Dr Katharine Jewitt

Professional biography

I’m a motivated and enthusiastic management consultant, researcher and academic with a blend of industry and academic experience that spans over 25 years. Throughout my career I have worked internationally in Europe, USA, UAE and Africa. I have worked with organisations managing technology implementations; change management initiatives; implementing process improvements and designing professional development programmes. 

Also, an Educational Technology Consultant at The Open University’s Learning and Discovery Services; I am highly qualified with a PhD in virtual reality, 6 masters and 1 BA Hons. I teach across four faculties – Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies; Faculty of Business and Law and The Centre for Inclusion and Collaborative Partnerships. In academia, I’ve worked as a Learning Designer, Instructional Designer, Learning Technologist and a Director of Teaching, Learning, Curriculum and Quality at an FE college. Prior to management consultancy, I’ve held senior positions in industry.

My main academic research and consulting practice focuses on using technology enhanced learning to help people to develop key life skills and realise their full potential. I have worked on a range of educational technology projects in organisations including using VR to support learning in the workplace. My main interest is learning: its ‘design’, philosophy and ethics, as well as the cultural and political contexts of learning. I am particularly interested in collaborative learning as a way of supporting creativity and development. My research activities are in the fields of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), Digital Wellbeing, Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and learning in three-dimensional and mobile environments. I am an advocate of social justice, equality, inclusion and diversity in education and industry.

I am Co-Chair of the UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab Digital and Education Skills E-Team. I founded the Digital Learning Community of Practice and am former Chair of the Evaluation of Learners’ Experiences of e-learning Special Interest Group (ELESIG). I am Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Society for Education and Training and Certified Member of the Association for Learning Technology. I am a Principal Examiner and Standards Verifier for NCUK and NCC Education; administrator for the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education and Technical Editor for the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education.

Research interests

If you are interested in talking about potential research projects, please do get in touch.

Current research interests are focused on:

  • Online learning in schools, FE, HE and the workplace
  • Learning Experience Platforms
  • Digital Wellbeing
  • Developing virtual environments to support and enhance learning in the workplace
  • Social Media and interactive platforms for the support and development of Communities of Practice
  • Student Retention
  • Technology Enhanced Learning
  • Learning Development, Learner Experience and Student Partnership
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Learning in Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality
  • Assessment and Feedback
  • Flipped Learning
  • Makerspaces
  • Work-based learning and apprenticeships
  • Mobile learning and games for education
  • Technical and cultural interactions in quality logistics and supply chains
  • Technological interfaces between IT, strategic and operations management

Teaching interests

Faculty for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics 

Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies

Faculty of Business and Law

The Centre for Inclusion and Collaborative Partnerships

Impact and engagement

Katharine is Co-Chair of the UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab’s Education and Digital Skills Team. She is also a mentor on the Advance HE Aurora and Fellowship programmes. She is Technical Editor for the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education and Administrator for the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education. Katharine’s greatest achievements include working with county councils in England to build an online distance education system for young people excluded from school to be educated from their home. She also developed a virtual learning environment to support and enhance psychological well-being for young people going through key life transition points and developed virtual reality training systems with councils to support newly qualified social workers working with vulnerable children and young people. For her PhD research, she worked with SMEs to use virtual reality to support apprentices’ work-based learning developing a three-way partnership between education provider, SME and apprentice. Katharine was awarded a digital learning fellowship at South Essex College (formerly Prospects College of Advanced Technology), funded by The Education and Training Foundation, to lead a transformational project to develop and implement a digital learning strategy, for delivery of vocational education of the future. 

Publications

REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES

Baxter J. and Jewitt K. (2021) The Scheme of delegation as a sensemaking –  framework in Multi Academy Trusts in England: Useful tool or constraint?- Educational Leadership, Management and Administration (EMAL)

Jewitt, K. (2020) “Connecting students with customised technology solutions: embedding partnership in a digital learning strategy”, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Leadership Studies, Vol.1, Issue 3, pp.16-25.

Jewitt, K.  (2017) “The MOOC Revolution – massive open online courses: the answer to problems facing education or an experiment that could destroy centuries of tradition”, Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Issue 14, May 2017.

BOOK CHAPTER

Jewitt, K (2017) “Improving assessment and feedback through virtual reality mobile learning, for higher degree apprentices in the workplace” in Crompton, H. and Traxler, J. (Eds) (2017)  Mobile Learning and Higher Education: Case Studies in Practice, London, Routledge.

CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

Expert Panel: Baxter, J., Floyd, A. and Jewitt, K. (2021) Post Pandemic Leadership at BERA Expert Panel 2021 [Online] 28 April 2021 

Invited Panellist: Jewitt, K (2015) Jisc Learning and Teaching Practice Experts Group Conference on Scaling up online learning.

Keynote and Conference Organiser: Jewitt, K (2016) Digital Learning Dissemination, Conference held at Prospects College of Advanced Technology, 15th January 2016, Essex, UK.

Keynote Speaker: Jewitt, K (2017) Implementing a digital learning strategy- Digital Transformation of Vocational Education Showcase Conference held at the Ecos Visitor and Conference Centre, Ballymena, Ireland, 8th December 2017.

Presentation: Baxter, J., Floyd, A. and Jewitt, K. (2021) All Party Group for Digital Learning, September 2021

Presentation: Baxter, J., Floyd, A. and Jewitt, K. (2021) Strategic leadership of online learning in English Secondary schools through Covid and beyond at British Educational Research conference 2021: Overcoming challenges in educational research [Online]  13-16 September 2021

Presentation: Baxter, J., Floyd, A. and Jewitt, K. (2021) Strategic leadership of online learning in English Secondary schools through Covid and beyond at European Educational Research Association Conference -Education and Society: expectations, prescriptions, reconciliations 2021 [Online] 6 – 10 September 2021

Presentation: Jewitt, K (2020) Forums – an exploration of practice in the asynchronous space, Making the best use of Forums at The Open University 2 November 2020

Presentation: Jewitt, K (2016) Benchmarking Assessment Feedback Practice and Mechanisms – Dissemination of Research Findings, Conference held at The Open University, 29th November 2016.

Presentation: Jewitt, K (2018) Supporting Students for Examination – Dissemination of Research Findings, Conference held at The Open University, 17th May 2017.

Presentation: Jewitt, K., Baxter, J., and Floyd, A. (2021) Leading School Online Learning beyond Covid-19 at The Northern Celebration of Education: CelebrateEd 2021 [Online] 30 June 2021 

Presentation: Jewitt, K., Baxter, J., and Floyd, A. (2021) Leading and managing online learning in schools during covid 19 and beyond at EDEN Annual Conference 2021 [Online] 21-24 June 2021 

Presentation: Jewitt, K., Baxter, J., and Floyd, A. (2021) Strategic Management of Online Education in English Secondary Schools During Covid 19 and Beyond at EDULearn21 [Online] 5- 6 July 2021 

Workshop: Floyd, A., Baxter, J. and Jewitt, K. (2021) Celebrating the Past and Looking Forward at BELMAS Conference 2021 – 50 years of BELMAS [Online] 2 – 3 July 2021 

Workshop: Jewitt, K (2014) Using Virtual Reality for Informal Learning, Workshop held at the International Conference on Education (ICE), 22-23 May, 2014, Chicago, USA. 

Workshop: Jewitt, K. (2021) Online learning and supporting transition between primary and secondary school: some emerging themes ‘Children 0-11 and Covid-19 -Roundtable Event’ co-hosted by The Open University and Swansea University [Online] 14 October 2021 

Workshop: Jewitt, K (2013) The power of role-play for learning using Second Life ®, Workshop held at Edulearn13, 1st – 3rd July 2013, Barcelona, Spain.

Workshop: Jewitt, K., Baxter, J., and Floyd, A. (2021) Inequalities in secondary school online learning through Covid At The Open University Covid-19 response research: social inequalities in a pandemic event [Online] 25 June 2021 

Workshop: Jewitt, K., Baxter, J., and Floyd, A. (2021) Leading school learning through Covid-19 and beyond At The Open University partner dissemination event [Online] 29 June 2021 

Workshop: Jewitt, K., Baxter, J., and Floyd, A. (2021) What are the “Covid Keepers” for September? At The Open University Children and Covid-19: A conversation event [Online] 3 June 2021 

MEDIA

Baxter, J. (2021) Leading online learning: Out of crisis comes opportunity study [Online] Available from: https://www.open.ac.uk/projects/leading-online-learning/news/out-of-crisis-comes-opportunity (Accessed 17 June 2021) 

