Dr Thomas Ullmann SFHEA

Lecturer

About

I am Dr. Thomas Ullmann, a Lecturer in Educational Technology at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at The Open University. My role involves both teaching and research, with a strong focus on leveraging technology to enhance educational practices and outcomes.

My research interests lie at the intersection of artificial intelligence and education, particularly in the areas of reflective writing analytics and generative AI for teaching. I am passionate about exploring innovative solutions that address pedagogical challenges and improve student success. My projects related to AI in education and learning analytics aiming to develop and apply AI, and especially automated text analytics methods, to understand better and support teaching and student learning.

Throughout my career, I have demonstrated expertise in developing and evaluating intelligent tools for learning and teaching. My work has been recognised internationally, with numerous peer-reviewed publications and contributions to significant projects related to quality enhancement and innovation in education. I have also been actively involved in securing research funding and leading initiatives that have had a positive impact on both the academic community and beyond.

I am committed to advancing the field of educational technology and supporting the development of the next generation of researchers and educators. I am passionate about fostering critical thinking and reflective practices among my students, helping them develop the skills they need to succeed academically and professionally.

I am glad to be part of a vibrant academic community at The Open University, where I can contribute to the ongoing development and enhancement of educational practices through my research, teaching, and leadership.

Biography

Dr. Thomas Ullmann is a Lecturer in Educational Technology at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at The Open University. Thomas joined The Open University in 2008 and started working for the Institute of Educational Technology in 2015, contributing significantly to both teaching and research. His role involves developing and delivering innovative educational technologies and methodologies to enhance teaching practices and the learning experience for students.

Most recently, Dr. Ullmann has been involved in several key research projects and initiatives. Notably, he was leading the EdTech development of generative AI for module content production, providing valuable insights into its potential for teaching. He is a Co-I of the Fleming Fund Global Learning Grant, focusing on learning analytics and insights. He led the evaluation of the English for Academic Purposes project and led the Text Analytics of Student Comments initiative which have been instrumental in improving the quality of education and student support at The Open University.

Dr. Ullmann's main areas of expertise include artificial intelligence in education, learning analytics, and automated text analytics. His research focuses on the automated detection of reflective thinking in student writing and the application of AI to enhance teaching and learning. This expertise has been the foundation of his career, driving his contributions to numerous peer-reviewed publications and significant educational projects.

Currently, Dr. Ullmann is involved in the CALRG steering group, organising and chairing events that promote the use of technology in education. He is the Academic Conduct Lead for IET.

Throughout his career, Dr. Ullmann has demonstrated a commitment to advancing the field of educational technology and supporting the development of the next generation of researchers and educators. His work has had a significant impact on both the academic community and beyond, influencing policy and practice in the field. He continues to explore innovative solutions to enhance teaching and learning, making a positive difference in education.

Publications

2024

Ullmann, Thomas; Edwards, Chris; Bektik, Duygu; Herodotou, Christothea and Whitelock, Denise. (2024). Towards generative AI for course content production: Expert reflections. European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 26 (S1) pp. 20-34.

Bektik, Duygu; Ullmann, Thomas; Edwards, Chris and Herodotou, Christothea (2024). PVC-Challenges Response: AI for course content generation. Quality Enhancement and Innovation, The Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Bektik, Duygu; Edwards, Chris; Herodotou, Christothea and Whitelock, Denise. (2024). Generative AI as your course materials writing assistant: Is it useful?. In: 47th Computer and Learning Research Group Annual Conference (CALRG), 3-5 Jul 2024, Milton Keynes, UK.

Leedham, Maria; Shrestha, Prithvi; Therova, Dana; Tuck, Jackie and Ullmann, Thomas. (2024). Disciplines, demographics and attainment: Creating corpora of student writing and lecturer feedback. In: 7th Corpora & Discourse International Conference #CADS2024, 17-19 Jul 2024, Innsbruck University, Austria.

Bektik, Duygu; Ullmann, Thomas; Edwards, Chris; Herodotou, Christothea and Whitelock, Denise. (2024). AI-Powered Curricula: Unpacking the Potential and Progress of Generative Technologies in Education. In: EDEN 2024 Annual Conference, 16-18 Jun 2024, Graz, Austria.

