Paul D Bacsich - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Paul D Bacsich

Introduction Higher education institutions have a new, unique, and valuable role in educating to ... more Introduction Higher education institutions have a new, unique, and valuable role in educating to participate in an increasingly global economy. ICT makes it possible to create flexible learning paths and to open the borders of the university to off-campus students and to support on-campus students in their regular learning experiences. Virtual Campus schemes could offer educational opportunities that are no longer location dependent and allow for collaboration with foreign students and teachers (and thus promote intercultural understanding). Apart from these cross-cultural and mobility aspects, a Virtual Campus has a huge potential to contribute to increased participation in lifelong learning: students learn from their homes, after work in the time that is available for them.

Schools are changing and it is clear that ICT can play a role in order to set up more open and pu... more Schools are changing and it is clear that ICT can play a role in order to set up more open and pupil-centred models of schooling. As the demand for more flexible learning paths grows, virtual schools and colleges are becoming an increasingly important alternative and are becoming more and more prevalent all over the world. Virtual schooling has huge potential to widen choice for learners, to contribute to improved attainment and to reach learners who may otherwise be unable, or unwilling, to access high-quality education (e.g. students who are longterm sick, travellers, students who have been bullied or are school-phobic, elite performers, etc.). However, little is known in Europe about how they operate or what makes them successful. Yet, a lot of virtual schools and colleges now exist and have been the subject of a recent investigation within the EU-supported project VISCED. Virtual schools and colleges are usually defined as institutions that teach courses entirely or primarily online. These courses are generally similar to those taken by school or college-age students. In a virtual school pupils learn mainly at a distance over the internet and any activity in a classroom takes no more than around 15% of study time. In our research the main focus is on secondary level education aimed at the 14-21 age group as well as colleges providing opportunities for students including those moving between school and higher education. We have found that virtual schools are not that common in Europe and in many countries there are simply none. Currently, almost 70 have been identified in Europe distributed across 18 different countries. More information can be found in the upcoming Virtual Schools and Colleges handbook, a useful resource for anyone who would like to learn more about virtual schools and colleges. Furthermore, VISCED also supports a website (http://www.virtualschoolsandcolleges.info), and a research wiki (http://virtualcampuses.eu), open to all interested researchers and policy makers to share information about developments in virtual schools, colleges and universities around the world.

We shall find a syntactic characterisation of simplicity and use it to prove the following result... more We shall find a syntactic characterisation of simplicity and use it to prove the following result: if T is an equational theory with enough simple algebras and n is a cardinal, then every n-algebraically closed T-algebra is n-existentially closed and simple. By similar methods we then prove that in any countable equational T the class of absolute retracts is of countable character. Finally by applying methods analogous to Higman-Neumann-Neumann extensions we show that every algebraically closed lattice is simple.

JANUS (Joint Academic Network Using Satellites) is an 3-year EC-funded project under the DELTA Pr... more JANUS (Joint Academic Network Using Satellites) is an 3-year EC-funded project under the DELTA Programme of DG XIII. Its aim is to build, using a mix of VSAT and terrestrial networking technology, a pilot trans-European operational equivalent of the terrestrial academic Internet networks. The original aim of JANUS was to build a new generation of mesh VSAT technology but after consultation with the EC it was agreed to use available star VSAT technology in a mesh application. The author discusses the first year's operation.

Schools are changing and it is clear that ICT can play a role in order to set up more open and pu... more Schools are changing and it is clear that ICT can play a role in order to set up more open and pupil-centred models of schooling. As the demand for more flexible learning paths grows, virtual schools and colleges are becoming an increasingly important alternative and are becoming more and more prevalent all over the world. Virtual schooling has huge potential to widen choice for learners, to contribute to improved attainment and to reach learners who may otherwise be unable, or unwilling, to access high-quality education (e.g. students who are longterm sick, travellers, students who have been bullied or are school-phobic, elite performers, etc.). However, little is known in Europe about how they operate or what makes them successful. Yet, a lot of virtual schools and colleges now exist and have been the subject of a recent investigation within the EU-supported project VISCED. Virtual schools and colleges are usually defined as institutions that teach courses entirely or primarily online. These courses are generally similar to those taken by school or college-age students. In a virtual school pupils learn mainly at a distance over the internet and any activity in a classroom takes no more than around 15% of study time. In our research the main focus is on secondary level education aimed at the 14-21 age group as well as colleges providing opportunities for students including those moving between school and higher education. We have found that virtual schools are not that common in Europe and in many countries there are simply none. Currently, almost 70 have been identified in Europe distributed across 18 different countries. More information can be found in the upcoming Virtual Schools and Colleges handbook, a useful resource for anyone who would like to learn more about virtual schools and colleges. Furthermore, VISCED also supports a website (http://www.virtualschoolsandcolleges.info), and a research wiki (http://virtualcampuses.eu), open to all interested researchers and policy makers to share information about developments in virtual schools, colleges and universities around the world.

