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STEM Faculty

Meet the people who make up STEM Faculty.

Karen Kear

Karen Kear

Professor Of Online Education

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computing-and-communications

Professional biography

 

Karen Kear is Professor of Online Education in the School of Computing and Communications, within the STEM Faculty at The Open University (UK). 

Karen develops and presents courses in IT and Computing, specialising in the social and communication aspects of these subjects.

Karen's main research area is online learning, in particular on online collaboration, and the benefits and issues related to this educational approach. 
 

 

Research interests

Karen's research is primarily in  online learning, with a particular focus on online communication and collaboration She has researched the use of social technologies such as forums, wikis and web conferencing in educational contexts. A key focus for Karen's research is group projects which students carry out online using communication technologies. She is the author of 'Online and Social Networking Communities: a best practice guide for educators'.

Karen's research projects have included:

  • The Open Networking Lab, which developed and evaluated an online approach to the learning of computer networking
  • Changing the Pedagogical Landscape, which looked at European policy to support new learning approaches in Higher Education
  • E-xcellence Next, which considered quality assessment and enhancement in e-learning.


Publications 

Karen's book Online and social networking communities: a best practice guide for educators was published by Routledge in 2010. She was one of three co-editors of Online communication and collaboration: a reader, also published by Routledge in 2010.  

Karen's publications are listed in the Open University's Open Research Online (ORO) repository.

Featured research

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Latest publications

Displaying 10 of 81 publications

  • Kbaier, D., Kane, A. and Kear, K., 2026, ‘Enhancing Student Learning in Online STEM Labs Through Live Support: The Lab Assist Project’, Education Sciences, 16(10), https://oro.open.ac.uk/112529/.
  • Buadu, Y., Kear, K. and Donelan, H., 2026, ‘Web Conferencing: The Technical and Social Challenges - Insights from a study of online learning’, in 38th Annual EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2025, 19-23 May 2025, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain., https://oro.open.ac.uk/110766/.
  • Hilliard, J., Kear, K. and Donelan, H., 2026, ‘Students’ use of digital technologies to support emotion regulation when learning online’, in 20th European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning, EC-TEL 2025. Two Decades of TEL. From Lessons Learnt to Challenges Ahead., 15-19 Sep 2025, Newcastle upon Tyne and Durham, UK., https://oro.open.ac.uk/106141/.
  • Hilliard, J., Kear, K., Donelan, H., Wong, P. and Heaney, C., 2025, ‘Supporting students’ emotion awareness and regulation during an online group project’, European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, 27(2), https://oro.open.ac.uk/106638/.
  • Donelan, H., Kear, K., Rosewell, J., Okada, A., Sheehy, K., Amor, K., Edwards, C., Mooney, A., Cuffe, P. and Elder, T., 2025, ‘Synchronous online learning: why some students don’t actively participate’, Online Learning, 29(3), pp. 311–337., https://oro.open.ac.uk/104097/.
  • Donelan, H. and Kear, K., 2024, ‘Online group projects in higher education: persistent challenges and implications for practice’, Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 36 pp. 435–468., https://oro.open.ac.uk/88652/.
  • Kbaier, D., Lockett, H. and Kear, K., 2024, ‘Lab-Assist: Enhancing STEM education through online laboratories with real-time support’, European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, Maastricht, The Netherlands., https://oro.open.ac.uk/98249/.
  • Kbaier, D., Lockett, H., Kear, K., Long, S. and Sykes, P., 2024, ‘Real-time support in online STEM laboratories: Fostering engagement and inclusivity’, in i-HE2024: Innovating Higher Education Conference 2024, 23-25 Oct 2024, The Open University of Cyprus, Limassol, Cyprus., https://oro.open.ac.uk/102764/.
  • Sampene Buadu, Y., Kear, K. and Donelan, H., 2024, ‘Web Conferencing: The Technical and Social Challenges’, Proceedings of the International Conference on Networked Learning, 14(1), https://oro.open.ac.uk/100435/.
  • Kbaier, D., Kear, K., Lockett, H., Sykes, P. and Long, S., 2024, ‘Enhancing Student Learning in OpenSTEM Labs Through Live Support: The Lab Assist Project’, in 18th International conference on computer science and education (ICCSE 2023)), 01-07 Dec 2023, Sepang, Malaysia., https://oro.open.ac.uk/96415/.
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