United Kingdom

UK as a state

From Wikipedia:

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain,<ref>See British Isles (terminology) for further explanation of the usage of the term "Britain" in geographical and political contexts.</ref>

is a sovereign island country<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Countries">Template:Cite web</ref> located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe.

The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the northeast part of the island of Ireland and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland.

Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The largest island, Great Britain, is linked to France by the Channel Tunnel.

The United Kingdom is a union<ref>: The break-up of the union now appears inevitable guardian.co.uk, January 10, 2008</ref><ref>An Act of Disunion bbc.co.uk, January 16, 2007</ref> of four constituent countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy with its seat of government in London, the capital, and a constitutional monarchy with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state. The Crown Dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, formally possessions of the Crown, are not part of the UK but form a federacy with it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The UK has fourteen overseas territories,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> all remnants of the British Empire, which at its height encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface, making it the largest empire in history. As a direct result of the empire, British influence can be observed in the language and culture of states such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United States of America, and other less globally influential independent states. HM Queen Elizabeth II remains the head of the Commonwealth of Nations and head of state of the Commonwealth realms.

The UK is a developed country, with the fifth (nominal GDP) or sixth (PPP) largest economy in the world. It was the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th century,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> but the economic cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its leading role in global affairs. The UK nevertheless retains strong economic, cultural, military and political influence and is a nuclear power, with the second or third (depending on method of calculation) highest defence spending in the world. It holds a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, and is a member of the G8, NATO, WTO, the European Union and the Commonwealth of Nations.

UK education, higher education and virtual campus activities

For the last few years, to the first approximation there is no UK-level organisation funding or overseeing education (at school, college or university level) in the UK or setting policy for them. This level of oversight is now almost totally dependent on the devolved governments of the four home nations. Thus the detailed discussion takes place in these pages:

1. England
2. Wales
3. Scotland
4. Northern Ireland

What follows is just some highlights of virtual campus activity.

Virtual Campus activity in the UK

As a matter of historical interest, the actual phrase virtual campus is (still) used in the way it is defined in this chapter at the following UK universities and colleges:

• Universities. University of Lincoln, University of London External Pro-gramme, Oxford Brookes University and Robert Gordon University. (Sheffield Hallam University used the phrase for several years but is said to feel that nowadays the phrase is insufficiently distinctive.)
• Colleges. City of Bristol College, Glenrothes College, North West Institute of Further and Higher Education (Londonderry), St Helens College, and the Western Colleges Consortium.
• NHS. The new NHS University (NHSU) and several medical schools includ-ing at Kings College London.
• Ulster University’s Campus One describes itself as a virtual campus.
• One supplier’s product is called the “Teknical Virtual Campus”

England

In addition to the Open University and the London External Programme, there are around six English universities with substantial operational off-campus e-learning ac-tivity. These include Middlesex University (Global Campus) and the University of Liverpool (formerly called the KIT Campus) as perhaps the largest nodes of activity. A number of members of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) are increasingly active in this space, in particular the University of Manchester, University of Sheffield and University of Leeds, as is the University of Derby (in the Global University Alliance, GUA). A more specific set of courses is at the University of Portsmouth (Technology Extended Campus), some in conjunction with Pearsons (the publishers).

There are also several UK members of Universitas 21 and at present most of their overt off-campus e-learning activity appears to be via that.

Scotland

In Scotland, Scottish Knowledge has closed down but there is growing activity at its partial successor, the Interactive University (based largely round Heriot-Watt) - now closed. A number of other Scottish Universities are also active, perhaps with Robert Gordon University (Virtual Campus) in the lead.

Wales

In Wales, the University of Glamorgan (a member of GUA) is a leading player.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, the University of Ulster (Campus One) is the leading player.

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