Kelly's educational career commenced in kindergarten, when she declared, she would be a teacher when "she grew up". Kelly completed a double degree in early childhood and primary education and then worked for 18 years as a teacher across both settings.

After completing further study, Kelly commenced work with Monash University in the Faculty of Education. Her research has included; an investigation into the ways that iPads can be used to scaffold oral language development, the ways that apps can be used as an educational tool and the use of gaming in classrooms. She is currently researching the use of multimodal texts in primary classrooms. Kelly's other research interests surround the changing nature of 21st-century education, mobile technologies and teacher education.

Her passion for education is still alive and burning.