Biography
Dr Beck Pitt is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at The Open University (UK). She has worked in UK Higher Education for over 15 years in both co-ordination and research roles, on multi-partner, international projects.
Since joining The Open University in June 2011, Beck has worked in a variety of capacities on open education projects, and since January 2013 in a full-time research capacity as a member of the internationally renowned, award winning Open Education Research (OER) Hub. Beck has extensive experience of successful collaboration with stakeholders in a wide variety of contexts including South Africa, Myanmar, Viet Nam, Kenya, Canada, United States and across Europe.
Beck has led and contributed to a range of projects including:
The Hewlett Foundation funded Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) which supports doctoral students around the world working on open education topics. Beck is co-investigator and responsible for the project's communication strategy.
The UK Government Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funded Skills for Prosperity Kenya. Beck’s contribution focused on co-designing digital education programmes and supporting capacity building projects for eight public universities across Kenya.
Principal Investigator for The British Council in Viet Nam funded Digital Transformation in Viet Nam Higher Education scoping study, collaborating with Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) to produce the report Readiness of Digital Transformation in Vietnamese Universities.
The ERASMUS+ European Commission (Knowledge Alliance) project European MOOC Consortium Labour Market (EMC-LM). Beck was work package lead for quality assurance and responsible for the development and delivery of EMC-LM’s quality assurance processes and plan.
The SPHEIR UKAid funded Transformation by Innovation in Distance Education (TIDE) project which improved the quality and perception of distance education in Myanmar. Beck led and contributed to a range of TIDE’s activities including co-developing and co-delivering online and in-country two-year cycles of training, developing and delivering an e-learning pilot exploring the potential of open textbooks and instigating, developing and facilitating the co-created, localised remix of the Creative Commons Certificate for Librarians Copyright and Open Licensing in Myanmar and associated materials.
Beck is also a member of the Journal of Interactive Media in Education (JIME) editorial team and co-convenor for the Computers and Learning Research Group (CALRG).
Publications
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
Awards
Digital Educational Achievement Award in the Community College Digital Application Category: US Centre for Digital Education
Bridge to Success
Distance Learning Program of the Year by Maryland Distance Learning Association (MDLA)
Finalist: 8th e-Learning Excellence Awards at ECEL 2022
Skills for Prosperity Kenya: DEUinK: Open Orchestration for capacity development nationwide.
Honorable Mention for Course/OCW/MOOC Category in Open Education Awards for Excellence 2017 (Open Education Consortium)
Becoming an Open Educator open course
Joint Winner for the Open Collaboration category (Open Practices Award) Open Education Awards for Excellence
Transformation by Innovation in Distance Education (TIDE)
Open Education Award for Excellence (Projects Category) for Open Research
OER Research Hub
RCUK/Open University Engaging Research Award 2015 for the project’s P2PU Open Research course
OER Research Hub
Research Methods Handbook: Winner of the Open Research category (Open Practices Award) in the Open Education Awards for Excellence (OE Global)
Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN)
Winner of the Open Research category for Open Education Awards for Excellence 2018 (Open Education Consortium)
Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN)
Research programmes
Expertise
Professional memberships
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy