Photo of Prof Rebecca Ferguson

People

Prof Rebecca Ferguson BA (Hons) MA PGCE MSc(RMET) SFHEA

Professor of Learning Futures

About

I am Professor of Learning Futures at The Open University, focusing on educational futures, learning analytics, MOOCs, innovating pedagogy and online social learning.

I was academic lead on OU's Microcredentials for their first two years. These are short, affordable and globally recognised courses, aimed at students who are already in work. Microcredentials provide an opportunity for individuals who want to progress within their existing career field,. They also provide an opportunity to respond to the rapidly changing need for new skills and qualifications.

Before moving to microcrdentials, I chaired the 60-credit postgraduate module H880: technology-enhanced learning – foundations and futures. This is the first OU module to be presented on the FutureLearn platform and students who complete it successfully can claim a postgraduate certificate in open and distance education (PGCert ODE) or put the 60 credits towards an Open Masters qualification. You can keep up with the H880 community via our Twitter account @OUH880, and you can register for the module here https://www.futurelearn.com/degrees/the-open-university/online-and-distance-education

For three years, I was lead author on the series of reports on Innovating Pedagogy, published each year by IET. The series explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment in order to guide educators and policymakers. The 2022 report was released recently and looked at ten new pedagogies. You can download all the reports from the Innovating Pedagogy website http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/innovating/ together with a series of help sheets designed to support people who are moving to online or distance teaching.

I am currently editor-in-chief of the Journal of Learning Analytics. Prior to that appointment, I was an executive member of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR) for four years and have twice been Program Chair for the international conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge, LAK18 in Sydney, and LAK19 in Arizona.

I have been a pedagogic adviser to the FutureLearn MOOC platform since its foundation, supporting its development of conversational learning. I am also Academic Coordinator of the FutureLearn Academic Network, linking academics from over 170 partner institutions around the world and helping to develop a focused research agenda.

Biography

Biography

Rebecca is Professor of Learning Futures in the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) and a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her primary research interests are educational futures and how people learn together online. She was academic lead on The Open University's microcredentials for two years. These are short, affordable and globally recognised courses, aimed at students who are already in work, and providing support for individuals who want to progress within their existing career field,.

Rebecca is an editor-in chief of the Journal of Learning Analytics and a leading member of the international learning analytics community. Her work has been influential in shaping the field, supporting implementation across Europe, and promoting a focus on social learning analytics. She has been invited to lead events in this area on five continents, including several associated with her work as principal investigator on the European Learning Analytics Community Exchange (LACE) and on LAEP, a project that helped European policymakers to set out an agenda for high-quality and stimulating ways of learning and teaching through the use of learning analytics. She was principal investigator on the European project: European MOOC Consortium: Labour Market. She was a Program Chair of the Learning Analytics and Knowledge 2018 (LAK18) conference in Sydney, Australia, and LAK19 in Tempe, Arizona.

Rebecca has been a pedagogic adviser to the FutureLearn MOOC platform since its foundation, supporting its development of conversational learning. Her extensive experience of MOOC development and evaluation provides a firm basis for her research on learning at scale. She is Academic Coordinator of the FutureLearn Academic Network (FLAN), linking academics from more than 160 partner institutions around the world and helping to develop a focused research agenda. In particular, she focuses on developing the next generation of researchers in this field, and organises an annual conference event that brings together postgraduate students from universities around the world.

Rebecca worked for three years as lead author on the Innovating Pedagogy reports. This highly cited series of high-profile annual reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment in order to guide educators and policy makers around the world.

Rebecca worked for several years as a researcher and educator on the Schome project, focused on educational futures. She was the research lead on the SocialLearn online learning platform, and learning analytics lead on the Open Science Lab (Outstanding ICT Initiative of the Year: THE Awards 2014). She is currently one of the lead researchers on the Rumpus project, which investigates the links between fun and learning.

Rebecca is currently supervising two doctoral students.

• Sarah Huxley began her PhD studies in October 2019. She is working with Coaches across Continents and exploring the relationship between fun and learning as part of the Rumpus Group.

• Janice Ansine began her EdD studies in May 2017. She is exploring citizen science learning journeys through iSpotnature.org

Past students include:

• Barbara Conde successfully completed her viva in August 2020. She was part of the cohort of Leverhulme-funded students working on Open World Learning. Her work focuses on self-regulated language learning in massive open online learning.

• Derek Robertson successfully completed his viva in May 2012, focusing on the research question How can digital video and audio be used to support a sociocultural approach to teaching and learning in Higher Education?

