缅北禁地

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Staff Profile

Dr Ahmed Kharrufa

Reader in AI for Education

  • Telephone: +44 191 208 3695
  • Personal Website:
  • Address: Open Lab,
    School of Computing,
    Urban Sciences Building,
    缅北禁地,
    NE4 5TG
Background

I am a Reader in AI for Education at Open Lab (40%FTE), 缅北禁地. I lead the educational technology research at Open Lab. In addition to my main focus on the potential and implications of Generative AI on learning and education, my wider interest is in the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of processes and technologies in support of learning, school-community engagement, and cultural and language learning. My research and interest in the area of interaction design ranges from improving people’s experiences of interacting with digital surfaces, spaces and the IoTs to rethinking the design, and the appropriation, of online platforms and services.

In the other 60% of my time, I am leading the development of the learning engine and the application of AI  Ltd, an educational technology start-up developing the 'Kinnu App' as a learning science-based app to help people acquire and retain new knowledge.

Teaching wise, I am the Degree Programme Director for the Software Engineering Degree Apprenticeship, and the module leader for two human-computer interaction related modules for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. I am also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy an I am particularly interested in HCI education from both a research () and practice (e.g. ) perspectives.

My background is in Electronics and Communication Engineering (BSc and MSc) with a PhD in Computing Science. Before joining academia full time in 2016, I worked in the software industry for almost two decades as a developer, a development manager, a director and an entrepreneur starting my own educational technology software company (Reflective Thinking) in 2011. 

I founded Reflective Thinking (2011-2017) to realize the impact of my PhD by commercializing ‘’ (an app platform for collaborative learning and thinking skills development) releasing 30 iPad apps covering different educational topics and different age groups with more than 500,000 downloads from over 60 countries.  My current invovlement with industry includes leading the learning design and the use of generative AI in Kinnu, an educational technology start-up.

Under the theme of education, I have done work on computer supported collaborative learning, reflective and metacognitive thinking, school-community engagement, coding education, mobile and place-based learning, HCI Education, and the evaluation of educational technologies. I am also interested in exploring the appropriation of existing tools and platforms for education and coordinated action (unplatforming).


PhD supervision and examination experience

As a main supervisor, I have supervised eight PhD students to completion (up to 2024), and I am currently supervising several PhD students researching topics in educational technology, the use of AI in education, and interaction design.

I am currently an external examiner for University of the West of England Bristol (UWE Bristol) and for Leeds Beckett University. I have acted as a PhD external examiner for Sydney University and Durham University, and internal examiner at 缅北禁地.


Research projects

  • Ongoing: EPSRC  (Co-I and co-lead for the Ageless Citizen theme) 2020-2025. (CDC, EP/T022582/1) (EPSRC contribution £3.8M) 
  • Ongoing: DfE: Developing a method for obtaining pupil insight for building in use reviews: the use and value of external school space (DFE/RPPU/2019/043 - NU01170)
  • Completed:  (Co-I) 2019-2022 (2019-1-UK01-KA203-061567) (£245K)
  • Completed: EPSRC Digital Economy Research Centre (Co-I) 2015-2021. (EP/M023001/1). (EPSRC contribution £4.05M)
  • Completed:  (Co-I) 2016-2018 (£295K)

Google Scholar:

Research

Full list of publications can be seen at my .

Current funded research projects

  • EPSRC (Co-I and co-lead for the Ageless Citizen theme) 2020-2025. (CDC, EP/T022582/1) (EPSRC contribution £3.8M) 
  • (Co-I) 2019-2022 (2019-1-UK01-KA203-061567) (£245K)

Completed research projects

PhD Research projects

In addition to research carried out under funded projects, I am also supervising a number of PhD students researching topics in educational technology and other topics under the broader theme of human-computer interaction.
Teaching

Degree Program Director for Software Engineering Degree Apprenticeship

Module lead for

  1. Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction (UG)
  2. Advanced Interaction Design (UG)
  3. Software Design Lifecycle (PGT)
  4. Capstone project for Software Engineering Degree Apprenticeship

PhD supervision and examination experience

As a main supervisor, I have supervised five PhD students to completion (up to 2021), and I am currently supervising several PhD students researching topics in educational technology and interaction design.

I have acted as an external examiner for Sydney University, and internal examiner at 缅北禁地.


