Alumni Member
Rebecca Ferguson (Alumni) 
Research Fellow
I was a research fellow working on the university's SocialLearn project, developing a social media platform that is tuned for learning. You can visit my blog on analytics for teaching and learning http://diving-4-pearls.blogspot.com/
The SocialLearn team is working to align current thinking on good pedagogy with the use of Web 2.0 technologies. We aim to support and encourage users to clarify their intention, ground their learning and engage in focused conversations.
My other research interests also relate to people learning together online.
I have worked since 2007 on the Schome project, an ongoing research initiative which is working to develop a 'fit for purpose' education system for society today. This has included working on an island in Teen SecondLife. Details of Schome publications are available at http://www.schome.ac.uk/publications/ and details of OU Second Life publications are available here http://www.open.ac.uk/virtualworlds/p5.shtml
Together with colleagues in the university's Institute of Educational Technology, I am carrying out a longitudinal investigation of research blogging. The pilot study was published in 2007, and details of the full four-year study are due for publication late in 2010.
As part of the university's Children and Young People (CYP) research programme I am investigating children's use of social media and technologies to support informal collaborative learning.
I am also an active member of a special interest group which focuses on the ethics of researching higher education in Web 2.0 environments http://heethicsweb2zero.ning.com/
Keys: online learning, social media, social learning, asynchronous dialogue, asynchronous communication, blogging, virtual worlds, Second Life, virtual heritage, learning analytics, teaching analytics
News
Publications
Ferguson, R., Gopalan, Y. and Buckingham Shum, S. (2025). What’s the Value of a Doctoral Consortium? Analysing a Decade of LAK DCs as a Community of Practice. In: The 15th Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference, 3-7 Mar 2025, Dublin, Ireland. https://oro.open.ac.uk/102161/.
Knight, S., Viberg, O., Mavrikis, M., Kovanović, V., Khosravi, H., Ferguson, R., Corrin, L., Thompson, K., Major, L., Lodge, J., Hennessy, S. and Cukurova, M. (2024). Emerging technologies and research ethics: Developing editorial policy using a scoping review and reference panel. PLOS ONE, 19(10), https://oro.open.ac.uk/100851/.
Ferguson, R., Khosravi, H., Kovanović, V., Viberg, O., Aggarwal, A., Brinkhuis, M., Buckingham Shum, S., Chen, L.K., Drachsler, H., Guerrero, V.A., Hanses, M., Hayward, C., Hicks, B., Jivet, I., Kitto, K., Kizilcec, R., Lodge, J.M., Manly, C.A., Matz, R.L., Meaney, M.J., Ochoa, X., Schuetze, B.A., Spruit, M., van Haastrecht, M., van Leeuwen, A., van Rijn, L., Tsai, Y.S., Weidlich, J., Williamson, K. and Yan, V.X. (2023). Aligning the Goals of Learning Analytics with its Research Scholarship: An Open Peer Commentary Approach. Journal of Learning Analytics, 10(2), pp. 14–50. https://oro.open.ac.uk/92113/.
Cerratto Pargman, T., McGrath, C., Viberg, O., Kitto, K., Knight, S. and Ferguson, R. (2021). 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. https://oro.open.ac.uk/75925/.
Buckingham Shum, S., Ferguson, R. and Martinez-Maldonado, R. (2019). Human-Centred Learning Analytics. Journal of Learning Analytics, 6(2), pp. 1–9. https://oro.open.ac.uk/62742/.
Simsek, D., Sandor, A., Buckingham Shum, S., Ferguson, R., De Liddo, A. and Whitelock, D. (2015). Correlations between automated rhetorical analysis and tutors’ grades on student essays. In: 5th International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference (LAK15): Scaling Up: Big Data to Big Impact, 16-20 Mar 2015, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA. https://oro.open.ac.uk/42042/.
Simsek, D., Buckingham Shum, S., De Liddo, A., Ferguson, R. and Sándor, Á. (2014). Visual analytics of academic writing. In: 4th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference, 24-28 Mar 2014, Indianapolis, Indiana. https://oro.open.ac.uk/40056/.
Taibi, D., Sandor, A., Simsek, D., Buckingham Shum, S., De Liddo, A. and Ferguson, R. (2013). 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. https://oro.open.ac.uk/37820/.
Simsek, D., Buckingham Shum, S., Sandor, A., De Liddo, A. and Ferguson, R. (2013). 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. https://oro.open.ac.uk/37391/.
Schreurs, B., Teplovs, C., Ferguson, R., De Laat, M. and Buckingham Shum, S. (2013). 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. https://oro.open.ac.uk/36891/.
Ferguson, R., Wei, Z., He, Y. and Buckingham Shum, S. (2013). 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. https://oro.open.ac.uk/36664/.
Buckingham Shum, S. and Ferguson, R. (2012). Social learning analytics. Journal of Educational Technology and Society, 15(3), pp. 3–26. https://oro.open.ac.uk/34092/.
Little, S., Ferguson, R. and Rüger, S. (2012). Finding and reusing learning materials with multimedia similarity search and social networks. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 21(2), pp. 255–271. https://oro.open.ac.uk/33991/.
Liu, H., Macintyre, R. and Ferguson, R. (2012). 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. https://oro.open.ac.uk/33632/.
Ferguson, R. and Buckingham Shum, S. (2012). Towards a social learning space for open educational resources. In: ed. Collaborative Learning 2.0: Open Educational Resources. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, pp. 309–327. https://oro.open.ac.uk/33457/.
Ferguson, R. and Buckingham Shum, S. (2012). Social learning analytics: five approaches. In: 2nd International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge, 29 Apr - 02 May 2012, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. https://oro.open.ac.uk/32910/.
Ferguson, R., Buckingham Shum, S. and Deakin Crick, R. (2011). 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. https://oro.open.ac.uk/30598/.
Ullmann, T.D., Ferguson, R., Buckingham Shum, S. and Deakin Crick, R. (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. https://oro.open.ac.uk/30603/.
Little, S., Ferguson, R. and Rüger, S. (2011). 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. https://oro.open.ac.uk/28987/.
Ferguson, R. and Buckingham Shum, S. (2011). 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. https://oro.open.ac.uk/28955/.
Tech Reports
The State of Learning Analytics in 2012: A Review and Future Challenges
Techreport ID: kmi-12-01
Date: 2012
Author(s): Rebecca Ferguson
Social Learning Analytics
Techreport ID: kmi-11-01
Date: 2011
Author(s): Simon Buckingham Shum,Rebecca Ferguson