Baxter, J. (2021) Managing Digital Learning during Covid-19 and beyond [Online] Available from: https://blog.eera-ecer.de/managing-digital-learning-during-covid-19 (Accessed 22 July 2021)

Floyd, A. (2021) Leading school learning through Covid-19 and beyond – initial results from our online survey [Online] Available from: https://www.open.ac.uk/projects/leading-online-learning/news/initial-results-from-online-survey (Accessed 17 June 2021) 

Jewitt, K. and Baxter, J.,(2021) Integrating online learning provision: What will schools take forward post-pandemic? [Online] Available from: https://www.sec-ed.co.uk/best-practice/integrating-online-learning-provision-what-will-schools-take-forward-post-pandemic-open-university-curriculum-covid-recovery-build-back-better (Accessed 17 June 2021)

Jewitt, K. (2021) Key themes emerging from the qualitative pilot study [Online] Available from: https://www.open.ac.uk/projects/leading-online-learning/news/key-themes-emerging-qualitative-pilot-study (Accessed 17 June 2021) 

Jewitt, K. (2021) ‘The value of relationships in moving through recovery following the Covid-19 global pandemic’ UKSG 15 October 2021 [Online]. Available at: https://www.uksg.org/newsletter/uksg-enews-500/value-relationships-moving-through-recovery-following-covid-19-global (Accessed 15 October 2021).

The Open University (2021) Innovation adopted during Covid-19 is now ‘business as usual’ according to OU research Available from: https://www.open.ac.uk/research/news/innovation-adopted-during-covid-19-now-business-usual (Accessed 5 August 2021) 

RESEARCH PROJECT REPORTS

Jewitt, K (2020) A review of the use of Office 365 and Adobe Connect for active learning (Project funded by eSTEeM The Open University centre for STEM pedagogy.

Jewitt, K (2020) An exploration of rationale behind non submission of final assignment in B100 An Introduction to Business and Management (Project funded by SciLAB– The OU Centre for FBL pedagogy).

Jewitt, K (2020) Analysis of the impact of concurrent study on retention, completion and pass rates of apprenticeship students studying at post-graduate level (Project funded by SciLAB– The OU Centre for FBL pedagogy).

Jewitt, K (2018) Evaluation of B205 16J an 17J Retention at The Open University (Project funded by eSTEeM The Open University centre for STEM pedagogy.)

Jewitt, K (2018) Best practice across the wider HE Sector in relation to student support in preparing for examinations, EMAs, revision, resits and resubmissions.

Jewitt, K (2016) Benchmarking Assessment Feedback Practice and Mechanisms, Milton Keynes, The Open University.

External collaborations

Katharine founded the Digital Learning Community of Practice and is Co-Lead of the Education and Digital Skills Team within UNESCO’s Inclusive Policy Lab. She is a School Governor, Founding Member of the Chartered College of Teaching, member of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) and member of the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE). Katharine is Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (RSA), Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), Fellow of the Society for Education and Training and Certified Member of the Association for Learning Technology (CMALT). Katharine is Technical Editor for the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. She works on ALT’s communications and publications committee and Administrator for the Association for Learning and Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE). Katharine is former Chair of the Evaluation of Learners’ Experiences of e-learning Special Interest Group (ELESIG). Katharine has won several awards including The Open University Tutor Award for excellence in tuition and support for students in 2023, 2022 and 2021 and was voted as “One to Note” in the Edtech 50 2020 yearbook for her work in virtual reality.  

With 20 years in the supply chain & logistics sector, whilst working across retail, manufacturing, education, government, technology and pharma sectors; which includes specialist experience for many large organisations, Katharine has significant experience of the development and implementation of strategy in many FTSE 100 organisations, as well as, from working at The Open University. Throughout her career Katharine has worked internationally including Europe, USA and Africa. She has worked with world class organisations and educational institutions, including BAE Systems, Ministry of Defence, Marks and Spencer, Kingfisher, Pearson, AstraZeneca, Morrisons, Tesco, Whitbread and the Home Retail Group.

Katharine worked with The Open University’s International Development Office and NESTA in a project to develop ground-breaking innovation learning through a first of its kind modular curriculum on innovation tools and methods. She wrote some of the modules and learning materials that are available on demand to students, practitioners, social entrepreneurs and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) across the globe. It is a key resource for social business accelerator and innovation programmes in Africa.

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