• Anna Comas-Quinn successfully completed her viva in January 2020. Her thesis is on MOOC educators – Experiences of online volunteer translation and implications for translation education.

• Tina Papathoma successfully completed her viva in January 2019. Her thesis is on MOOC educators – who they are and how they learn.

• Hannah Gore successfully completed her viva in July 2018. Her thesis is on Engagement of informal learners undertaking open online courses and the impact of design.

• Duygu Bektik successfully completed her viva in December 2016. Her thesis is on Learning analytics for academic writing through automatic identification of meta-discourse.

• Claudia Favero successfully completed her viva in February 2014. Her thesis is on digital historians and on Innovation in digital history teaching and research.

Publications

2023

Kitto, Kirsty; Manly, Catherine A; Ferguson, Rebecca and Poquet, Oleksandra. (). Towards more replicable content analysis for learning analytics. In: LAK 23: 13th Learning Ananlytics and Knowledge conference, 13-17 Mar 2023, Arlington, Texas.

2022

Ferguson, Rebecca; Ochoa, Xavier and Kovanović, Vitomir. (). Learning Analytics: Practitioners, Take Note. Journal of Learning Analytics, 9 (3) pp. 1-7.
Goshtasbpour, Fereshte; Ferguson, Rebecca; Pitt, Rebecca; Cross, Simon and Whitelock, Denise. (). Adapting OER: Addressing the Challenges of Reuse When Designing for HE Capacity Development. In: 21st European Conference on e-Learning (ECEL), 27-28 Oct 2022, Brighton.
Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Bossu, Carina; Charitonos, Koula; Coughlan, Tim; Ferguson, Rebecca; FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Gaved, Mark; Guitert, Montse; Herodotou, Christothea; Maina, Marcelo; Prieto-Blázquez, Josep; Rienties, Bart; Sangrà, Albert; Sargent, Julia; Scanlon, Eileen and Whitelock, Denise (). Innovating Pedagogy 2022: Open University Innovation Report 10. The Open University, Milton Keynes.
Papathoma, Tina; Littlejohn, Allison and Ferguson, Rebecca (). Enabling online learning: who are the educators?. In: Sharpe, Rhona; Bennett, Sue and Varga-Atkins, Tünde eds. Handbook of Digital Higher Education Elgar, pp. 99-110.
Iniesto, Francisco; Ferguson, Rebecca; Weller, Martin; Farrow, Robert and Pitt, Rebecca. (). Introducing a reflective framework for the assessment and recognition of microcredentials. Open Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA) Journal, 2 (2) pp. 1-24.

2021

Iniesto, Francisco; Sargent, Julia; Rienties, Bart; Llorens, Ariadna; Adam, Araceli; Herodotou, Christothea; Ferguson, Rebecca and Muccini, Henry. (). When industry meets Education 4.0: What do Computer Science companies need from Higher Education?. In: TEEM'21: Ninth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality, Association for Computing Machinery, New York, USA, 367-372.
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.
Papathoma, Tina; Ferguson, Rebecca and Vogiatzis, Dimitrios. (). Accessible learning, accessible analytics: a virtual evidence café. In: 11th International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge (LAK21), Workshop 13 Apr Full conference 12-16 April, Online.
Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Bossu, Carina; Coughlan, Tim; Ferguson, Rebecca; FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Gaved, Mark; Herodotou, Christothea; Rienties, Bart; Sargent, Julia; Scanlon, Eileen; Tang, Jinlan; Wang, Qi; Whitelock, Denise and Zhang, Shuai (). Innovating Pedagogy 2021: Open University Innovation Report 9. The Open University, Milton Keynes.
Cerratto Pargman, Teresa; McGrath, Cormac; Viberg, Olga; Kitto, Kirsty; Knight, Simon and Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Responsible learning analytics: creating just, ethical, and caring. In: 11th International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge (LAK21), Workshop 12 Apr ; conference 12-16 April, Online.
Rienties, Bart; Balaban, Igor; Ferguson, Rebecca; Herodotou, Christothea; Iniesto, Francisco; Muccini, Henry; Sargent, Julia and Virkus, Sirje. (). Education 4.0 and Computer Science: A European perspective. In: Central European Conference on Information and Intelligent Systems (CECIIS), Oct 13-15, Varazdin, Croatia.
Aristeidou, Maria; Ferguson, Rebecca; Perryman, Leigh-Anne and Tegama, Natalie. (). The Roles and Value of Citizen Science: Perceptions of Professional Educators Enrolled on a Postgraduate Course. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice.