Publications

  • Articles

    • Satar M, Seedhouse S, Kharrufa A, Ganassin S, Dooly M, Buitrago Peña J, Öztekin E, Akcan S, Haznedar B. . ReCALL 2025, 37(2), 191-214.
    • Venn-Wycherley M, Kharrufa A, Lechelt S, Nicholson R, Howland K, Almjally A, Trory A, Sarangapani V. . ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 2024, 31(2), 1-33.
    • Watson C, Parnaby AW, Kharrufa A. . arXiv 2024.
    • Bull C, Kharrufa A. . IEEE Software 2024, 41(2), 52-59.
    • Hwang E, Kirkham R, Marshall K, Kharrufa A, Olivier P. . Behaviour and Information Technology 2023, 42(13), 2226-2254.
    • Kharrufa A, Satar M, Bone Dodds C, Seedhouse P. . International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching 2022, 12(1), 1-22.
    • Lambton-Howard D, Kiaer Jieun, Kharrufa A. . Behaviour & Information Technology 2021, 40(16), 1700-1715.
    • Seedhouse P, Heslop P, Kharrufa A. . TESL-EJ 2020, 24(1).
    • Seedhouse P, Heslop P, Kharrufa A. . TESL-EJ 2020, 24(1), 1-13.
    • Seedhouse P, Heslop P, Kharrufa A, Ren S, Trang N. . The Eurocall Review 2019, 27(2).
    • Qarabash H, Heslop P, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Devlin M. . British Journal of Educational Technology 2019, 50(4), 1913-1928.
    • Alhadlaq A, Kharrufa A, Olivier P. . Behaviour & Information Technology 2019, 38(11), 1122-1142.
    • Preston A, Lazem S, Kharrufa A, Pursglove B, Olivier P. . Smart Learning Environments 2018, 5, 19.
    • Kharrufa A, Ploetz T, Olivier P. . ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 2018, 24(6), 39.
    • Lin M, Preston A, Kharrufa A, Kong ZR. . Thinking Skills and Creativity 2016, 22, 303-322.
    • Reid A, Preston A, Kharrufa A, Heslop P, Mellor C. Re-thinking thinking: students’ perceptions of learning processes as co-authors of digital tabletop applications. 2014. In Preparation.
    • Leat D, Kharrufa A, Olivier P. Brains on the table revisited: Digitising innovative formative assessment. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice 2013. Submitted.
    • Kharrufa A, Olivier P. Exploring the requirements of tabletop interfaces for education. International Journal of Learning Technology 2010, 5 (1), 42-62. In Preparation.

