Prof. Dr. Christothea Herodotou

Professor of Learning Technologies and Social Justice | Associate Director, Institute of Educational Technology
The Open University, UK

Professional Summary

Dr. Christothea Herodotou is a leading academic in educational technology, specializing in learning technologies, social justice, and education equity. Her expertise spans learning analytics dashboards, online citizen science platforms, and mobile game applications. She applies mixed-methods research approaches (e.g., learning analytics, interviews, surveys, participatory workshops, RCTs) to co-design learning technologies that create a positive societal impact.

Current Roles

• Professor of Learning Technologies and Social Justice – The Open University, UK
• Associate Director, Institute of Educational Technology – The Open University, UK
• Honorary Associate – UCL Institute of Education
• Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

Research & Key Projects

• nQuire – Academic lead of a citizen science platform, developed with the BBC, engaging the public in scientific research.
• nQuire for Students – A platform fostering research skills in students through design thinking projects.
• Early Alert Indicators Project – Co-lead of a predictive learning analytics initiative identifying and supporting at-risk students through early interventions.
• ExtenDT2 (Horizon Europe & Innovate UK, 2022-2025) – Developing sustainable models of formal education integrating AI, AR, VR, robotics, and 3D printing.
• EduCS (UKRI-funded) – Led a citizen science capacity-building project for academic and non-academic organizations (e.g., Royal Meteorological Society, BBC Weather).

Education

• Ph.D., Digital Games & Psychology – UCL Institute of Education
• MSc, Education, Technology & Society (Distinction) – University of Bristol
• BA, Primary Education – University of Cyprus

Awards & Recognitions

• UNESCO ICT in Education Prize (2nd place, 2021)
• Guardian Research Impact Award (2020)
• Data IQ Awards (Best Use of Data, 2020-2021)
• Excellence in Teaching & Learning (The Open University, 2020)
• Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action – Seal of Excellence (2018)
• Times Higher Education Award Finalist – Digital Innovation of the Year (2019)

Teaching & Academic Contributions

• Authored OpenLearn Course: “Children’s Experiences with Digital Technologies” to support educators and parents.
• Chaired Technology-Enhanced Learning (H800) – A postgraduate course at The Open University.
• Supervises Ph.D. and Ed.D. students focusing on learning technologies and analytics.

Publications & Thought Leadership

Dr. Herodotou has 120+ publications, primarily in peer-reviewed journals. Recent works explore predictive learning analytics, AI-driven education, and citizen science engagement.

• Herodotou, C., Carr, J., Shrestha, S., Comfort, C., Bayer, V., Maguire, C., Lee, J., Mulholland, P., & Fernandez, M. (2025).
  Prescriptive analytics motivating distance learning student action: A case study of a student-facing dashboard.
  LAK25: 15th International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference, ACM, New York.
• Bayer, V., Mulholland, P., Hlosta, M., Farrell, T., Herodotou, C., & Fernandez, M. (2024).
  Co‐creating an equality diversity and inclusion learning analytics dashboard for addressing awarding gaps in higher education.
  British Journal of Educational Technology, 55 (5), 2058-2074.
• Herodotou, C., Kenny, I., & Scanlon, E. (2024).
  Democratising Research Practices through Community Citizen Science.
  GoodIT ’24: International Conference on IT for Social Good, Bremen, Germany.
• Rienties, B., Ferguson, R., Gonda, D., Hajdin, G., Herodotou, C., Iniesto, F., Llorens Garcia, A., Muccini, H., Sargent, J., Virkus, S., & Isidori, M. V. (2023).
  Education 4.0 in higher education and computer science: A systematic review.
  Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 31 (5), 1339-1357.
• Herodotou, C., Shrestha, S., Zhang, F., Gkreka, C., Girvan, C., Papavlasopoulou, S., Grizioti, M., Scanlon, E., Kynigos, C., & Milrad, M. (2024).
  Teaching and learning with design thinking and emerging digital technologies in K-12: Impact on students and teaching recommendations.
  mis4TEL Conference 2024, Salamanca, Spain.

Consultancy & Advisory Roles

• Advises universities on online program design and delivery.
• Serves on advisory boards for projects leveraging learning analytics to support student success.
• Engages in public research dissemination, with media features in The Guardian, UNESCO, and the BBC.

Social Media Profiles:

• X (formerly Twitter): @herodotouc
• ResearchGate: Christothea Herodotou
• Linkedin profile: Prof. Christothea Herodotou