2020

Ferguson, Rebecca; Childs, Mark; Okada, Alexandra; Sheehy, Kieron; Tatlow-Golden, Mimi and Childs, Anna. (). Creating a Framework of fun and Learning: Using Balloons to Build Consensus. In: 14th European Conference on Games Based Learning - ECGBL 2020, 23-25 Sep 2020, Brighton (held virtually due to COVID).
Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Beirne, Elaine; Conole, Gráinne; Costello, Eamon; Coughlan, Tim; Ferguson, Rebecca; FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Gaved, Mark; Herodotou, Christothea; Holmes, Wayne; Mac Lochlainn, Conchur; Nic Giolla Mhichíl, Mairéad; Rienties, Bart; Sargent, Julia; Scanlon, Eileen; Sharples, Mike and Whitelock, Denise (). Innovating Pedagogy 2020: Open University Innovation Report 8. The Open University, Milton Keynes.
Papathoma, Tina; Ferguson, Rebecca; Iniesto, Francisco; Rets, Irina; Vogiatzis, Dimitrios and Murphy, Victoria. (). Guidance on how Learning at Scale can be made more accessible. In: Proceedings of the Seventh ACM Conference on Learning@ Scale, Aug 12-14, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA.

2019

Jones, Ann; Scanlon, Eileen and Ferguson, Rebecca (). Introduction. In: Ferguson, Rebecca; Jones, Ann and Scanlon, Eileen eds. Educational Visions: Lessons from 40 years of innovation London: Ubiquity Press, pp. 1-12.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Jones, Ann and Scanlon, Eileen (). Educational visions: The lessons from 40 years of innovation. London: Ubiquity Press.
Ferguson, Rebecca (). Teaching and Learning at Scale: Futures. In: Ferguson, Rebecca; Jones, Ann and Scanlon, Eileen eds. Educational visions: The lessons from 40 years of innovation London: Ubiquity Press, pp. 33-50.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Clow, Doug; Griffiths, Dai and Brasher, Andrew. (). Moving Forward with Learning Analytics: Expert Views. Journal of Learning Analytics, 6 (3) pp. 43-59.
Ferguson, Rebecca. (). [Book Review] Reconceptualising learning in the digital age: The [un]democratising potential of MOOCs by Allison Littlejohn and Nina Hood, Springer, 2018. Postdigital Science and Education, 1 (2) pp. 569-572.
Ferguson, Rebecca (). Pedagogical Innovations for Technology-Enabled Learning. The Commonwealth of Learning, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Coughlan, Tim; Egelandsdal, Kjetil; Gaved, Mark; Herodotou, Christothea; Hillaire, Garron; Jones, Derek; Jowers, Iestyn; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; McAndrew, Patrick; Misiejuk, Kamila; Ness, Ingun Johanna; Rienties, Bart; Scanlon, Eileen; Sharples, Mike; Wasson, Barbara; Weller, Martin and Whitelock, Denise (). Innovating Pedagogy 2019: Open University Innovation Report 7. The Open University, Milton Keynes.
Sharples, Mike and Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Pedagogy-informed design of conversational learning at scale. In: EC-TEL 2019: 14th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, 16-19 Sep 2019, Delft, Netherlands.
Buckingham Shum, Simon; Ferguson, Rebecca and Martinez-Maldonado, Roberto. (). Human-Centred Learning Analytics. Journal of Learning Analytics, 6 (2) pp. 1-9.
Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Ethical Challenges for Learning Analytics. Journal of Learning Analytics, 6 (3) pp. 25-30.

2018

Ferguson, Rebecca; Herodotou, Christothea; Coughlan, Tim; Scanlon, Eileen and Sharples, Mike (). MOOC development: priority areas. In: Luckin, Rosemary eds. Enhancing Learning and Teaching with Technology: What the Research Says London: UCL IOE Press.
FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Kucirkova, Natalia; Jones, Ann; Cross, Simon; Ferguson, Rebecca; Herodotou, Christothea; Hillaire, Garron and Scanlon, Eileen. (). Dimensions of personalisation in technology-enhanced learning: a framework and implications for design. British Journal of Educational Technology, 49 (1) pp. 165-181.

