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Prof Rebecca Ferguson
BA (Hons) MA PGCE MSc(RMET) SFHEA
Emeritus Professor
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.
Ferguson, Rebecca and Scanlon, Eileen. (). Open Technology-Enhanced Learning. Journal of Interactive Media in Education (JIME), 2024 (1) pp. 1-5.
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.
Khosravi, Hassan; Viberg, Olga; Kovanovic, Vitomir and Ferguson, Rebecca. (). Generative AI and Learning Analytics. Journal of Learning Analytics, 10 (3) pp. 1-6.
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; 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.
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.
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 (). 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; 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.
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.
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.
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; 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
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; 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; 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.