Menu

  • People
  • Research
  • Publications
  • Search
  • News

More

  • About
  • Contact
Ahmed Kharrufa

Ahmed Kharrufa

Reader

ahmed.kharrufa@newcastle.ac.uk

Google Scholar Twitter
Bio Projects Publications

I am a Reader in human-computer interaction at Open Lab, Newcastle University. I lead the educational technology research at Open Lab and my research in this area focuses on 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.

Teaching wise, I am the Degree Programme Director for the Software Engineering Degree Apprenticeship, and the module leader for three human-computer interaction related modules for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. I am also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

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 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. 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, and the evaluation of educational technologies.

When not doing research work at the university, I am leading the development of the learning engine and the application of AI at Kinnu, an educational technology start-up developing Kinnu as a learning science-based app to help people acquire and retain new knowledge.

PhD supervision and examination experience

As a main supervisor, I have supervised four PhD students to completion (up to 2020), and I have five other 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.

My Google Scholar.

Project Title

Discover the Treasures of Lit & Phil

Denise Lengyel Ahmed Kharrufa Rob Anderson
Project Title

Digital Approaches for Gathering Student Opinions in School

Denise Lengyel Ahmed Kharrufa Rob Anderson
Project Title

ENACT: Learn Language Through Culture

Ahmed Kharrufa Colin Dodds
Project Title

Co-Teaching as a Form of Co-Design for Educational Technology

Rebecca Nicholson Ahmed Kharrufa Dave Kirk
Project Title

Designing a Social Media-Based Peer Support System

Dan Lambton-Howard Emma Simpson Ahmed Kharrufa
Project Title

PIP Kit: Using lifelogging to support disability benefit claimants

Colin Watson Ahmed Kharrufa Reuben Kirkham
Project Title

Configuring a framework for Project-Based Mobile Learning

Dan Richardson Ahmed Kharrufa
Project Title

Unplatformed Design: Appropriating social media for coordinated participation

Dan Lambton-Howard Vasilis Vlachokyriakos Hanna Celina ⋯
Project Title

WhatFutures: engaging youth volunteers using WhatsApp

Dan Lambton-Howard Rob Anderson Kyle Montague ⋯
Project Title

HOPE for computing education: Supporting university-school partnerships

Megan Venn-Wycherley Ahmed Kharrufa
Project Title

ThinkActive: keeping children fit using low-cost technology in a fun and engaging way

Andy Garbett David Chatting Ahmed Kharrufa ⋯
Project Title

OurPlace: an app for learning about people and places

Dan Richardson Ahmed Kharrufa Clara Crivellaro ⋯

2025

Migrants’ digital skills development: Engaging with and creating digital cultural activities on the ENACT web app

Satar M Seedhouse S Kharrufa A Ganassin S Dooly M Buitrago Peña J Öztekin E Akcan S Haznedar B

2025 – ReCALL

Open website 10.1017/S0958344024000351

Beyond Bridging Divides: Examining the Goals of Digital Inclusion Practice in Post-Digital Societies

Parnaby AW Kharrufa A Crivellaro C

2025 – CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '25)

Open website 10.1145/3706598.3713902

2024

Generative AI Assistants in Software Development Education: A vision for integrating Generative AI into educational practice, not instinctively defending against it

Bull C Kharrufa A

2024 – IEEE Software

Open website 10.1109/MS.2023.3300574

Hostile Systems: A Taxonomy of Harms Articulated by Citizens Living with Socio-Economic Deprivation

Watson C Crivellaro C Parnaby AW Kharrufa A

2024 – CHI '24: Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Open website 10.1145/3613904.3642562

The Realities of Evaluating Educational Technology in School Settings

Venn-Wycherley M Kharrufa A Lechelt S Nicholson R Howland K Almjally A Trory A Sarangapani V

2024 – ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

Open website 10.1145/3635146

Developing a method for obtaining pupil insight for Building in Use reviews

Woolner P Kharrufa A Lengyel D Whelan A Clements K

2024 –

Open website

Precarious Experiences: Citizens' Frustrations, Anxieties and Burdens of an Online Welfare Benefit System

Watson C Parnaby AW Kharrufa A

2024 – arXiv

Open website 10.48550/arXiv.2405.08515

The Potential and Implications of Generative AI on HCI Education

Kharrufa A Johnson IG

2024 – EduCHI '24: 6th Annual Symposium on HCI Education

Open website 10.1145/3658619.3658627

Cultural tasks for ESOL teaching and learning: The ENACT web app

Satar M Seedhouse P Kharrufa A Bone Dodds C Ganassin S Whelan A

2024 – ESOL SIG

Open website

The ENACT web app: Learning language through culture.