Ullmann, Thomas; Bektik, Duygu; Edwards, Chris; Herodotou, Christothea and Whitelock, Denise. (2024). Teaching with Generative AI: moving forward with content creation. In: EDEN 2024 Annual Conference, 16-18 Jun 2024, Graz, Austria.

2023

Ullmann, Thomas (2023). Trialling Generative AI for course content production. Quality Enhancement and Innovation, The Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.

Ullmann, Thomas and Edwards, Chris. (2023). Understanding student experience feedback of ethnic minority students with learning analytics. In: 46th Computer and Learning Research Group Annual Conference (CALRG), 27-30 Jun 2023, Milton Keynes, UK.

Leedham, Maria; Tuck, Jackie; Shrestha, Prithvi; Therova, Dana and Ullmann, Thomas. (2023). Student Writing and Assessment Practices: combining corpus linguistics and in-depth interviews to investigate assessment in a distance university context. In: Assessment in Higher Education, 22-23 Jun 2023, Manchester, UK.

Leedham, Maria; Tuck, Jackie; Shrestha, Prithvi; Therova, Dana and Ullmann, Thomas. (2023). Student Writing and Assessment Practices: combining corpus linguistics and in-depth interviews to investigate written assessment in a distance university context. In: The twelfth international Corpus Linguistics conference (CL2023), 3-6 Jul 2023, Lancaster, UK..

Ullmann, Thomas and Durgam, Pradeep (2023). Approaches to understanding Asian, Black, and other ethnic minority students using big data. Quality Enhancement and Innovation, The Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.

2022

Alrashidi, H.; Almujally, N.; Kadhum, M.; Ullmann, T. and Joy, M.. (2022). Evaluating an Automated Analysis using Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing Approaches to Classify Computer Science Students' Reflective Writing. In: Pervasive Computing and Social Networking. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 475, 463-477.

Alrashidi, Huda; Almujally, Nouf; Kadhum, Methaq; Quqandi, Ebtihal; Ullmann, Thomas Daniel and Joy, Mike. (2022). How to Assess Reflective Writing in Computer Science Education? A Critical Analysis. In: Computers in Education Conference in conjunction with the 45th Jubilee International Convention on Information, Communication and Electronic Technology, 26 May 2022, Opatija, Croatia.

2021

Ullmann, Thomas and Rienties, Bart (2021). Using text analytics to understand open-ended student comments at scale: Insights from four case studies. In: Shah, Mahsood; Richardson, John T. E.; Pabel, Anja and Oliver, Beverley eds. Assessing and Enhancing Student Experience in Higher Education Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 211-233.

Charitonos, Koula; Littlejohn, Allison; Dawadi, Saraswati; Mcmullan, Rachel; MacQueen, Hilary; Goshtasbpour, Fereshte; Ullmann, Thomas and De Munari, Paola (2021). Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance through Professional Learning: The Development and Evaluation of the Global AMR Curriculum. The Open University.

2020

Alrashidi, Huda; Joy, Mike; Ullmann, Thomas and Almujally, Nouf. (2020). Educators' Validation on a Reflective Writing Framework (RWF) for Assessing Reflective Writing in Computer Science Education. In: Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Springer International Publishing, Cham, 316-322.

Alrashidi, Huda; Joy, Mike; Ullmann, Thomas and Almujally, Nouf. (2020). Validating the Reflective Writing Framework (RWF) for Assessing Reflective Writing in Computer Science Education Through Manual Annotation. In: Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Springer International Publishing, Cham, 323-326.

Alrashidi, Huda; Ullmann, Thomas; Ghounaim, Samiah and Joy, Mike. (2020). A Framework for Assessing Reflective Writing Produced Within the Context of Computer Science Education. In: Companion Proceedings 10th International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge (LAK20, 24/03/2020, Frankfurt, Germany.

2019

Alrashidi, Huda; Joy, Mike and Ullmann, Thomas. (2019). A Reflective Writing Framework for Computing Education. In: ITiCSE 2019: Proceedings of the 24th Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, 15 Jul - 17 July 2019, Aberdeen, UK.