2017

Ferguson, Rebecca (). Learning analytics: a firm basis for the future. In: Sheehy, Kieron and Holliman, Andrew eds. Education and New Technologies: Perils and Promises for Learners Abingdon, UK: Routledge, pp. 162-176.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Barzilai, Sarit; Ben-Zvi, Dani; Chinn, Clark A; Herodotou, Christothea; Hod, Yotam; Kali, Yael; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Kupermintz, Haggai; McAndrew, Patrick; Rienties, Bart; Sagy, Ornit; Scanlon, Eileen; Sharples, Mike; Weller, Martin and Whitelock, Denise (). Innovating Pedagogy 2017: Exploring new forms of teaching, learning and assessment, to guide educators and policy makers. Open University Innovation Report 6. The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.
Nguyen, Quan; Rienties, Bart; Toetenel, Lisette; Ferguson, Rebecca and Whitelock, Denise. (). Examining the designs of computer-based assessment and its impact on student engagement, satisfaction, and pass rates. Computers in Human Behavior, 76 pp. 703-714.
Papathoma, Tina; Littlejohn, Allison and Ferguson, Rebecca (). How HE educators learn to teach Massive Open Online Courses. A case study. European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Clow, Doug. (). Learning Analytics: Avoiding Failure. Educause Review Online.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Clow, Doug. (). Where is the evidence? A call to action for learning analytics. In: LAK '17 Proceedings of the Seventh International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference, ACM, New York, USA, 56-65.
Clow, Doug; Ferguson, Rebecca; Kitto, Kirsty; Cho, Yong-Sang; Sharkey, Mike and Aguerrebere, Cecilia. (). Beyond failure: the 2nd LAK Failathon. In: LAK '17 Proceedings of the Seventh International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference, ACM, New York, USA, 504-505.
Clow, Doug; Ferguson, Rebecca; Kitto, Kirsty; Cho, Yong-Sang; Sharkey, Mike and Aguerrebere, Cecilia. (). Beyond Failure: The 2nd LAK Failathon Poster. In: LAK '17 Proceedings of the Seventh International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference, ACM, New York, USA, 540-541.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Coughlan, Tim; Herodotou, Christothea and Scanlon, Eileen (). MOOCs: What the research of FutureLearn’s UK partners tells us. Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, Milton Keynes.

2016

Ferguson, Rebecca; Scanlon, Eileen and Harris, Lisa. (). Developing a strategic approach to MOOCs. Journal of Interactive Media in Education.
Sharples, Mike; de Roock, Roberto; Ferguson, Rebecca; Gaved, Mark; Herodotou, Christothea; Koh, Elizabeth; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Looi, Chee-Kit; McAndrew, Patrick; Rienties, Bart; Weller, Martin and Wong, Lung Hsiang (). Innovating Pedagogy 2016: Open University Innovation Report 5. The Open University.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Coughlan, Tim and Herodotou, Christothea (). MOOCS: What The Open University research tells us. Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, Milton Keynes.
Ferguson, Rebecca. (). 增强学习的可能性与挑战 [Possibilities and challenges of augmented learning]. Distance Education in China, 6 pp. 5-13.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Brasher, Andrew; Clow, Doug; Griffiths, Dai and Drachsler, Hendrik. (). Learning Analytics: Visions of the Future. In: 6th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK) Conference, 25-29 Apr 2016, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Cooper, Martyn; Ferguson, Rebecca and Wolff, Annika. (). What Can Analytics Contribute to Accessibility in e-Learning Systems and to Disabled Students’ Learning?. In: LAK '16: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge, 99-103.
Clow, Doug; Ferguson, Rebecca; Macfadyen, Leah; Prinsloo, Paul and Slade, Sharon. (). LAK Failathon. In: 6th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK) Conference, 25-29 Apr 2016, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Drachsler, Hendrik; Hoel, Tore; Cooper, Adam; Kismihók, Gábor; Berg, Alan; Scheffel, Maren; Chen, Weiqin and Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Ethical and Privacy Issues in the Design of Learning Analytics Applications. In: LAK '16: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge, ACM, New York, 492-493.
Sharples, M.; Adams, A.; Alozie, N.; Ferguson, R.; FitzGerald, E.; Gaved, M.; McAndrew, P.; Means, B.; Remold, J.; Rienties, B.; Roschelle, J.; Vogt, K.; Whitelock, D. and Yarnall, L.. (). 创新教学报告2015 —探索教学、学习与评价的新形式 [Innovating Pedagogy 2015]. 开放学习研究 [Open Learning] pp. 1-18.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Sharkey, Mike and Mirriahi, Negin (). Practitioner Track Proceedings of the 6th International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference (LAK16). Edinburgh, UK: Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR).
Ferguson, Rebecca; Hoel, Tore; Scheffel, Maren and Drachsler, Hendrik. (). Guest Editorial: Ethics and Privacy in Learning Analytics. Journal of Learning Analytics, 3 (1) pp. 5-15.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Hoel, Tore; Scheffel, Maren and Drachsler, Hendrik (). Journal of learning analytics Vol 3, No 1: Special section on ethics and privacy in learning analytics. Sydney, Australia: UTS ePress.
Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Learning at Scale: Using an Evidence Hub To Make Sense of What We Know. In: Learning at Scale 2016, 25-26 Apr 2016, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Clow, Doug. (). Learning Analytics Community Exchange: Evidence Hub. In: 6th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK) Conference, 25-29 Apr 2016, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Papathoma, Tina; Ferguson, Rebecca; Littlejohn, Allison and Coe, Angela. (). Making the Production of Learning at Scale more Open and Flexible. In: L@S '16: Proceedings of the Third ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale, ACM, 273-276.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Brasher, Andrew; Clow, Doug; Cooper, Adam; Hillaire, Garron; Mittelmeier, Jenna; Rienties, Bart; Ullmann, Thomas and Vuorikari, Riina (). Research Evidence on the Use of Learning Analytics: Implications for Education Policy. Joint Research Centre, Seville, Spain.

