2026 H890 Research & Scholarship in Digital Education Online Student Conference

A laptop and mug of coffee on a table, shown looking from above

The conference took place on:

Friday 10th April 2026, 09:00-12:00 BST
Saturday 11th April 2026, 13:00-16:00 BST
Monday 13th April 2026, 18:00-20:30 BST

Registration

Attendance at the conference has no charge, but you must please register in advance. registration for the 2027 conference will open in January 2027 – please check back here at that time for details.

The H890 ‘Research and Scholarship in Digital Education’ online module is part of the MA in Online Teaching programme run by the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at the Open University UK. This online conference is presented using the Open University’s Online Rooms, powered by Adobe Connect.

Keynote Speakers

We are delighted that our conference was opened on the Friday by Sukaina Walji, Director Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching, University of Cape Town, South Africa (and one of our very own alumni). We are equally thrilled that Saturday’s session featured a keynote presentation by Tim Coughlan, Professor of Learning Innovation and Accessibility, The Open University, UK, and that our final session on the Monday was kicked off by Professor Rebecca Ferguson of The Open University, UK, standing in for Professor Allison Littlejohn, of University College London, UK – we wish you a speedy recovery Allison.

Sukaina Walji is the Director of the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She oversees operational functions to support and shape digital education, blended and online learning, working with multiple university stakeholders to create inclusive and equitable teaching and learning experiences that respond to diverse student and staff needs. As a strategic advisor to university senior leadership, she brings experience in educational policy development, having facilitated the development of UCT’s recently revised Assessment Policy, Digital and Online Education Policy, and most recently UCT’s AI in Education Framework through participatory and consultative stakeholder engagement. She has led a number of institutional digital education and assessment projects, currently serves as the lead for a University Capacity Development Project on Assessment and AI literacy, co-leads an AI Teaching Innovation grants programme and convenes the university’s AI in Education Community of Practice. Her research interests include artificial intelligence in education, digital education strategy, MOOCs, higher education business models and assessment practices. She has a Master’s Degree in Online and Distance Education at the Open University, UK, and a BA (Hons) from Oxford University.

Photo of Tim Coughlan — Professor Tim Coughlan

Professor Tim Coughlan is Associate Director for Research and Knowledge Exchange and Professor of Learning Innovation and Accessibility in the Institute for Educational Technology at the Open University. His research crosses the areas of Education and Human-Computer Interaction. He is particularly focused on the design and evaluation of systems that support inclusion, creativity, and openness in learning. He also led creation of the postgraduate microcredential: Accessibility and Inclusive Learning. He led the development of Our Journey, a platform to support students to represent and reflect on their study journeys, and in ADMINS, led creation of a virtual assistant to support disabled students. More recent work has focused further on the ways in which AI assistants can support online study, and the use of VR simulations and AI to support healthcare training.

Professor Rebecca Ferguson is standing in for Professor Allison Littlejohn of University College London, who unfortunately has been taken ill and cannot now deliver her keynote presentation. We wish Allison well and hope that we can invite her back next year. Rebecca will speak to us about (re)defining the field of learning analytics.

Conference Programme

Friday 10th April (Times given are BST)

Start Time	End Time	Speaker	Presentation Title
09:00	09:30	Sukaina Walji, Director of the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) at the University of Cape Town, South Africa	KEYNOTE: Research as storytelling: what students and staff are saying about AI in assessments
09:30	09:45	Robert Nixon	Reading for everyone? Dyslexia in testing times.
09:45	10:00	Carol Beardmore	Can Citizen Humanities Transform Collaborative Learning in Online History Education?
10:00	10:15	Aliyu Akilu Barau	Living Healthier through m-learning: Empowering Rural Extension through Mobile Learning for Health Literacy
10:15	10:30	Pam Geraldine	Designing a Cultural Heritage App Using Augmented Reality Education Technology
10:30	10:45	BREAK
10:45	11:00	Janix Asare	Systematic Literature Review of AI-Enabled Coding Assistants (2020-2025)
11:00	11:15	Millie Glazebrook	Using Virtual and Augmented Reality to Enhance Primary Students’ Learning
11:15	11:30	Onick Gwayi	Impact of e-learning accessibility and inclusivity on social science student-teachers’ outcomes at Domasi College of Education
11:30	11:45	Walusungu Ngulube	Reimagining Career Guidance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the Potential of Mobile Learning for Contextualised Career Development
11:45	12:00	Rashida Newbill	Don’t Let AI Replace Critical Thinking: Designing for Critical Thought

Saturday 11th April (Times given are BST)

Start Time	End Time	Speaker	Presentation Title
13:00	13:30	Professor Tim Coughlan, Professor of Learning Innovation and Accessibility, Institute for Educational Technology, Open University, UK	KEYNOTE: Researching accessible education in the age of AI
13:30	13:45	Claire Walder	“Did they use it, and did it help?” Exploring how students engage with interactive online feedback resources between formative and summative assignment submissions in a first-year nursing degree module.
13:45	14:00	ChiaoYuan Chang	Teachers’ enactment of digital competence in primary classrooms: Professional judgement and contextual constraints in technology use
14:00	14:15	Michael Ngala	Performance Factors in Online Versus Face-to-Face Business Management Education
14:15	14:30	Helen Shepherd	Performing Behind the Screen: Student Nurses’ Experiences of Emotional Labour
14:30	14:45	BREAK
14:45	15:00	Sammy Mutisya	Embedding AI-powered Assistive Technologies in inclusive Refugee Camp education: Pedagogical and Policy Frameworks for Equity and Engagement
15:00	15:15	Andrea Mills	Keep tablets within young children’s reach: Promoting agency through digital learning
15:15	15:30	Zoe Dawson	Overcoming Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety using Immersive Virtual Reality
15:30	15:45	Keisha Campbell	Blended MOOC Impact on Jamaican Teachers’ Demonstrated STEM Competency
15:45	16:00	Kim Froehler	AI Ready? Measuring AI Literacy Readiness in Canadian K-12 Teachers

Monday 13th April (Times given are BST)

Start Time	End Time	Speaker	Presentation Title
18:00	18:30	Professor Rebecca Ferguson, Professor Emerita, The Open University, UK	KEYNOTE: (Re)Defining Learning Analytics
18:30	18:45	Florence Kamonjo	Evaluating WhatsApp Usage for Equitable Academic Engagement at University of Kabianga
18:45	19:00	Lee Lindsay	Can low-risk introductory courses help solve adult learner retention problems in UK Further Education?
19:00	19:15	Salima Sewani	Empowering Teachers about Artificial Intelligence to Support Learners with Disabilities
19:15	19:30	BREAK
19:30	19:45	Marta Asensio	Connection for Staying Power? Investigating the Effect of Social Learning Activities on Retention of Asynchronous Online Learners
19:45	20:00	Megan Hyndman	Improving Outcomes for Non-Traditional Students in Online Distance Higher Education: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study
20:00	20:15	Irene Pagano	Lowering the Affective Filter: A Mixed-Methods Study into the Impact of Immersive 3D Environments on the Speaking Confidence of Online MFL Pupils
20:15	20:30	Emma-Louise Hague	Why can you remember the entire lyrics to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, but not what you ate for lunch last week? Exploring the effectiveness of audio learning resources and the value they could bring to older learners.