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel. (2019). Automated Analysis of Reflection in Writing: Validating Machine Learning Approaches. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 29 (2) pp. 217-257.

Clow, Doug; Coughlan, Tim; Cross, Simon; Edwards, Chris; Gaved, Mark; Herodotou, Christothea; Nguyen, Quan; Rienties, Bart; Thorne, Sam and Ullmann, Thomas (2019). Scholarly insight Winter 2019: a Data wrangler perspective. Open University, Milton Keynes.

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel. (2019). A Visualisation Dashboard for Contested Collective Intelligence. Learning Analytics to Improve Sensemaking of Group Discussion. RIED: Revista Iboeroamericana de Educación a Distancia (The Ibero-American Journal of Digital Education), 22 (1) pp. 41-80.

Ullmann, Thomas. (2019). Reflective writing analytics - Validating machine learning approaches. In: CALRG Annual Conference 2019, 17-18 Jun 2019, The Open University, Milton Keynes.

2018

Ullmann, Thomas; Lay, Stephanie; Cross, Simon; Edwards, Chris; Gaved, Mark; Jones, Edwina; Hidalgo, Rafael; Evans, Gerald; Lowe, Sue; Calder, Kathleen; Clow, Doug; Coughlan, Tim; Herodotou, Christothea; Mangafa, Chrysoula and Rienties, Bart (2018). Scholarly insight Spring 2018: a Data wrangler perspective. Open University UK, Milton Keynes.

Ullmann, Thomas; Lay, Stephanie; Coughlan, Tim; Lister, Katharine; Cross, Simon; Rienties, Bart and Whitelock, Denise. (2018). Understanding SEaM student comments from a Big(ger)Data perspective: what are students saying?. In: CALRG Annual Conference 2018, 18-19 Jun 2018, The Open University, Milton Keynes.

2017

Rienties, Bart; Clow, Doug; Coughlan, Tim; Cross, Simon; Edwards, Chris; Gaved, Mark; Herodotou, Christothea; Hlosta, Martin; Jones, Jan; Rogaten, Jekaterina and Ullmann, Thomas (2017). Scholarly insight Autumn 2017:a Data wrangler perspective. Open University UK.

Kravcik, Milos; Mikroyannidis, Alexander; Pammer, Viktoria; Prilla, Michael and Ullmann, Thomas (2017). Special Issue on: Awareness and Reflection in Technology Enhanced Learning. Vol.9, (2-3). Inderscience.

Rienties, Bart; Rogaten, Jekaterina; Nguyen, Quan; Edwards, Chris; Gaved, Mark; Holt, Deborah; Herodotou, Christothea; Clow, Doug; Cross, Simon; Coughlan, Tim; Jones, Jan and Ullmann, Thomas (2017). Scholarly insight Spring 2017: A Data Wrangler Perspective. Open University UK.

Coughlan, Tim; Ullmann, Thomas Daniel and Lister, Kate. (2017). Understanding Accessibility as a Process through the Analysis of Feedback from Disabled Students. In: W4A '17 Proceedings of the 14th Web for All Conference on The Future of Accessible Work, ACM, New York, USA.

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel. (2017). Reflective Writing Analytics - Empirically Determined Keywords of Written Reflection. In: LAK '17 Proceedings of the Seventh International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference, ACM, New York, USA, 163-167.

Rienties, Bart; Cross, Simon; Marsh, Vicky and Ullmann, Thomas. (2017). Making sense of learner and learning Big Data: reviewing 5 years of Data Wrangling at the Open University UK. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-learning, 32 (3) pp. 279-293.

2016

Rienties, Bart; Edwards, Chris; Gaved, Mark; Marsh, Vicky; Herodotou, Christothea; Clow, Doug; Cross, Simon; Coughlan, Tim; Jones, Jan and Ullmann, Thomas (2016). Scholarly insight 2016: a Data wrangler perspective. Open University UK.