2015

Sharples, Mike; Adams, Anne; Alozie, N; Ferguson, Rebecca; FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Gaved, Mark; McAndrew, Patrick; Means, B; Remold, J; Rienties, Bart; Roschelle, J; Vogt, K; Whitelock, Denise and Yarnall, L (). Innovating Pedagogy 2015: Open University Innovation Report 4. The Open University.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Clow, Doug. (). Consistent Commitment: Patterns of Engagement across Time in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Journal of Learning Analytics, 2 (3) pp. 55-80.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Clow, Doug; Beale, Russell; Cooper, Alison J; Morris, Neil; Bayne, Siân and Woodgate, Amy. (). Moving through MOOCS: pedagogy, learning design and patterns of engagement. In: Design for Teaching and Learning in a Networked World, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, 70-84.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Sharples, Mike and Beale, Russell (). MOOCs 2030: a future for massive open online learning. In: Bonk, Curtis J.; Lee, Mimi M.; Reeves, Thomas C. and Reynolds, Thomas H. eds. MOOCs and Open Education around the World Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 315-326.
Simsek, Duygu; Sandor, Agnes; Buckingham Shum, Simon; Ferguson, Rebecca; De Liddo, Anna and Whitelock, Denise. (). Correlations between automated rhetorical analysis and tutors’ grades on student essays. In: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Learning Analytics And Knowledge, ACM, 355-359.
Drachsler, Hendrik; Cooper, Adam; Hoel, Tore; Ferguson, Rebecca; Berg, Alan; Scheffel, Maren; Kismihók, Gábor; Manderveld, Jocelyn and Chen, Weiqin. (). Ethical and privacy issues in the application of learning analytics. In: 5th International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference (LAK15): Scaling Up: Big Data to Big Impact, 16-20 Mar 2015, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA.
Mor, Yishay; Ferguson, Rebecca and Wasson, Barbara (). British Journal of Educational Technology, Vol. 46, Issue 2. Special Issue: Teacher-led Inquiry and Learning Design. Wiley.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Clow, Doug. (). Examining engagement: analysing learner subpopulations in massive open online courses (MOOCs). In: 5th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (LAK15), 16-20 Mar 2015, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Cooper, Adam; Drachsler, Hendrik; Kismihók, Gábor; Boyer, Anne; Tammets, Kairit and Martínez Monés, Alejandra. (). Learning analytics: European perspectives. In: 5th International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference (LAK15), 16-20 Mar 2015, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA.
Mor, Yishay; Ferguson, Rebecca and Wasson, Barbara. (). Editorial: Learning design, teacher inquiry into student learning and learning analytics: a call for action. British Journal of Educational Technology, 46 (2) pp. 221-229.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Macfadyen, Leah P.; Clow, Doug; Tynan, Belinda; Alexander, Shirley and Dawson, Shane. (). Setting learning analytics in context: overcoming the barriers to large-scale adoption. Journal of Learning Analytics, 1 (3) pp. 120-144.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Faulkner, Dorothy; Whitelock, Denise and Sheehy, Kieron. (). Pre-teens' informal learning with ICT and Web 2.0. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 24 (2) pp. 247-265.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Sharples, Mike and Beale, Russell. (). MOOCs 2030：大规模开放学习的未来展望. Journal of Beijing Open University pp. 19-24.