... 1 ISDN: theoretical specification, practical potential 3 Gabriel Jacobs Chapter 2 The educati... more ... 1 ISDN: theoretical specification, practical potential 3 Gabriel Jacobs Chapter 2 The educational value of ISDN 25 Robin Mason Chapter ... was 'Videoconferencing and audiographic groupware in distance education and training.'The British Open University in Milton Keynes was ...

IET eBooks, Oct 6, 2011

This chapter aims to place the discussion in the last two chapters about Basic Rate ISDN and educ... more This chapter aims to place the discussion in the last two chapters about Basic Rate ISDN and educational applications in an overall context of educational networks. A subsidiary aim is to give general information about applications of ISDN in the education and training market that have not been included as specific case studies in the book, either because they are not widely deployed as yet or because they affect education in a 'behind the scenes' manner.

Research in Learning Technology, Dec 30, 2011

This paper reports the development of a course development lifecycle model which is intended to i... more This paper reports the development of a course development lifecycle model which is intended to inform the identification of 'hidden' costs associated with network-based learning. The development of this model formed part of a six-month research study funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee of the UK Funding Councils. The study aimed to produce a planning document and financial schema through which the full costs of networked learning could be documented A discussion is given of the initial fivestage model, the testing and development of this model and the evolution of a final three-phase model. Hypothetical examples are given of the use of the three-phase model.

SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks, 2016

Online learning, Feb 8, 2019

Online education is established, growing, and here to stay. It is creating new opportunities for ... more Online education is established, growing, and here to stay. It is creating new opportunities for students and also for faculty, regulators of education, and the educational institutions themselves. Much of what is being learned by the practitioners will flow into the large numbers of blended courses that will be developed and delivered on most campuses. Some of what is being learned will certainly improve pedagogical approaches and possibly affect other important problems, such as the lengthening time to completion of a degree. Online education is already providing better access to education for many, and many more will benefit from this increased access in the coming years.

The failure of UKeU occurred in a glare of public scrutiny. There was an extensive review by a Se... more The failure of UKeU occurred in a glare of public scrutiny. There was an extensive review by a Select Committee of the UK Parliament, much press comment, and a few academic evaluations. Yet all were flawed: in particular the Select Committee interviewed only a few senior staff, and the evaluations were done by outsiders. This paper is a critique of the public UK view and prior research literature, with important lessons for future e-universities worldwide. It aims to establish that several alleged reasons for failureincluding the dot.com bust and the lack of marketingwere comforting but erroneousand that the underlying reasons were wider-ranging and subtler. Some of these new factors are:  Skills needed by the CEO and Board members and by staff.  Keeping the funders and stakeholders "on side".  Engendering trust with university suppliers.  Ensuring that systems development does not dominate the management agenda

In this context the Re.ViCa project has been set up. Re.ViCa stands for "Reviewing (traces of) Eu... more In this context the Re.ViCa project has been set up. Re.ViCa stands for "Reviewing (traces of) European Virtual Campuses". The project brings together nine partners and international experts in the field that use their privileged strategic positions to collect vital information and open it up for the wider community of the European Higher Education Area. The project can amongst others build upon the partners' experience with and involvement in numerous Virtual Campus projects and initiatives. The Re.ViCa community is creating an inventory and reviewing institution-wide and cross-institution Virtual Campus initiatives of the past decade within higher education at global, national and regional levels. The results of the Re.ViCa research are published on a wiki (http://www.virtualcampuses.eu) which was officially launched and opened for the public in June 2009. The Re.ViCa wiki is probably one of the largest repositories on the topic of Virtual Campus available today and contains information about interesting programmes, initiatives, projects and leading institutions as well as a rapidly growing series of country reports describing Virtual Campuses around the world. On the wiki, we focus on a broad spectrum of higher education institutions, from the traditional research universities to distance education institutions and fully Virtual Universities. You will have a glimpse on the history of Virtual Campuses, based on stories of International experts; we will guide you through the web of definitions and terms. By promoting the best cases of Virtual Campus and by comparing European and Non-European initiatives, guidelines and critical success factors are created that enable European Virtual Campuses or institutions interested to setting up a Virtual Campus to maximise their performance. The project will conclude in September 2009 with the publication of a Re.ViCa handbook on Virtual Campuses including guidelines, best practices and recommendations and aimed at decision makers, government, education authorities, e-learning industry, research community and Virtual Campus management

This is a description of the process and outcomes of creation of over 110 country reports special... more This is a description of the process and outcomes of creation of over 110 country reports specially contracted by VISCED

Introduction Higher education institutions have a new, unique, and valuable role in educating to ... more Introduction Higher education institutions have a new, unique, and valuable role in educating to participate in an increasingly global economy. ICT makes it possible to create flexible learning paths and to open the borders of the university to off-campus students and to support on-campus students in their regular learning experiences. Virtual Campus schemes could offer educational opportunities that are no longer location dependent and allow for collaboration with foreign students and teachers (and thus promote intercultural understanding). Apart from these cross-cultural and mobility aspects, a Virtual Campus has a huge potential to contribute to increased participation in lifelong learning: students learn from their homes, after work in the time that is available for them.