Kravcik, Milos; Mikroyannidis, Alexander; Pammer, Viktoria; Prilla, Michael and Ullmann, Thomas (2016). Proceedings of the 6th Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Technology Enhanced Learning. In conjunction with the 11th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning: Adaptive and Adaptable Learning.. CEUR.

Ferguson, Rebecca; Brasher, Andrew; Clow, Doug; Cooper, Adam; Hillaire, Garron; Mittelmeier, Jenna; Rienties, Bart; Ullmann, Thomas and Vuorikari, Riina (2016). Research Evidence on the Use of Learning Analytics: Implications for Education Policy. Joint Research Centre, Seville, Spain.

2015

Parent, Marc-Antoine; De Liddo, Anna; Ullmann, Thomas and Klein, Marc (2015). Project Testbed: Argument Mapping and Deliberation Analytics. CATALYST Project.

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel. (2015). Keywords of written reflection - a comparison between reflective and descriptive datasets. In: Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Technology Enhanced Learning, 83-96.

Kravcik, Milos; Mikroyannidis, Alexander; Pammer, Viktoria; Prilla, Michael and Ullmann, Thomas Daniel (2015). Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Technology Enhanced Learning. Aachen, Germany: CEUR Workshop Proceedings.

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel (2015). Automated detection of reflection in texts. A machine learning based approach. PhD thesis The Open University.

2014

Ullmann, Thomas; De Liddo, Anna and Bachler, Michelle (2014). Collective Intelligence Analytics Dashboard Usability Evaluation. CATALYST Project.

Kravcik, Milos; Mikroyannidis, Alexander; Pammer, Viktoria; Prilla, Michael; Ullmann, Thomas Daniel and Wild, Fridolin (2014). Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Technology Enhanced Learning. In conjunction with the 9th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning: Open Learning and Teaching in Educational Communities. CEUR Workshop Proceedings.

2013

Meyer, Philip; Kelle, Sebastian; Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Scott, Peter and Wild, Fridolin (2013). Interdisciplinary cohesion of TEL – an account of multiple perspectives. In: Hernández-Leo, Davinia; Ley, Tobias; Klamma, Ralf and Harrer, Andreas eds. Scaling up Learning for Sustained Impact Springer, pp. 219-232.

Ullmann, Thomas; Wild, Fridolin and Scott, Peter. (2013). Reflection - quantifying a rare good. In: ARTEL13 2013: Awareness and Reflection in Technology-Enhanced Learning, 29-40.

Kravcik, Milos; Krogstie, Birgit; Moore, Adam; Pammer, Viktoria; Pannese, Lucia; Prilla, Michael; Reinhardt, Wolfgang and Ullmann, Thomas Daniel (2013). Proceedings of The 3rd Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Technology-Enhanced Learning in conjunction with The 8th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning: Scaling up learning for sustained impact (ECTEL 2013). CEUR-WS.org.

2012

Moore, Adam; Pammer, Viktoria; Pannese, Lucia; Prilla, Michael; Rajagopal, Kamakshi; Reinhardt, Wolfgang; Ullmann, Thomas and Voigt, Christian (2012). Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Technology-Enhanced Learning. CEUR-WS.

Sie, Rory L.L.; Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Rajagopal, Kamakshi; Cela, Karina; Rijpkema, Marlies Bitter and Sloep, Peter B.. (2012). Social network analysis for technology-enhanced learning: review and future directions. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 4 (3/4) pp. 172-190.

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Wild, Fridolin and Scott, Peter. (2012). Comparing automatically detected reflective texts with human judgements. In: 2nd Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Technology-Enhanced Learning, 18 Sep 2013, Saarbrucken, Germany.

2011

Wild, Fridolin; Ullmann, Thomas; Scott, Peter; Rebedea, Traian and Hoisl, Bernhard. (2011). Applicability of the technology acceptance model for widget-based personal learning environments. In: 1st Workshop on Exploring Fitness and Evolvability of Personal Learning Environments (EFEPLE'11), 30-31 Mar 2011, La Clusaz, France.

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Ferguson, Rebecca; Buckingham Shum, Simon and Deakin Crick, Ruth. (2011). 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.