Satar M Seedhouse P Kharrufa A Bone Dodds C Ganassin S Whelan A

2024 – Babel The Language Magazine

Open website

Using Digital Technologies to reveal Student Views of Outdoor School Space: Methodological and Ethical Possibilities and Uncertainties

Woolner P Kharrufa A Lengyel D Whelan A

2024 – European Conference on Educational Research ECER'24

Open website

Using digital technologies to reveal student views of outdoor school space: methodological and ethical possibilities and uncertainties

Whelan A Woolner P Lengyel D Kharrufa A

2024 – British Educational Research Association conference (BERA'24)

Open website

Thematic Analysis of Self-Regulation Narratives in Textual Posts by Informal Programming Learners on Social Media

Alghamdi S Bull C Kharrufa A

2024 – 2024 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC)

Open website 10.1109/VL/HCC60511.2024.00033

2023

Sketching dialogue: incorporating sketching in empathetic semi-Structured interviews for human-computer interaction research

Hwang E Kirkham R Marshall K Kharrufa A Olivier P

2023 – Behaviour and Information Technology

Open website 10.1080/0144929X.2022.2113431

Exploring the Support for Self-Regulation in Adult Online Informal Programming Learning: A Scoping Review

Alghamdi SS Bull C Kharrufa A

2023 – ITiCSE 2023: Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 1

Open website 10.1145/3587102.3588811

Editorial: Teaching and learning human–computer interaction (HCI): current and emerging practices

MacDonald CM Girouard A Granollers T Joshi A Kang J Kharrufa A Slegers K St-Cyr O

2023 – Frontiers in Computer Science

Open website 10.3389/fcomp.2023.1188680

Gender & Racism: Considerations for Digital Learning Among Young Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Lengyel D Kharrufa A Stanfield J Powers H Stratford B Talhouk R

2023 – Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2023

Open website 10.1007/978-3-031-42286-7_26

2022

Participatory Design Goes to School: Co-Teaching as a Form of Co-Design for Educational Technology

Nicholson R Bartindale T Kharrufa A Kirk D Walker-Gleaves C

2022 – CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’22)

Open website 10.1145/3491102.3517667

Supporting Non-Expert Users in Authoring Tasks for Learning Language and Culture: Evaluation Study

Kharrufa A Satar M Bone Dodds C Seedhouse P

2022 – International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching

Open website 10.4018/IJCALLT.315278

Cultural Tasks for Language Learning and Teaching: The ENACT App.

Satar M Seedhouse P Kharrufa A Bone Dodds C Ganassin S Whelan A

2022 – FLTMAG

Open website 10.69732/GGEZ7014

2021

‘Social media is their space’: student and teacher use and perception of features of social media in language education

Lambton-Howard D Kiaer Jieun Kharrufa A

2021 – Behaviour & Information Technology

Open website 10.1080/0144929X.2020.1774653

HCI - H is also for Hazard: Using HAZOP to Identify Undesirable Consequences in Socio-Technical Systems

Watson C Kharrufa A

2021 – ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies 2021 (ACM COMPASS '21)

Open website 10.1145/3460112.3471959

Virtual exchange facilitated by interactive, digital, cultural artefacts: communities, languages, and activities app (ENACT)

Dodds CB Whelan A Kharrufa A Satar M

2021 – Virtual exchange: towards digital equity in internationalisation

Open website 10.14705/rpnet.2021.53.1293

2020

We are the Greatest Showmen: Configuring a Framework for Project-Based Mobile Learning

Richardson D Kharrufa A

2020 – CHI '20: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Open website 10.1145/3313831.3376650

PIP Kit: An Exploratory Investigation into using Lifelogging to support Disability Benefit Claimants

Watson C Kirkham R Kharrufa A

2020 – CHI '20: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Open website 10.1145/3313831.3376215

Unplatformed Design: A Model for Appropriating Social Media Technologies for Coordinated Participation

Lambton-Howard D Olivier P Vlachokyriakos V Celina H Kharrufa A

2020 – CHI '20: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Open website 10.1145/3313831.3376179

Design Studios for K-12 Computing Education

Venn-Wycherley M Bennett C Kharrufa A

2020 – 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science

Open website 10.1145/3328778.3366923

Cooking as a Language Learning task.