Schools are changing and it is clear that ICT can play a role in order to set up more open and pu... more Schools are changing and it is clear that ICT can play a role in order to set up more open and pupil-centred models of schooling. As the demand for more flexible learning paths grows, virtual schools and colleges are becoming an increasingly important alternative and are becoming more and more prevalent all over the world. Virtual schooling has huge potential to widen choice for learners, to contribute to improved attainment and to reach learners who may otherwise be unable, or unwilling, to access high-quality education (e.g. students who are longterm sick, travellers, students who have been bullied or are school-phobic, elite performers, etc.). However, little is known in Europe about how they operate or what makes them successful. Yet, a lot of virtual schools and colleges now exist and have been the subject of a recent investigation within the EU-supported project VISCED. Virtual schools and colleges are usually defined as institutions that teach courses entirely or primarily online. These courses are generally similar to those taken by school or college-age students. In a virtual school pupils learn mainly at a distance over the internet and any activity in a classroom takes no more than around 15% of study time. In our research the main focus is on secondary level education aimed at the 14-21 age group as well as colleges providing opportunities for students including those moving between school and higher education. We have found that virtual schools are not that common in Europe and in many countries there are simply none. Currently, almost 70 have been identified in Europe distributed across 18 different countries. More information can be found in the upcoming Virtual Schools and Colleges handbook, a useful resource for anyone who would like to learn more about virtual schools and colleges. Furthermore, VISCED also supports a website (http://www.virtualschoolsandcolleges.info), and a research wiki (http://virtualcampuses.eu), open to all interested researchers and policy makers to share information about developments in virtual schools, colleges and universities around the world.

We shall find a syntactic characterisation of simplicity and use it to prove the following result... more We shall find a syntactic characterisation of simplicity and use it to prove the following result: if T is an equational theory with enough simple algebras and n is a cardinal, then every n-algebraically closed T-algebra is n-existentially closed and simple. By similar methods we then prove that in any countable equational T the class of absolute retracts is of countable character. Finally by applying methods analogous to Higman-Neumann-Neumann extensions we show that every algebraically closed lattice is simple.

JANUS (Joint Academic Network Using Satellites) is an 3-year EC-funded project under the DELTA Pr... more JANUS (Joint Academic Network Using Satellites) is an 3-year EC-funded project under the DELTA Programme of DG XIII. Its aim is to build, using a mix of VSAT and terrestrial networking technology, a pilot trans-European operational equivalent of the terrestrial academic Internet networks. The original aim of JANUS was to build a new generation of mesh VSAT technology but after consultation with the EC it was agreed to use available star VSAT technology in a mesh application. The author discusses the first year's operation.

Schools are changing and it is clear that ICT can play a role in order to set up more open and pu... more Schools are changing and it is clear that ICT can play a role in order to set up more open and pupil-centred models of schooling. As the demand for more flexible learning paths grows, virtual schools and colleges are becoming an increasingly important alternative and are becoming more and more prevalent all over the world. Virtual schooling has huge potential to widen choice for learners, to contribute to improved attainment and to reach learners who may otherwise be unable, or unwilling, to access high-quality education (e.g. students who are longterm sick, travellers, students who have been bullied or are school-phobic, elite performers, etc.). However, little is known in Europe about how they operate or what makes them successful. Yet, a lot of virtual schools and colleges now exist and have been the subject of a recent investigation within the EU-supported project VISCED. Virtual schools and colleges are usually defined as institutions that teach courses entirely or primarily online. These courses are generally similar to those taken by school or college-age students. In a virtual school pupils learn mainly at a distance over the internet and any activity in a classroom takes no more than around 15% of study time. In our research the main focus is on secondary level education aimed at the 14-21 age group as well as colleges providing opportunities for students including those moving between school and higher education. We have found that virtual schools are not that common in Europe and in many countries there are simply none. Currently, almost 70 have been identified in Europe distributed across 18 different countries. More information can be found in the upcoming Virtual Schools and Colleges handbook, a useful resource for anyone who would like to learn more about virtual schools and colleges. Furthermore, VISCED also supports a website (http://www.virtualschoolsandcolleges.info), and a research wiki (http://virtualcampuses.eu), open to all interested researchers and policy makers to share information about developments in virtual schools, colleges and universities around the world.

... 1 ISDN: theoretical specification, practical potential 3 Gabriel Jacobs Chapter 2 The educati... more ... 1 ISDN: theoretical specification, practical potential 3 Gabriel Jacobs Chapter 2 The educational value of ISDN 25 Robin Mason Chapter ... was 'Videoconferencing and audiographic groupware in distance education and training.'The British Open University in Milton Keynes was ...

IET eBooks, Oct 6, 2011

This chapter aims to place the discussion in the last two chapters about Basic Rate ISDN and educ... more This chapter aims to place the discussion in the last two chapters about Basic Rate ISDN and educational applications in an overall context of educational networks. A subsidiary aim is to give general information about applications of ISDN in the education and training market that have not been included as specific case studies in the book, either because they are not widely deployed as yet or because they affect education in a 'behind the scenes' manner.

Research in Learning Technology, Dec 30, 2011

This paper reports the development of a course development lifecycle model which is intended to i... more This paper reports the development of a course development lifecycle model which is intended to inform the identification of 'hidden' costs associated with network-based learning. The development of this model formed part of a six-month research study funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee of the UK Funding Councils. The study aimed to produce a planning document and financial schema through which the full costs of networked learning could be documented A discussion is given of the initial fivestage model, the testing and development of this model and the evolution of a final three-phase model. Hypothetical examples are given of the use of the three-phase model.

SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks, 2016

Online learning, Feb 8, 2019

Online education is established, growing, and here to stay. It is creating new opportunities for ... more Online education is established, growing, and here to stay. It is creating new opportunities for students and also for faculty, regulators of education, and the educational institutions themselves. Much of what is being learned by the practitioners will flow into the large numbers of blended courses that will be developed and delivered on most campuses. Some of what is being learned will certainly improve pedagogical approaches and possibly affect other important problems, such as the lengthening time to completion of a degree. Online education is already providing better access to education for many, and many more will benefit from this increased access in the coming years.

The failure of UKeU occurred in a glare of public scrutiny. There was an extensive review by a Se... more The failure of UKeU occurred in a glare of public scrutiny. There was an extensive review by a Select Committee of the UK Parliament, much press comment, and a few academic evaluations. Yet all were flawed: in particular the Select Committee interviewed only a few senior staff, and the evaluations were done by outsiders. This paper is a critique of the public UK view and prior research literature, with important lessons for future e-universities worldwide. It aims to establish that several alleged reasons for failureincluding the dot.com bust and the lack of marketingwere comforting but erroneousand that the underlying reasons were wider-ranging and subtler. Some of these new factors are:  Skills needed by the CEO and Board members and by staff.  Keeping the funders and stakeholders "on side".  Engendering trust with university suppliers.  Ensuring that systems development does not dominate the management agenda

In this context the Re.ViCa project has been set up. Re.ViCa stands for "Reviewing (traces of) Eu... more In this context the Re.ViCa project has been set up. Re.ViCa stands for "Reviewing (traces of) European Virtual Campuses". The project brings together nine partners and international experts in the field that use their privileged strategic positions to collect vital information and open it up for the wider community of the European Higher Education Area. The project can amongst others build upon the partners' experience with and involvement in numerous Virtual Campus projects and initiatives. The Re.ViCa community is creating an inventory and reviewing institution-wide and cross-institution Virtual Campus initiatives of the past decade within higher education at global, national and regional levels. The results of the Re.ViCa research are published on a wiki (http://www.virtualcampuses.eu) which was officially launched and opened for the public in June 2009. The Re.ViCa wiki is probably one of the largest repositories on the topic of Virtual Campus available today and contains information about interesting programmes, initiatives, projects and leading institutions as well as a rapidly growing series of country reports describing Virtual Campuses around the world. On the wiki, we focus on a broad spectrum of higher education institutions, from the traditional research universities to distance education institutions and fully Virtual Universities. You will have a glimpse on the history of Virtual Campuses, based on stories of International experts; we will guide you through the web of definitions and terms. By promoting the best cases of Virtual Campus and by comparing European and Non-European initiatives, guidelines and critical success factors are created that enable European Virtual Campuses or institutions interested to setting up a Virtual Campus to maximise their performance. The project will conclude in September 2009 with the publication of a Re.ViCa handbook on Virtual Campuses including guidelines, best practices and recommendations and aimed at decision makers, government, education authorities, e-learning industry, research community and Virtual Campus management

This is a description of the process and outcomes of creation of over 110 country reports special... more This is a description of the process and outcomes of creation of over 110 country reports specially contracted by VISCED