Beck is a researcher and member of the Open Education Research (OER) Hub. Beck is also the EdD programme Academic Coordinator for Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) for cohorts prior to October 2019 and a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority (FHEA).
Since 2013 the OER Hub has worked collaboratively to investigate the impact of open education on learning and teaching. As at May 2019, Beck is currently working across a number of projects:
• Work package lead and responsible for the successful development and delivery of the ERASMUS+ funded European MOOC Consortium (EMC) Labour Market project’s quality assurance processes, guidance, templates and quality monitoring throughout the project’s duration.
• Leading IET’s contribution to the support and ICT staff strand of the SPHEIR programme Transformation by Innovation in Distance Education (TIDE), which is focused on improving the quality and perception of distance education in Myanmar and facilitating the co-development of 400+ hours of environmental science OER across 30+ participating Myanmar HEIs.
Beck is responsible for co-developing and delivering an online and in-country 2-year cycle of training on open education, distance learning and other key skills to three cohorts of staff across the project’s duration. Beck also contributes to a range of other TIDE project activity including Digital Strategy and ICT pilot work, representation of the project during on-site visits to potential collaborators/participating universities, delivery of other training workshops including course production and contributing to the project’s action research strand.
• Beck also works with colleagues in the OER Hub team to manage the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN), which supports postgraduate students around the world who are working on open education topics. GO-GN runs an annual conference, awards and provides ongoing support through monthly webinars and other activity.
Beck has acted as reviewer for numerous conferences and journals and was the lead author for the Open University's H819 module, week 13 on Open Research. Beck was the lead author of the OEPS project Becoming and Open Educator badged open course and was responsible for the delivery of both iterations of the OER Hub's award winning open course Open Research (Autumn 2014 and Autumn 2015) and the later delivery of an open textbook based around the course and participant contributions (released November 2016).
Previous projects Beck has collaborated on include:
• The ERASMUS+ funded bizMOOC project, which analysed the needs and awareness of MOOC in businesses across Europe and supported the use and collaborative development of MOOC by HEIs and Businesses;
• The Hewlett Foundation funded UK Open Textbooks project which evaluated the feasibility/transferability of US models of open textbook advocacy within the UK HE context;
• The Scottish Funding Council funded Opening Educational Practices in Scotland (OEPS) project, which promoted and co-developed OER and open practices across Scotland.
• During the first phase of the OER Hub, funded by the Hewlett Foundation, Beck focused particularly on informal learning and open textbooks. She was responsible for collaborative research with BCcampus, Siyavula, OpenStax, Bridge to Success, Co-PILOT and P2PU/School of Open.
Prior to her joining the OER Hub, Beck worked on the NGLC funded Open Learning: Bridge to Success project, providing research and project support. She also supported the JISC funded Track OER and OLDS-MOOC projects and the EC FP7 JuxtaLearn project.
Prior to joining the OU, Beck worked at the University of Essex supporting the EC FP7 Council of European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA) Preparatory Phase Project (PPP) for its duration.
2019
- Weller, Martin; Farrow, Robert and Pitt, Rebecca. (). GO-GN: Lessons in Building an Open Research Community. In: Pan Commonwealth Forum 9 (PCF9), 9-12 Sep 2019, Edinburgh, Scotland.
- Coughlan, Tim; Pitt, Beck and Farrow, Rob. (). Forms of Innovation Inspired by Open Educational Resources: A Post-Project Analysis. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-learning, 34 (2) pp. 156-175.
- Pitt, Rebecca; Farrow, Robert; Jordan, Katy; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Weller, Martin; Kernohan, D and Rolfe, V (). The UK Open Textbooks Report. Open Education Research Hub.
2017
- Weller, Martin; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca and McAndrew, Patrick (). What Can OER Do for Me? Evaluating the Claims for OER. In: Jhangiani, R. S. and Biswas-Diener, R. eds. Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science London, UK: Ubiquity Press, pp. 67-78.
2016
- Farrow, Rob; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Weller, Martin and Pitt, Rebecca (). OER Hub Researcher Pack. Milton Keynes, UK: OER Hub.
- Pitt, Rebecca; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Rob and Weller, Martin (). Open Research. Milton Keynes, UK: OER Hub.
- de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick. (). Adapting the Curriculum: How K-12 Teachers Perceive the Role of Open Educational Resources. Journal of Online Learning Research, 2 (1) pp. 23-40.
