An investigation into the perspectives of providers and learners on MOOC accessibility

An effective open eLearning environment should consider the target learner’s abilities, learning goals, where learning takes place, and which specific device(s) the learner uses. MOOC platforms struggle to take these factors into account and typically are not accessible, inhibiting access to environments that are intended to be open to all. A series of research initiatives are described that are intended to benefit MOOC providers in achieving greater accessibility and disabled learners to improve their lifelong learning and re-skilling. In this paper, we first outline the rationale, the research questions, and the methodology. The research approach includes interviews, online surveys and a MOOC accessibility audit; we also include factors such the risk management of the research programme and ethical considerations when conducting research with vulnerable learners. Preliminary results are presented from interviews with providers and experts and from analysis of surveys of learners. Finally, we outline the future research opportunities. This paper is framed within the context of the Doctoral Consortium organised at the TEEM'17 conference

Quantum Channels and Representation Theory

In the study of d-dimensional quantum channels $(d \geq 2)$, an assumption which is not very restrictive, and which has a natural physical interpretation, is that the corresponding Kraus operators form a representation of a Lie algebra. Physically, this is a symmetry algebra for the interaction Hamiltonian. This paper begins a systematic study of channels defined by representations; the famous Werner-Holevo channel is one element of this infinite class. We show that the channel derived from the defining representation of SU(n) is a depolarizing channel for all $n$, but for most other representations this is not the case. Since the Bloch sphere is not appropriate here, we develop technology which is a generalization of Bloch's technique. Our method works by representing the density matrix as a polynomial in symmetrized products of Lie algebra generators, with coefficients that are symmetric tensors. Using these tensor methods we prove eleven theorems, derive many explicit formulas and show other interesting properties of quantum channels in various dimensions, with various Lie symmetry algebras. We also derive numerical estimates on the size of a generalized ``Bloch sphere'' for certain channels. There remain many open questions which are indicated at various points through the paper.Comment: 28 pages, 1 figur

Computational tools for multi-linked flexible structures

A software module which designs and tests controllers and filters in Kalman Estimator form, based on a polynomial state-space model is discussed. The user-friendly program employs an interactive graphics approach to simplify the design process. A variety of input methods are provided to test the effectiveness of the estimator. Utilities are provided which address important issues in filter design such as graphical analysis, statistical analysis, and calculation time. The program also provides the user with the ability to save filter parameters, inputs, and outputs for future use

The oriental context for the end of Greek rule in the Hellenistic Age

A connected account of the decline of Greek power in the Hellenistic East can be justified nowadays by noting the relative antiquity of available works on the subject when archaeological and numismatic work has continued and has rendered dated such works as those by Bevan and Bouche-Leclerq although still valuable. The excavation of Ai Khanum and Shahr-i-Qumis alone should provoke a reassessment of Seleucid objectives and so of Seleucid history. We are grateful to Getzel Cohen for a recent coherent study of the process of the colonisation movement in these Eastern parts. Recent events in Afghanistan and Iran should encourage historians of the central Asian land mass to study pressures which in the past affected these countries from the north, and in particular to pay attention to the cultural dimension of such contacts. There has been a tendency to omit the Seleucid enterprise from thorough study, and to give Livy the benefit of the doubt in his comment that 'no power was despised so much by the Romans'. Such omissions and this attitude could be seen as a current emphasis on Hellenism as a Western and not an Eastern phenomenon, thus leaving - quite wrongly in my view - Bactrian and Indian history in the Hellenistic Age to be seen simply as the purview of Indian Historians and Indian History.This work is an account of Seleucid history from 280 to roughly 100 B.C., with a summary account of the end of Seleucid Rule down to its extinction under Pompey for the sake of completeness. It tries to take in most modern work on the subject in the fields of archaeology, numismatics and literary comment on what scant sources we have. Being an account of Seleucid history it is valid to term the process it records 'The oriental context for the end of Greek Rule in the Hellenistic Age.'I do recognise the blurred edges of the Graeco-Macedonian partnership, if it can be called that, and this is discussed, as is the Macedonian-Iranian partnership of Seleucus and Apama.Proper names are used as they normally occur: Greek proper names are latinized if that has become the general usage: e.g. Seleucus not Seleukos. Mithridates of Parthia is differentiated by the 'i' in his name from Mithradates of Pontus for the sake of convenience. The usage in the matter of proper names in authors I have quoted is their own, not mine

Optimal Dynamical Decoherence Control of a Qubit

A theory of dynamical control by modulation for optimal decoherence reduction is developed. It is based on the non-Markovian Euler-Lagrange equation for the energy-constrained field that minimizes the average dephasing rate of a qubit for any given dephasing spectrum.Comment: 6 pages, including 2 figures and an appendi

User's guide for the Total-Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument first year ozone T data set

The TOMS experiment and algorithms are described. Detailed information on the data available on computer tape is provided