Seedhouse P Heslop P Kharrufa A

2020 – TESL-EJ

Open website

Learning and Education in HCI: A Reflection on the SIG at CHI 2019

Pammer-Schindler V Harpstead E Xie B Disalvo B Kharrufa A Slovak P Ogan A Williams JJ Lee MJ

2020 – Interactions

Open website 10.1145/3411290

Cooking as a language learning task: On the internet

Seedhouse P Heslop P Kharrufa A

2020 – TESL-EJ

Open website

2019

Group tagging: Using video tagging to facilitate reflection on small group activities

Qarabash H Heslop P Kharrufa A Balaam M Devlin M

2019 – British Journal of Educational Technology

Open website 10.1111/bjet.12691

Exploring e-mentoring: co-designing & un-platforming

Alhadlaq A Kharrufa A Olivier P

2019 – Behaviour & Information Technology

Open website 10.1080/0144929X.2019.1571110

HOPE for Computing Education: Towards the Infrastructuring of Support for University-School Partnerships

Venn-Wycherley M Kharrufa A

2019 – CHI '19: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Open website 10.1145/3290605.3300729

WhatFutures: Designing Large-Scale Engagements on WhatsApp

Lambton-Howard D Anderson R Montague K Garbett A Hazeldine S Alvarez C Sweeney J Olivier P Kharrufa A Nappey T

2019 – 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Open website 10.1145/3290605.3300389

The Linguacuisine Project: A Cooking-based Language Learning Application

Seedhouse P Heslop P Kharrufa A Ren S Trang N

2019 – The Eurocall Review

Open website

2018

A Unified Model for User Identification on Multi-Touch Surfaces: A Survey and Meta-Analysis

Kharrufa A Ploetz T Olivier P

2018 – ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

Open website 10.1145/3144569

ThinkActive: Designing for pseudonymous activity tracking in the classroom

Garbett A Chatting D Wilkinson G Lee C Kharrufa A

2018 – CHI '18: Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Open website 10.1145/3173574.3173581

ParkLearn: Creating, sharing and engaging with place-based activities for seamless mobile learning

Richardson D Jarusriboonchai P Montague K Kharrufa A

2018 – Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services Adjunct (MobileHCI '18)

Open website 10.1145/3229434.3229462

Supporting the smart teacher: an agenda for the use of embedded sensing in novel learning spaces

Preston A Lazem S Kharrufa A Pursglove B Olivier P

2018 – Smart Learning Environments

Open website 10.1186/s40561-018-0068-8

2017

Group Spinner: Recognizing & Visualizing Learning in the Classroom for Reflection, Communication & Planning

Kharrufa A Rix S Osadchiy T Preston A Olivier P

2017 – Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Open website 10.1145/3025453.3025679

Students’ Perceptions of Learning Processes as Co-Authors of Digital Tabletop Activities

Heslop P Preston A Reid A Kharrufa A

2017 – 31st International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference (HCI 2017)

Open website

Exploring Public Places as Infrastructures for Civic M-Learning

Richardson D Crivellaro C Kharrufa A Montague K Olivier P

2017 – 8th International Conference on Communities and Technologies

Open website 10.1145/3083671.3083678

Remix Portal: Connecting Classrooms with Local Music Communities

Dodds C Kharrufa A Preston A Preston C Olivier P

2017 – 8th International Conference on Communities and Technologies (C&T '17)

Open website 10.1145/3083671.3083679

2016

Expressy: Using a Wrist-Worn Inertial Measurement Unit to Add Expressiveness to Touch-Based Interactions

Wilkinson G Kharrufa A Hook J Pursglove B Haeuser H Hammerla N Wood G Hodges S Olivier P

2016 – ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2016

Open website 10.1145/2858036.2858223

SOLE meets MOOC: Designing Infrastructure for Online Self-Organised Learning with a Social Mission

Celina H Kharrufa A Preston A Comber R Olivier P

2016 – 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '16)

Open website 10.1145/2901790.2901848

Making L2 learners' reasoning skills visible: The potential of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Environments

Lin M Preston A Kharrufa A Kong ZR

2016 – Thinking Skills and Creativity

Open website 10.1016/j.tsc.2016.06.004

Virtual.Cultural.Collaboration - Mobile phones, video technology, and cross-cultural learning

Sarangapani V Kharrufa A Balaam M Leat D Wright P

2016 – Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, MobileHCI 2016

Open website 10.1145/2935334.2935354

2015

Evaluating Digital Tabletop Collaborative Writing in the Classroom

Heslop P Preston A Kharrufa A Balaam M Leat D Olivier P

2015 – Human-Computer Interaction - INTERACT 2015: 15th IFIP TC 13 International Conference

Open website 10.1007/978-3-319-22668-2_41

Using IMUs to identify supervisors on touch devices.