2014

Sheehy, Kieron; Ferguson, Rebecca and Clough, Gill (). Augmented education: bringing real and virtual learning together. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Clow, Doug; Macfadyen, Leah; Essa, Alfred; Dawson, Shane and Alexander, Shirley. (). Setting learning analytics in context: overcoming the barriers to large-scale adoption. In: LAK '14 Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference 2014, 24-28 Mar 2014, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Emin-Martinez, Valerie; Hansen, Cecilie; Rodríguez Triana, María Jesūs; Wasson, Barbara; Mor, Yishay; Dascalu, Mihai; Ferguson, Rebecca and Pernin, Jean-Philippe. (). Towards teacher-led design inquiry of learning. eLearning Papers.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Whitelock, Denise (). Taking on different roles: how educators position themselves in MOOCs. In: Rensing, Christopher; de Freitas, Sara; Ley, Tobias and Muñoz-Merino, Pedro J. eds. Open Learning and Teaching in Educational Communities Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 562-563.
Simsek, Duygu; Buckingham Shum, Simon; De Liddo, Anna; Ferguson, Rebecca and Sándor, Ágnes. (). Visual analytics of academic writing. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Learning Analytics And Knowledge - LAK '14, 265-266.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Sharples, Mike. (). Innovative pedagogy at massive scale: teaching and learning in MOOCs. In: Open Learning and Teaching in Educational Communities: 9th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, EC-TEL 2014, Graz, Austria, September 16-19, 2014, Proceedings, Springer International Publishing, 98-111.

2013

FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Ferguson, Rebecca; Adams, Anne; Gaved, Mark; Mor, Yishay and Thomas, Rhodri. (). Augmented reality and mobile learning: the state of the art. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning, 5 (4) pp. 43-58.
Hansen, Cecilie; Emin, Valérie; Wasson, Barbara; Mor, Yishay; Rodríguez-Triana, María Jesús; Dascalu, Mihai; Ferguson, Rebecca and Pernin, Jean-Philippe. (). Towards an integrated model of teacher inquiry into student learning, learning design and learning analytics. In: EC-TEL 2013 Eighth European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, 17-21 Sep 2013, Paphos (Cyprus).
Ferguson, Rebecca; Wei, Zhongyu; He, Yulan and Buckingham Shum, Simon. (). An evaluation of learning analytics to identify exploratory dialogue in online discussions. In: Third Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK 2013), 8-12 Apr 2013, Leuven, Belgium.
Taibi, Davide; Sandor, Agnes; Simsek, Duygu; Buckingham Shum, Simon; De Liddo, Anna and Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Visualizing the LAK/EDM literature using combined concept and rhetorical sentence extraction. In: Proceedings of the LAK Data Challenge, 3rd Int. Conf. on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK '13), 8-12 Apr 2013, Leuven, Belgium.
Simsek, Duygu; Buckingham Shum, Simon; Sandor, Agnes; De Liddo, Anna and Ferguson, Rebecca. (). XIP Dashboard: visual analytics from automated rhetorical parsing of scientific metadiscourse. In: 1st International Workshop on Discourse-Centric Learning Analytics, 8 Apr 2013, Leuven, Belgium.
Schreurs, Bieke; Teplovs, Chris; Ferguson, Rebecca; De Laat, Maarten and Buckingham Shum, Simon. (). Visualizing social learning ties by type and topic: rationale and concept demonstrator. In: Third Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK 2013), 8-12 Apr 2013, Leuven, Belgium.
Scanlon, Eileen; Sharples, Mike; Fenton-O'Creevy, Mark; Fleck, James; Cooban, Caroline; Ferguson, Rebecca; Cross, Simon and Waterhouse, Peter (). Beyond prototypes: Enabling innovation in technology-enhanced learning. Open University, Milton Keynes.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Gillen, Julia; Peachey, Anna and Twining, Peter (). The strength of cohesive ties: discursive construction of an online learning community. In: Childs, Mark and Peachey, Anna eds. Understanding Learning in Virtual Worlds London: Springer, pp. 83-100.