  • Book Chapters

    • Dodds CB, Whelan A, Kharrufa A, Satar M. . In: Satar, M, ed. Virtual exchange: towards digital equity in internationalisation. Voillans: Research-publishing.net, 2021, pp.101-112.
    • Kharrufa A, Leat D, Olivier P. . In: Yang, H., Wang, S, ed. Cases on E-Learning Management: Development and Implementation. Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA: Information Science Reference, 2013, pp.268-292.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • Woolner P, Kharrufa A, Lengyel D, Whelan A. . In: European Conference on Educational Research ECER'24. 2024, Nicosia: European Educational Research Association.
    • Whelan A, Woolner P, Lengyel D, Kharrufa A. . In: British Educational Research Association conference (BERA'24). 2024, Manchester, UK.
    • Alghamdi S, Bull C, Kharrufa A. . In: 2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC). 2024, Liverpool, UK: IEEE.
    • Kharrufa A, Johnson IG. . In: EduCHI '24: 6th Annual Symposium on HCI Education. 2024, New York: ACM.
    • Watson C, Crivellaro C, Parnaby AW, Kharrufa A. . In: CHI '24: Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA: ACM.
    • Lengyel D, Kharrufa A, Stanfield J, Powers H, Stratford B, Talhouk R. . In: Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2023. 2023, York, UK: Springer.
    • Alghamdi SS, Bull C, Kharrufa A. . In: ITiCSE 2023: Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 1. 2023, Turku, Finland: ACM.
    • Nicholson R, Bartindale T, Kharrufa A, Kirk D, Walker-Gleaves C. . In: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’22). 2022, New Orleans: ACM.
    • Watson C, Kharrufa A. . In: ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies 2021 (ACM COMPASS '21). 2021, Virtual Event, Australia: ACM.
    • Richardson D, Kharrufa A. . In: CHI '20: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2020, Honolulu, HI, USA: ACM.
    • Lambton-Howard D, Olivier P, Vlachokyriakos V, Celina H, Kharrufa A. . In: CHI '20: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2020, Hawaii, USA: ACM.
    • Watson C, Kirkham R, Kharrufa A. . In: CHI '20: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2020, Hawaii, USA: ACM.
    • Venn-Wycherley M, Bennett C, Kharrufa A. . In: 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science. 2020, Portland Oregon, USA: Association for Computing Machinery.
    • Lambton-Howard D, Anderson R, Montague K, Garbett A, Hazeldine S, Alvarez C, Sweeney J, Olivier P, Kharrufa A, Nappey T. . In: 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2019, Glasgow, UK: ACM.
    • Venn-Wycherley M, Kharrufa A. . In: CHI '19: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2019, Glasgow, UK: ACM.
    • Garbett A, Chatting D, Wilkinson G, Lee C, Kharrufa A. . In: CHI '18: Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2018, Montreal, Canada: Association for Computing Machinery.
    • Richardson D, Jarusriboonchai P, Montague K, Kharrufa A. . In: Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services Adjunct (MobileHCI '18). 2018, Barcelona, Spain: ACM.
    • Heslop P, Preston A, Reid A, Kharrufa A. . In: 31st International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference (HCI 2017). 2017, Sunderland, UK: BCS.
    • Dodds C, Kharrufa A, Preston A, Preston C, Olivier P. . In: 8th International Conference on Communities and Technologies (C&T '17). 2017, Troyes, France: ACM.
    • Kharrufa A, Rix S, Osadchiy T, Preston A, Olivier P. . In: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2017, Denver, Colorado, USA: ACM.
    • Richardson D, Crivellaro C, Kharrufa A, Montague K, Olivier P. . In: 8th International Conference on Communities and Technologies. 2017, Troyes, France: Association for Computing Machinery.
    • Sarangapani V, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Leat D, Wright P. . In: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, MobileHCI 2016. 2016, Florence, Italy: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.
    • Celina H, Kharrufa A, Preston A, Comber R, Olivier P. . In: 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '16). 2016, Brisbane, Australia: ACM.
    • Wilkinson G, Kharrufa A, Hook J, Pursglove B, Haeuser H, Hammerla N, Wood G, Hodges S, Olivier P. . In: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2016. 2016, San Jose, California: ACM.
    • Kharrufa A, Nicholson J, Dunphy P, Hodges S, Briggs P, Olivier P. . In: Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2015. 2015, Bamberg, Germany: Springer.
    • Heslop P, Preston A, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Leat D, Olivier P. . In: Human-Computer Interaction - INTERACT 2015: 15th IFIP TC 13 International Conference. 2015, Bamberg, Germany: Springer International Publishing.
    • Al-Megren S, Kharrufa A, Hook J, Holden A, Sutton S, Olivier P. . In: Human-Computer Interaction–INTERACT 2015. 2015, Springer International Publishing.
    • Preston A, Kharrufa A, Lin M, Kong Z. . In: Innovative Language Teaching at University: Enhancing student performance. 2014, Leeds: University of Leeds.
    • Lin M, Preston A, Kharrufa A, Kong Z. . In: EUROCALL 2014: CALL Design: Principles and Practice. 2014, Groningen, Netherlands: Research-publishing.net.
    • Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Heslop P, Leat D, Dolan P, Olivier P. . In: CHI 2013: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2013, Paris: ACM.
    • Heslop P, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Leat D, Dolan P, Olivier P. . In: 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC). 2013, New York: ACM Press.
    • Kharrufa A, Martinez-Maldonado R, Kay J, Olivier P. Extending tabletop application design to the classroom. In: ACM international conference on Interactive tabletops and surfaces. 2013, ACM. In Preparation.
    • Pykhtina O, Balaam M, Wood G, Pattison S, Kharrufa A, Olivier P. . In: DIS 2012: Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems Conference. 2012, 缅北禁地, UK: ACM Press.
    • Maslamani JA, Windeatt S, Olivier P, Heslop P, Kharrufa A, Shearer J, Balaam M. . In: EUROCALL. 2012, Gothenburg, Sweden: Research-publishing.net.
    • Kharrufa A, Olivier P, Leat D. Learning Through Reflection at the Tabletop: A Case Study with Digital Mysteries. In: EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology. 2010. In Preparation.
    • Kharrufa A, Leat D, Olivier P. . In: ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces. 2010, Saarbruecken, Germany: ACM Press.
    • Sulaiman A, Olivier P, Heslop PA. . In: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (EDMEDIA 2009). 2009, Honolulu, Hawaii: AACE.
    • Sulaiman AN, Olivier P. . In: 21st Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST). 2008, Monterey, California, USA: ACM Press.

  • Editorial

    • MacDonald CM, Girouard A, Granollers T, Joshi A, Kang J, Kharrufa A, Slegers K, St-Cyr O. . Frontiers in Computer Science 2023, 5, 1188680.

  • Note

    • Pammer-Schindler V, Harpstead E, Xie B, Disalvo B, Kharrufa A, Slovak P, Ogan A, Williams JJ, Lee MJ. . Interactions 2020, 27(5), 6-7.

  • Online Publications

    • Satar M, Seedhouse P, Kharrufa A, Bone Dodds C, Ganassin S, Whelan A. . Leeds: Babel Magazine Limited, 2021. Available at: .
    • Satar M, Seedhouse P, Kharrufa A, Bone Dodds C, Ganassin S, Whelan A. . ESOL SIG, 2024. Available at: .

  • Reports

    • Woolner P, Kharrufa A, Lengyel D, Whelan A, Clements K. . London: DfE, 2024.
    • Kharrufa AS, Olivier P, Leat D. . 缅北禁地 upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of 缅北禁地 upon Tyne, 2009. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1171.