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
Weller, M.; Pitt, B.; Farrow, R. and Bossu, C. (). GO-GN Annual Review 2023. Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN), The Open University (UK), Milton Keynes.
Whitelock, Denise; Goshtasbpour, Fereshte; Pitt, Rebecca; Ferguson, Rebecca and Cross, Simon. (). Capacity building for digital education. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 39 (2) pp. 105-111.
Whitelock, Denise; Goshtasbpour, Fereshte; Pitt, Rebecca; Ferguson, Rebecca and Cross, Simon. (). [Editorial] Capacity building for digital education. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-learning, 39 (2) pp. 105-111.
Pitt, Rebecca (). Open Textbooks in Higher Education Teaching. In: Otto, Daniel; Scharnberg, Gianna; Kerres, Michael and Zawacki-Richter, Olaf eds. Distributed Learning Ecosystems: Concepts, Resources, and Repositories Springer VA Wiesbaden, pp. 97-113.
Mohamud, Khadija; Buckler, Alison; Pitt, Beck and Twining, Peter (). Internet kiosks in Uganda: A window of opportunities?. In: Rienties, Bart; Hampel, Regine; Scanlon, Eileen and Whitelock, Denise eds. Open World Learning: Research, Innovation and the Challenges of High-Quality Education New York, USA: Routledge, pp. 131-143.
Iniesto, Francisco; Pitt, Rebecca; Weller, Martin; Farrow, Robert; Cronin, Catherine; Funk, Johanna; Lambert, Sarah; Nerantzi, Chrissi; Paskevicius, Michael; Pete, Judith; Roberts, Verena; Rodes, Virginia and Vladimirschi, Viviane (). The GO-GN Fellowship reflections report. Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). The Open University (UK).
2021
Weller, Martin; Pitt, Rebecca; Iniesto, Francisco; Farrow, Robert; Bossu, Carina and Vladimirschi, Viviane (). GO-GN Annual Review 2021. Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). The Open University (UK).
Farrow, Robert; Iniesto, Francisco; Weller, Martin; Pitt, Rebecca; Algers, Anne; Bozkurt, Aras; Cox, Glenda; Czerwonogora, Ada; Elias, Tanya; Essmiller, Kathy; Funk, Johanna; Lambert, Sarah; Mittelmeier, Jenna; Nagashima, Tomo; Rabin, Eyal; Rets, Irina; Spica, Elizabeth; Vladimirschi, Viviane and Witthaus, Gabi (). GO-GN Guide to Conceptual Frameworks. Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN). The Open University (UK).
Farrow, Robert; Ferguson, Rebecca; Weller, Martin; Pitt, Rebecca; Sanzgiri, Janesh and Habib, Mustafa. (). Assessment and Recognition of MOOCs: The State of the Art. Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education, 3 (1) pp. 15-26.
2020
Weller, Martin; Pitt, Rebecca; Iniesto, Francisco and Farrow, Robert (). GO-GN Annual Review 2020. Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN).
Gregson, Jon; Pitt, Beck and Seal, Timothy (). TIDE Digital Strategy Report. Transformation by Innovation in Distance Education (TIDE), Milton Keynes.
Farrow, Robert; Iniesto, Francisco; Weller, Martin and Pitt, Rebecca (). GO-GN Research Methods Handbook. Milton Keynes: Global OER Gradate Network.
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.
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
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.
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; 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.