Media Literacy, and Digital Citizenship
Sam's scholarship examines how learners analyze, create, share, and participate across digital and media environments.
Read more about this workVideo Games, Game-Based Learning, and Literacy
Sam studies games as literacy-rich environments where players interpret multimodal texts, make decisions, collaborate, and learn.
Read more about this workTeacher Education and Professional Learning
Across his research and teaching, Sam supports preservice and practicing teachers as they respond to emerging technologies and changing literacy demands.
Read more about this workSpeaking and Consulting
Available for talks, workshops, consulting, research partnerships, and AI-powered research/data analysis projects.
Sam brings a scholar's care and a teacher educator's practicality to conversations about AI literacy, responsible technology use, digital citizenship, media literacy, and game-based learning.
AI literacy for educators and students
Responsible AI use in schools
AI-powered research and data analysis
Consulting lane
AI-Powered Research & Data Analysis
Sam helps teams use emerging AI tools for practical, ethical, research-grounded analysis of qualitative and open-ended data.
Built for education, literacy, and social-science teams working with qualitative data, open-ended responses, research artifacts, and privacy-aware local workflows.