- Weller, Martin; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Rob; Pitt, Rebecca and McAndrew, Patrick (). Identifying Categories of Open Educational Resource Users. In: Blessinger, Patrick and Bliss, TJ eds. Open Education: International Perspectives in Higher Education Open Book Publishers, pp. 73-92.
2015
- Farrow, Robert; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Pitt, Rebecca and Weller, Martin. (). Who are the Open Learners? A Comparative Study Profiling non-Formal Users of Open Educational Resources. EURODL (European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning), 18 (2) pp. 50-74.
- Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca; de los Arcos, Beatriz; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick. (). Impact of OER use on teaching and learning: data from OER Research Hub (2013–2014). British Journal of Educational Technology, 46 (5) pp. 972-976.
- de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick (). OER Research Hub Data 2013-2015: Educators. Open Education Research Hub.
- de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick (). OER Research Hub Data 2013-2015: Formal Learners. Open Education Research Hub.
- de los Arcos, Beatriz; Farrow, Robert; Pitt, Rebecca; Perryman, Leigh-Anne; Weller, Martin and McAndrew, Patrick (). OER Research Hub Data 2013-2015: Informal Learners. Open Education Research Hub.
- Weller, Martin; de los Arcos, Bea; Farrow, Rob; Pitt, Beck and McAndrew, Patrick. (). The Impact of OER on Teaching and Learning Practice. Open Praxis, 7 (4) pp. 351-361.
2014
- de los Arcos, B.; Farrow, R.; Perryman, L.-A.; Pitt, R. and Weller, M. (). OER Evidence Report 2013-2014. OER Research Hub.
2013
- Pitt, Rebecca; Ebrahimi, Nassim; McAndrew, Patrick and Coughlan, Tim. (). Assessing OER impact across organisations and learners: experiences from the Bridge to Success project. Journal of Interactive Media in Education.
- Coughlan, Tim; Ebrahimi, Nassim; McAndrew, Patrick and Pitt, Rebecca. (). Assessing OER impact across varied organisations and learners: experiences from the "Bridge to Success" initiative. In: OER13: Creating a Virtuous Circle, 26-27 Mar 2013, Nottingham, UK.
- Coughlan, Tim; Pitt, Rebecca and McAndrew, Patrick. (). Building open bridges: collaborative remixing and reuse of open educational resources across organisations. In: 2013 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems ‘changing perspectives’ (CHI 2013), 29 Apr - 02 May 2013, Paris, France.
Completed
Past
Conference Presentation
8th March 2017
Researching Open Education: A systematic review of GO-GN theses
OE Global Conference 2017 Cape Town, South Africa
Workshop
23rd September 2016
"Thinking about Open" workshop
College Development Network
Workshop
22nd September 2016
"Thinking about Open" workshop
University of Highlands and Islands
Workshop
27th July 2016
"Thinking about Open" workshop
Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow
Conference Presentation
19th April 2016
Reflecting back on the diverse innovations and impacts prompted by an OER project.
OER16: Open Culture University of Edinburgh, UK
Conference Presentation
19th April 2016
Awareness of OER and OEP in Scotland: Survey Findings from the OEPS Project
OER16: Open Culture University of Edinburgh, UK
Conference Presentation
19th April 2016
Categories and strategies of OER usage
OER16: Open Culture University of Edinburgh, UK
Workshop
22nd January 2016
"Thinking about Open" workshop
The University of Glasgow, Glasgow
Workshop
30th October 2015
"Thinking about Open" workshop
University of the West of Scotland, Paisley
Workshop
27th October 2015
"Thinking about Open" workshop
University of Dundee
Workshop
30th April 2015
"Thinking about Open" workshop
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
Awards
Digital Educational Achievement Award in the Community College Digital Application Category: US Centre for Digital Education
Bridge to SuccessDistance Learning Program of the Year by Maryland Distance Learning Association (MDLA)
Honorable Mention for Course/OCW/MOOC Category in Open Education Awards for Excellence 2017 (Open Education Consortium)
Becoming an Open Educator open courseOpen Education Award for Excellence (Projects Category) for Open Research
OER Research HubRCUK/Open University Engaging Research Award 2015 for the project’s P2PU Open Research course
OER Research HubSocial media
Areas of expertise
Affiliations
Research Students
Professional Memberships
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy