Speaker Announcement: Supporting and Sustaining Openness: The Global Open Graduate Network (GO-GN) - Dr Beck Pitt

About the Presentation

Founded in 2012, the Global Open Graduate Network (GO-GN) supports doctoral researchers worldwide whose work focuses on open education. The network promotes open education research, facilitates international collaboration through online and face-to-face engagement, encourages open research practices, and places diversity, equity, and inclusion at the heart of its activities.

Currently managed by the OER Hub team at The Open University, GO-GN has grown to include more than 220 doctoral members and alumni across 31 countries, alongside a wider community of practice of over 350 participants.

To mark its 10th anniversary, GO-GN undertook a year-long consultation with members to reflect on its development and identify future strategic priorities. This collaborative process highlighted opportunities for the network's continued evolution, including exploring a more federated organizational model.

In this presentation, Dr Pitt will examine the role of openness in shaping GO-GN's development, highlighting practical examples of how open approaches can strengthen research communities, support international collaboration, and encourage innovation in research practices.

About the Speaker

Dr Beck Pitt is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET), The Open University, UK, and Co-Director of the Global Open Graduate Network (GO-GN).

With over 18 years of experience in UK higher education, she has contributed to numerous international research and development projects focused on open education, digital learning, and educational transformation.

Since joining The Open University in 2011, Dr Pitt has been actively involved in open education research. She became a full-time researcher with the internationally recognized Open Education Research (OER) Hub in 2013 and has been part of GO-GN since 2015. In July 2024, she became Co-Director and Co-Principal Investigator of GO-GN, overseeing communications, community engagement, scholarships, and membership activities.

Her international experience includes projects across Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe. Notable contributions include the Skills for Prosperity Kenya initiative, the Transformation by Innovation in Distance Education (TIDE) project in Myanmar, and the European MOOC Consortium Labour Market (EMC-LM) project.

In Viet Nam, Dr Pitt served as Principal Investigator for the British Council-funded Digital Transformation in Viet Nam Higher Education scoping study, collaborating with Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) to produce the report Readiness of Digital Transformation in Vietnamese Universities.

She is also a member of the editorial team of the Journal of Interactive Media in Education (JIME) and Co-Convenor of the Computers and Learning Research Group (CALRG).

At Open Futures 2026, Dr Pitt will bring valuable insights from GO-GN's international experience, highlighting how openness can help build sustainable, inclusive, and collaborative research communities in higher education.