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel. (2011). An architecture for the automated detection of textual indicators of reflection. In: 1st European Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Learning Networks held in conjunction with the 6th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning: Towards Ubiquitous Learning 2011, 21 Sep 2011, Palermo, Italy.

Reinhardt, Wolfgang; Ullmann, Thomas; Scott, Peter; Pammer, Viktoria; Conlan, Owen and Berlanga, Adriana (2011). Proceedings of the 1st European Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Learning Networks. In conjunction with the 6th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning: Towards Ubiquitous Learning 2011. Palermo, Italy, September 21, 2011. CEUR-WS.

Reinhardt, Wolfgang and Ullmann, Thomas (2011). Editorial: Awareness and reﬂection in personal learning environments. In: Reinhardt, Wolfgang and Ullmann, Thomas eds. Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Personal Learning Environments. In Conjunction with the PLE Conference 2011. Southampton, United Kingdom, July 11, 2011 Not known, pp. 2-9.

Reinhardt, Wolfgang; Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Scott, Peter; Pammer, Viktoria; Conlan, Owen and Berlanga, Adriana (2011). Editorial: Awareness and reflection in learning networks. In: Reinhardt, Wolfgang; Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Scott, Peter; Pammer, Viktoria; Conlan, Owen and Berlanga, Adriana eds. Proceedings of the 1st European Workshop on Awareness and Reflection in Learning Networks. In conjunction with the 6th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning: Towards Ubiquitous Learning 2011. Palermo, Italy, September 21, 2011 CEUR-WS, pp. 2-7.

Reinhardt, Wolfgang and Ullmann, Thomas (2011). Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Awareness and Reﬂection in Personal Learning Environments. In conjunction with the PLE Conference 2011. Southampton, United Kingdom, July 11, 2011. The Web Science Trust.

2010

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Wild, Fridolin; Scott, Peter; Duval, Erik; Vandeputte, Bram; Parra, Gonzalo and Reinhardt, Wolfgang. (2010). Components of a Research 2.0 infrastructure. In: 5th European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning (ECTEL'10), 28 Sep - 1 Oct 2010, Barcelona, Spain.

Wild, Fridolin; Ullmann, Thomas D. and Scott, Peter. (2010). The STELLAR science 2.0 mash-up infrastructure. In: Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT), 2010 IEEE 10th International Conference on, IEEE, 621-623.

Wild, Fridolin and Ullmann, Thomas. (2010). The afterlife of 'living deliverables': angels or zombies?. In: Proceedings of the research 2.0 workshop at The 5th European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning (ECTEL'10), 28 Sep - 01 Oct 2010, Barcelona, Spain.

Duval, Erik; Wild, Fridolin; Scott, Peter; Ullmann, Thomas and Lindstaedt, Stefanie (2010). Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Research 2.0. CEUR-WS.

Duval, Erik; Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Wild, Fridolin; Lindstaedt, Stefanie and Scott, Peter (2010). Editorial: Research 2.0 for TEL: four challenges. In: Duval, Erik; Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Wild, Fridolin; Lindstaedt, Stefanie and Scott, Peter eds. Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Research 2.0. At the 5th European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning: Sustaining TEL, Barcelona, Spain, September 28, 2010 Publisher not known, pp. 2-4.

Camilleri, Anthony Fisher; Barak, Noaa; Burgos, Daniel and Ullmann, Thomas D.. (2010). Engaging the community in multidisciplinary TEL research: a case-study from networking in Europe. In: EDEN 2010 Annual Conference: Media Inspirations for Learning. What Makes the Impact?, 9-12 Jun 2010, Valencia, Spain.

2009

Ullmann, Thomas Daniel; Uren, Victoria and Nikolov, Andriy. (2009). The SemSearchXplorer - exploring semantic search results with semantic visualizations. In: AST 2009 Applications of Semantic Technologies, located at the Informatik 2009, 2 Oct 2009, Lübeck, Germany.

Ullmann, Thomas. An empirical evaluation of a Reflective Writing Framework (RWF) for Reflective Writing in Computer Science Education. In: IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 21-24 Oct 2020, Uppsala, Sweden.