2012

Gillen, Julia; Ferguson, Rebecca; Clough, Gill; Peachey, Anna and Twining, Peter (). Seeking planning permission to build a Gothic cathedral in a virtual world: exploring the schommunity. In: Merchant, Guy; Gillen, Julia; Marsh, Jackie and Davies, Julia eds. Virtual Literacies: Interactive Spaces for Children and Young People Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 190-207.
FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Adams, Anne; Ferguson, Rebecca; Gaved, Mark; Mor, Yishay and Thomas, Rhodri. (). Augmented reality and mobile learning: the state of the art. In: 11th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning (mLearn 2012), 16-18 Oct 2012, Helsinki, Finland.
Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Death of an avatar: implications of presence for learners and educators in virtual worlds. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, 4 (2) pp. 137-152.
Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Use of visual analysis to investigate networked learning in online forums. In: Eighth International Conference on Networked Learning 2012, 02-04 Apr 2012, Maastricht School of Management, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Liu, Haiming; Macintyre, Ronald and Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Exploring qualitative analytics for e-mentoring relationships building in an online social learning environment. In: Second International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK12), 29 Apr - 02 May 2012, Vancouver, Canada.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Buckingham Shum, Simon (). Towards a social learning space for open educational resources. Collaborative Learning 2.0: Open Educational Resources Hershey, PA: IGI Global, pp. 309-327.
Gillen, Julia; Ferguson, Rebecca; Peachey, Anna and Twining, Peter. (). Distributed cognition in a virtual world. Language and Education, 26 (2) pp. 151-167.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Buckingham Shum, Simon. (). Social learning analytics: five approaches. In: 2nd International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge, 29 Apr - 02 May 2012, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Little, Suzanne; Ferguson, Rebecca and Rüger, Stefan. (). Finding and reusing learning materials with multimedia similarity search and social networks. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 21 (2) pp. 255-271.
Buckingham Shum, Simon and Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Social learning analytics. Journal of Educational Technology and Society, 15 (3) pp. 3-26.
Gillen, Julia; Ferguson, Rebecca; Peachey, Anna and Twining, Peter (). Seeking planning permission to build a Gothic cathedral on a virtual island. In: Merchant, Guy; Gillen, Julia; Marsh, Jackie and Davies, Julia eds. Virtual Literacies: Interactive Spaces for Children and Young People New York, Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 190-207.
Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Learning analytics: drivers, developments and challenges. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 4 (5/6) pp. 304-317.

2011

Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Meaningful learning and creativity in virtual worlds. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 6 (3) pp. 169-178.
Little, Suzanne; Ferguson, Rebecca and Rüger, Stefan. (). Navigating and Discovering Educational Materials through Visual Similarity Search. In: Ed-Media 2011 - World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, 27 Jun - 1 Jul 2011, Lisbon, Portugal.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Buckingham Shum, Simon. (). Learning analytics to identify exploratory dialogue within synchronous text chat. In: LAK 2011: 1st International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge, 27 Feb - 01 Mar 2011, Banff, Alberta.
Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Use of Questions to Facilitate Social Learning in a Web 2.0 Environment. Revista de Universidad y Sociedad del Conocimiento (RUSC), 8 (1) pp. 316-327.
Mwanza-Simwami, Daisy; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes; Clough, Gill; Whitelock, Denise; Ferguson, Rebecca and Sharples, Mike. (). Methods and models of next generation technology enhanced learning - White Paper. In: Alpine Rendezvous 2011, 28-29 Mar 2011, La Clusaz, France.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Buckingham Shum, Simon and Deakin Crick, Ruth. (). EnquiryBlogger: using widgets to support awareness and reflection in a PLE Setting. In: 1st Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Personal Learning Environments. In conjunction with the PLE Conference 2011, 11-13 Jul 2011, Southampton, UK.
Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Ferguson, Rebecca; Buckingham Shum, Simon and Deakin Crick, Ruth. (). Designing an online mentoring system for self-awareness and reflection on lifelong learning skills. In: 1st Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Personal Learning Environments. In conjunction with the PLE Conference 2011., 11-13 Jul 2011, Southampton, UK.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Gillen, Julia; Peachey, Anna and Twining, Peter. (). The strength of cohesive ties: discursive construction of an online learning community. In: Researching Learning in Immersive Virtual Environments (ReLIVE 2011), 21-22 Sep 2011, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.

