Staff Profile

I am a Reader in AI for Education at Open Lab (40%FTE), Newcastle University. 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 at Kinnu 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 (see Threshold Concepts in HCI) and practice (e.g. see Flipping Time and Space) 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 ‘Digital Mysteries’ (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 Newcastle University.

Research projects

• Ongoing: EPSRC Centre for Digital Citizens (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: Erasmus ENACT: Communities, Languages, and Activities App (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: Erasmus Linguacuisine: Learning Digital Skills, Foreign Languages and Cooking (Co-I) 2016-2018 (£295K)

Google Scholar: Click here

Full list of publications can be seen at my Google Scholar Profile.

Current funded research projects

• EPSRC Centre for Digital Citizens (Co-I and co-lead for the Ageless Citizen theme) 2020-2025. (CDC, EP/T022582/1) (EPSRC contribution £3.8M) 
• Erasmus ENACT: Communities, Languages, and Activities App (Co-I) 2019-2022 (2019-1-UK01-KA203-061567) (£245K)

Completed research projects

• EPSRC Digital Economy Research Centre (Co-I) 2015-2021. (EP/M023001/1). (EPSRC contribution £4.05M)
• Erasmus Linguacuisine: Learning Digital Skills, Foreign Languages and Cooking (Co-I) 2016-2018 (£295K)
  

PhD Research projects

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 Newcastle University.

• Articles

  • Venn-Wycherley M, Kharrufa A, Lechelt S, Nicholson R, Howland K, Almjally A, Trory A, Sarangapani V. The Realities of Evaluating Educational Technology in School Settings. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 2024, 31(2), 1-33.
  • Watson C, Parnaby AW, Kharrufa A. Precarious Experiences: Citizens' Frustrations, Anxieties and Burdens of an Online Welfare Benefit System. arXiv 2024.
  • Bull C, Kharrufa A. Generative AI Assistants in Software Development Education: A vision for integrating Generative AI into educational practice, not instinctively defending against it. IEEE Software 2024, 41(2), 52-59.
  • Hwang E, Kirkham R, Marshall K, Kharrufa A, Olivier P. Sketching dialogue: incorporating sketching in empathetic semi-Structured interviews for human-computer interaction research. Behaviour and Information Technology 2023, 42(13), 2226-2254.
  • Kharrufa A, Satar M, Bone Dodds C, Seedhouse P. Supporting Non-Expert Users in Authoring Tasks for Learning Language and Culture: Evaluation Study. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching 2022, 12(1), 1-22.
  • Lambton-Howard D, Kiaer Jieun, Kharrufa A. ‘Social media is their space’: student and teacher use and perception of features of social media in language education. Behaviour & Information Technology 2021, 40(16), 1700-1715.
  • Seedhouse P, Heslop P, Kharrufa A. Cooking as a language learning task: On the internet. TESL-EJ 2020, 24(1).
  • Seedhouse P, Heslop P, Kharrufa A. Cooking as a Language Learning task. TESL-EJ 2020, 24(1), 1-13.
  • Seedhouse P, Heslop P, Kharrufa A, Ren S, Trang N. The Linguacuisine Project: A Cooking-based Language Learning Application. The Eurocall Review 2019, 27(2).
  • Qarabash H, Heslop P, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Devlin M. Group tagging: Using video tagging to facilitate reflection on small group activities. British Journal of Educational Technology 2019, 50(4), 1913-1928.
  • Alhadlaq A, Kharrufa A, Olivier P. Exploring e-mentoring: co-designing & un-platforming. Behaviour & Information Technology 2019, 38(11), 1122-1142.
  • Preston A, Lazem S, Kharrufa A, Pursglove B, Olivier P. Supporting the smart teacher: an agenda for the use of embedded sensing in novel learning spaces. Smart Learning Environments 2018, 5, 19.
  • Kharrufa A, Ploetz T, Olivier P. A Unified Model for User Identification on Multi-Touch Surfaces: A Survey and Meta-Analysis. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 2018, 24(6), 39.
  • Lin M, Preston A, Kharrufa A, Kong ZR. Making L2 learners' reasoning skills visible: The potential of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Environments. 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. Virtual exchange facilitated by interactive, digital, cultural artefacts: communities, languages, and activities app (ENACT). 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. Designing for Reflection: A Case Study with Digital Tabletops and Digital Mysteries. 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)

  • Kharrufa A, Johnson IG. The Potential and Implications of Generative AI on HCI Education. In: EduCHI '24: 6th Annual Symposium on HCI Education. 2024, New York: ACM.
  • Watson C, Crivellaro C, Parnaby AW, Kharrufa A. Hostile Systems: A Taxonomy of Harms Articulated by Citizens Living with Socio-Economic Deprivation. 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. Gender & Racism: Considerations for Digital Learning Among Young Refugees and Asylum Seekers. In: Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2023. 2023, York, UK: Springer.
  • Alghamdi SS, Bull C, Kharrufa A. Exploring the Support for Self-Regulation in Adult Online Informal Programming Learning: A Scoping Review. 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. Participatory Design Goes to School: Co-Teaching as a Form of Co-Design for Educational Technology. In: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’22). 2022, New Orleans: ACM.
  • Watson C, Kharrufa A. HCI - H is also for Hazard: Using HAZOP to Identify Undesirable Consequences in Socio-Technical Systems. In: ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies 2021 (ACM COMPASS '21). 2021, Virtual Event, Australia: ACM.
  • Richardson D, Kharrufa A. We are the Greatest Showmen: Configuring a Framework for Project-Based Mobile Learning. 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. Unplatformed Design: A Model for Appropriating Social Media Technologies for Coordinated Participation. 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. PIP Kit: An Exploratory Investigation into using Lifelogging to support Disability Benefit Claimants. 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. Design Studios for K-12 Computing Education. 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. WhatFutures: Designing Large-Scale Engagements on WhatsApp. In: 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2019, Glasgow, UK: ACM.
  • Venn-Wycherley M, Kharrufa A. HOPE for Computing Education: Towards the Infrastructuring of Support for University-School Partnerships. 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. ThinkActive: Designing for pseudonymous activity tracking in the classroom. 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. ParkLearn: Creating, sharing and engaging with place-based activities for seamless mobile learning. 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. Students’ Perceptions of Learning Processes as Co-Authors of Digital Tabletop Activities. In: 31st International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference (HCI 2017). 2017, Sunderland, UK: BCS.
  • Dodds C, Kharrufa A, Preston A, Preston C, Olivier P. Remix Portal: Connecting Classrooms with Local Music Communities. 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. Group Spinner: Recognizing & Visualizing Learning in the Classroom for Reflection, Communication & Planning. In: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2017, Denver, Colorado, USA: ACM.
  • Richardson D, Crivellaro C, Kharrufa A, Montague K, Olivier P. Exploring Public Places as Infrastructures for Civic M-Learning. 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. Virtual.Cultural.Collaboration - Mobile phones, video technology, and cross-cultural learning. 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. SOLE meets MOOC: Designing Infrastructure for Online Self-Organised Learning with a Social Mission. 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. Expressy: Using a Wrist-Worn Inertial Measurement Unit to Add Expressiveness to Touch-Based Interactions. 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. Using IMUs to identify supervisors on touch devices. In: Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2015. 2015, Bamberg, Germany: Springer.
  • Heslop P, Preston A, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Leat D, Olivier P. Evaluating Digital Tabletop Collaborative Writing in the Classroom. 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. Comparing Fatigue When Using Large Horizontal and Vertical Multi-touch Interaction Displays. In: Human-Computer Interaction–INTERACT 2015. 2015, Springer International Publishing.
  • Preston A, Kharrufa A, Lin M, Kong Z. Enhancing language learning around the digital tabletop: do actions speak louder than words?. In: Innovative Language Teaching at University: Enhancing student performance. 2014, Leeds: University of Leeds.
  • Lin M, Preston A, Kharrufa A, Kong Z. Collaborative enquiry through the tabletop for second/foreign language learners. 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. Tables in the Wild: Lessons Learned from a Large-Scale Multi-Tabletop Deployment. 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. Learning extended writing: designing for children's collaboration. 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. Magic Land: the design and evaluation of an interactive tabletop supporting therapeutic play with children. In: DIS 2012: Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems Conference. 2012, Newcastle, UK: ACM Press.
  • Maslamani JA, Windeatt S, Olivier P, Heslop P, Kharrufa A, Shearer J, Balaam M. Collaborative Strategic Reading on Multi-Touch and Multi-User Digital Tabletop Displays. 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. Digital Mysteries: Designing for Learning at the Tabletop. In: ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces. 2010, Saarbruecken, Germany: ACM Press.
  • Sulaiman A, Olivier P, Heslop PA. TangiSoft: A Tangible Direct-Touch Tabletop Keyboard. In: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (EDMEDIA 2009). 2009, Honolulu, Hawaii: AACE.
  • Sulaiman AN, Olivier P. Attribute gates. 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. Editorial: Teaching and learning human–computer interaction (HCI): current and emerging practices. 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. Learning and Education in HCI: A Reflection on the SIG at CHI 2019. Interactions 2020, 27(5), 6-7.

• Online Publications

  • Satar M, Seedhouse P, Kharrufa A, Bone Dodds C, Ganassin S, Whelan A. The ENACT web app: Learning language through culture. Leeds: Babel Magazine Limited, 2024. Available at: https://babelzine.co.uk/babel-number-35-may-2021/.
  • Satar M, Seedhouse P, Kharrufa A, Bone Dodds C, Ganassin S, Whelan A. Cultural tasks for ESOL teaching and learning: The ENACT web app. ESOL SIG, 2024. Available at: https://iateflesolsig.wordpress.com/our-newsletter/.

• Reports

  • Woolner P, Kharrufa A, Lengyel D, Whelan A, Clements K. Developing a method for obtaining pupil insight for Building in Use reviews. London: DfE, 2024.
  • Kharrufa AS, Olivier P, Leat D. Digital Mysteries: Designing for Learning at the Tabletop. Newcastle upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2009. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1171.