Matic Media Ltd

Costs of networked learning, costs of e-learning > CNL

Paul Bacsich has been carrying out research and consultancy in the area of costs of e-learning since the early 1990s. His first publication in the area was done as part of a team working for the EU on this topic. In the period 1999-2002 he won three grants from JISC to deal with this topic, then called “costs of networked learning” – the group of three projects became known by the acronym “CNL”. The project report for CNL1 is available, focussing on “hidden costs” and planning paradigms – it later led to a book chapter in an overview book on Networked Learning. The CNL2 project, with a focus on Activity Based Costing, generated a project report and a handbook, and later a summary of the project was also produced as a book chapter.

Paul had the good fortune to hire as his first costing researcher Charlotte Ash who soon became Research Manager then left for a career in local authority management, focussing on best value analysis. Another key person who joined the team slightly later was Sarah Heginbotham who rapidly developed expertise in Activity Based Costing, before moving on to an e-learning post in the corporate sector and later emigrating to Canada. (She is an occasional consultant to Matic Media Ltd.)

Costing has continued as an interest of Paul’s and has now become one of the key offerings of Matic Media Ltd. Paul is currently collaborating with NUTN and will present on a panel “Managing Cost Effectiveness as a Measure of Quality” at their annual conference, this year entitled “Managing and Maintaining Quality in Distance Learning”, in June 2006.

Paul’s blog has costs as one of its three main areas of specialism.

Publications on CNL

The Trial of Activity-Based Costing at Sheffield Hallam University, co-authored with Sarah Heginbotham [now Sarah Langlois], April 2002 (additional footnotes added September 2005) [DOC]
The Costs of Networked Learning (with Charlotte Ash), pp. 27-48 of: Networked Learning: Perspectives and Issues (edited by Christine Steeples and Chris Jones), Springer-Verlag (co-imprint with BCS), London, 2002
The Costs of Networked Learning Phase 2 (CNL 2), report to JISC from Sheffield Hallam University, authored by Paul Bacsich, Charlotte Ash, and Sarah Heginbotham [now Sarah Langlois] with the assistance of Petros Kandare, September 2001 [DOC, over 1 MB] – plus Handbook [DOC]
By Charlotte Ash: Towards a New Cost-Aware Evaluation Framework, Educational Technology & Society 3 (4), 2000
Costing the Lifecycle of Networked Learning: Documenting the costs from conception to evaluation (with Charlotte Ash), Association for Learning Technology Journal (ALT-J), 8 (1) pp.92-102, 2000
The hidden costs of networked learning – the impact of a costing framework on educational practice, paper [PDF] presented to the ASCILITE conference, Brisbane, December 1999
The Costs of Networked Learning (CNL), report to JISC from Sheffield Hallam University, authored by Paul Bacsich, Charlotte Ash, Kim Boniwell, and Leon Kaplan with the assistance of Jane Mardell and Andrew Caven-Atack, October 1999 [DOC, over 3 MB !] – and Executive Summary

Presentations on CNL

Some of these presentations have associated papers. The older ones are of largely historical interest only. Some were given by Paul Bacsich and Charlotte Ash but many were given by Paul or Charlotte, depending on venue.

The real costs of e-learning: What are they? How can we find out?, invited presentation to British Council conference “e-Learning in Thailand and UK”, Chiang Mai, January 2003
Real Costs from Real Faculties. Presentation (by Charlotte Ash) given at ALT-C 2000, September 2000
The Costs of Networked Learning: An interactive workshop, Paper and presentation given at Networked Learning 2000, April 2000
A New Cost Analysis Model for Networked Learning. Paper and presentation given at EDEN 2000, March 2000
The Impact of a Costing Framework on Educational Practice. Paper and presentation given at ASCILITE '99, December 1999
UK Higher Education Institutions: How Flexible, How Virtual, How Soon? Paper and presentation given at Online Educa '99, November 1999
Evaluation Meets Costing: Fight or Flight? Paper and presentation (by Charlotte Ash) given at ELT '99, November 1999
Weighing Air: Measuring the Costs of Technology in Courses, Paper and presentation given at WCET '99 (November '99, by Charlotte Ash) [very influential in engendering collaboration with WCET and other US agencies on costing] and at Telelearning '99, November 1999
Planning and Costing Virtual Universities. Paper and presentation given at Euro-Med '99, October 1999 [this led on to much consultancy work on virtual universities including for EU, UNESCO and eventually HEFCE]
Costing the Lifecycle of Networked Learning: Documenting the Costs from Conception to Evaluation. Paper and presentation given at ALT-C '99, September 1999
The Hidden Costs of Networked Learning: The Consequences for University Administrators. Paper and presentation given at IMUA 1999, September 1999
The Costs of Networked Learning: The Student Perspective. Presentation (by Charlotte Ash) given at SETL '99, June 1999
The Hidden Costs of Networked Learning: Work in Progress. Presentation (by Charlotte Ash) given at FLISH '99 (May 1999), Ed-Media '99 (June 1999) and TLC '99 (July 1999)
The Hidden Costs of Networked Learning: Planning Document and Financial Schema. Presentation given at FLISH '99, May 1999