Kharrufa A Nicholson J Dunphy P Hodges S Briggs P Olivier P

2015 – Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2015

Open website 10.1007/978-3-319-22668-2_44

Comparing Fatigue When Using Large Horizontal and Vertical Multi-touch Interaction Displays.

Al-Megren S Kharrufa A Hook J Holden A Sutton S Olivier P

2015 – Human-Computer Interaction–INTERACT 2015

Open website 10.1007/978-3-319-22723-8_13

2014

Enhancing language learning around the digital tabletop: do actions speak louder than words?

Preston A Kharrufa A Lin M Kong Z

2014 – Innovative Language Teaching at University: Enhancing student performance

Open website

Collaborative enquiry through the tabletop for second/foreign language learners

Lin M Preston A Kharrufa A Kong Z

2014 – EUROCALL 2014: CALL Design: Principles and Practice

Open website 10.14705/rpnet.2014.000218

Re-thinking thinking: students’ perceptions of learning processes as co-authors of digital tabletop applications

Reid A Preston A Kharrufa A Heslop P Mellor C

2014 –

2013

Designing for Reflection: A Case Study with Digital Tabletops and Digital Mysteries

Kharrufa A Leat D Olivier P

2013 – Cases on E-Learning Management: Development and Implementation

Brains on the table revisited: Digitising innovative formative assessment

Leat D Kharrufa A Olivier P

2013 – Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice

Tables in the Wild: Lessons Learned from a Large-Scale Multi-Tabletop Deployment

Kharrufa A Balaam M Heslop P Leat D Dolan P Olivier P

2013 – CHI 2013: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Open website 10.1145/2470654.2466130

Learning extended writing: designing for children's collaboration

Heslop P Kharrufa A Balaam M Leat D Dolan P Olivier P

2013 – 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC)

Open website 10.1145/2485760.2485765

Extending tabletop application design to the classroom.

Kharrufa A Martinez-Maldonado R Kay J Olivier P

2013 – ACM international conference on Interactive tabletops and surfaces

Open website

2012

Magic Land: the design and evaluation of an interactive tabletop supporting therapeutic play with children

Pykhtina O Balaam M Wood G Pattison S Kharrufa A Olivier P

2012 – DIS 2012: Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems Conference

Open website 10.1145/2317956.2317978

Collaborative Strategic Reading on Multi-Touch and Multi-User Digital Tabletop Displays

Maslamani JA Windeatt S Olivier P Heslop P Kharrufa A Shearer J Balaam M

2012 – EUROCALL

Open website

2010

Exploring the Requirements of Tabletop Interfaces for Education

Kharuffa AS Olivier P Ahmed Kharrufa

2010 – International Journal of Learning Technology

Learning Through Reflection at the Tabletop: A Case Study with Digital Mysteries

Kharuffa A Olivier P Leat D Ahmed Kharrufa

2010 – World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications

Open website

Digital Mysteries: Designing for Learning at the Tabletop

Kharrufa A Leat D Olivier P

2010 – ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces

Open website

Learning Through Reflection at the Tabletop: A Case Study with Digital Mysteries

Kharrufa A Olivier P Leat D

2010 – EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology

Open website

Exploring the requirements of tabletop interfaces for education.

Kharrufa A Olivier P

2010 – International Journal of Learning Technology

Open website

2009

TangiSoft: A Tangible Direct-Touch Tabletop Keyboard

Sulaiman A Olivier P Heslop PA Ahmed Kharrufa

2009 – World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (EDMEDIA 2009)

Open website

Digital Mysteries: Designing for Learning at the Tabletop

Kharrufa AS Olivier P Leat D

2009 – School of Computing Science Technical Report Series

Open website

TangiSoft: A Tangible Direct-Touch Tabletop Keyboard

Sulaiman-Kharrufa A Olivier P Heslop P

2009 – EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology

Open website

2008

Attribute gates

Sulaiman AN Olivier P Ahmed Kharrufa

2008 – 21st Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST)

Open website 10.1145/1449715.1449726

Attribute Gates

Sulaiman-Kharrufa A Olivier P

2008 – ACM symposium on User interface software and technology (UIST '08)

Open website

Open Lab | HCI research | Digital Civics | Cookies