2010

Ferguson, R.. (). Peer interaction: the experience of distance students at university level. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26 (6) pp. 574-584.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Clough, Gill and Hosein, Anesa. (). Shifting themes, shifting roles: the development of research blogs. In: 'Into Something Rich and Strange' - Making Sense of the Sea-Change. The 17th Association for Learning Technology Conference (ALT-C 2010), 7-9 Sep 2010, Nottingham, UK.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Whitelock, Denise and Littleton, Karen. (). Improvable objects and attached dialogue: new literacy practices employed by learners to build knowledge together in asynchronous settings. Digital Culture & Education, 2 (1) pp. 103-123.
Sheehy, Kieron; Ferguson, Rebecca and Clough, Gill (). Virtual Worlds: Controversies at the Frontier of Education. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science Publishers.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Sheehy, Kieron and Clough, Gill (). Introduction: challenging education in virtual worlds. In: Sheehy, Kieron; Ferguson, Rebecca and Clough, Gill eds. Virtual Worlds: Controversies at the Frontier of Education Hauppauge, N.Y: Nova Science Publishers.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Sheehy, Kieron (). Breaking down the barriers. In: Sheehy, Kieron; Ferguson, Rebecca and Clough, Gill eds. Virtual Worlds: Controversies at the Frontier of Education Hauppauge, N.Y: Nova Science Publishers.
Ferguson, Rebecca; Harrison, Rodney and Weinbren, Daniel (). Heritage and the recent and contemporary past. In: Benton, Tim eds. Understanding Heritage and Memory Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, pp. 277-315.
Buckingham Shum, Simon and Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Towards a social learning space for open educational resources. In: OpenED2010: Seventh Annual Open Education Conference, 2-4 Nov 2010, Barcelona, Spain.
Clough, Gill and Ferguson, Rebecca (). Virtual worlds are authentic sites for learning. In: Sheehy, Kieron; Ferguson, Rebecca and Clough, Gill eds. Virtual Worlds: Controversies at the Frontier of Education. Education in a Competitive and Globalizing World Hauppauge, N.Y.: Nova Science Publishers.

2009

Gillen, Julia; Twining, Peter; Ferguson, Rebecca; Butters, Oliver; Clough, Gill; Gaved, Mark; Peachey, Anna; Seamans, Dan and Sheehy, Kieron. (). A learning community for teens on a virtual island - The Schome Park Teen Second Life Pilot project. eLearning Papers, 2009 (15) pp. www.elearningpapers.eu.
Thorpe, Mary; Godwin, Steve and Ferguson, Rebecca (). Technologies in use: How context and design drive their effects. In: Bernath, Ulrich; Szücs, András; Tait, Alan and Vidal, Martine eds. Distance and E-learning in Transition: Learning innovation, technology and social challenges London: ISTE, pp. 595-606.
Ferguson, Rebecca M. (). The Construction of Shared Knowledge through Asynchronous Dialogue. PhD thesis The Open University.

2008

Sheehy, K.; Ferguson, R. and Clough, G.. (). Learning in the Panopticon: ethical and social issues in building a virtual educational environment. International Journal of Social Science. Special Edition: Virtual Reality in Distance Education, 2 (2) pp. 25-32.
Sheehy, Kieron and Ferguson, Rebecca (). Educational inclusion and new technologies. In: Scott, Thomas B. and Livingston, James I. eds. Leading-Edge Educational Technology New York: Nova Science Publishers, pp. 159-176.
Peachey, Anna; Gillen, Julia and Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Fluid leadership in a multi-user virtual environment educational project with teenagers: Schome Park. In: Ecologies of Diversities: The Developmental and Historical Interarticulation of Human Mediational Forms: Meeting of the International Society for Cultural and Activity Research, 8-13 Sep 2008, San Diego, CA, USA.

2007

Ferguson, Rebecca; Clough, Gill and Hosein, Anesa. (). Postgraduate blogs: beyond the ordinary research journal. In: Research Proceedings of the 14th Association for Learning Technology Conference (ALT-C 2007) Beyond control: learning technology for the social network generation, 4-6 Sep 2007, Nottingham, UK.

Media appearances

Go the Distance: Working with Others

Go The Distance – a 10-week taste of what distance learning is really like. Distance learners might have to collaborate – work together – with other students on their course. So, how to do this? Rebecca Ferguson is a distance learning lecturer in educational technology and she has the tips to get you working well together!

BBC | 1st December 2017

Introducing learning analytics

Article

Public Service Executive magazine | 23rd February 2017

Learning analytics (Plan Ceibal)

Video series

YouTube | 5th July 2016

Learning analytics don’t just measure students’ progress, they can shape it

Newspaper article

The Guardian | 26th March 2014

Learning analytics: avoiding failure

Article on avoiding failure when implementing learning analytics. In order not to fail, it is necessary to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve with learning analytics, a vision that closely aligns with institutional priorities.

Educause Review | 31st July 2017

Projects

Research programmes

Expertise

Affiliations

Professional memberships

  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy