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Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech

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Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech

#21

Post by untog »

peterlongnguyen wrote: post #19
timtamboy63 wrote: post #15

On one hand, I think it's ridiculously awesome that Tech's doing this. Our CoC department is incredibly innovative, and one of the only administrative departments that recognize the need for innovation. However, I wonder if this would devalue a degree from Georgia Tech. You'd obviously have a lot more people taking the course than you would if it wasn't an MOOC. Thoughts?

Seems like it's explicitly designated "Online Masters" OMS as opposed to simply a regular degree you could complete online, so they're still separating it from the B&M degree. While I feel like this is a step in the right direction for online education, the fact that this has the online designation plus its availability to a much, much wider audience seems like it would be a temporary setback in the eyes of employers…

I do wonder what the immigration repercussion of this is, too. I've often considered taking a Masters simply because it would make it easier for me to stay in the US.

Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech

#22

Post by rsanders »

jholman wrote: post #13

What is AT&T allegedly bringing to the table? Are we assuming that there are people who want to work there, who will view this certification as advancing that goal, is that it? I read the http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/faq/ , and found only this hint: Why is AT&T the corporate collaborator for this initiative? As a premier global communications company and a champion for innovation in education, AT&T will provide techno…

I think the real reason you have AT&T involved is that without that sort of influence, this degree program wouldn't have happened until years later. Universities, and boards of regents, are deeply conservative, risk-averse institutions in some ways. There's also a lot of cost to startup a program like this, and public universities aren't exactly rolling in money right now.

Beyond that, a lot of companies have some kind of tuition assistance for graduate degrees, and a lot of companies are having trouble finding skilled talent to begin with. So it's a way to save money and improve recruiting.

The business models of companies like Udacity and Coursera are probably going to rely heavily on the hunger of companies the size of AT&T, Google, etc. for a steady supply of trained workers. Somebody's got to pay the bills and make the VCs rich.

I like to think of this as shifting part of the cost of the education from the individual to the company that's ultimately benefitting from it. Of course, one might worry about some unspecified negative influence from the corporate sponsors, but in this incredibly transparent educational environment, such influences would be pretty obvious and self-defeating.

Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech

#24

Post by lawnchair_larry »

wfunction wrote: post #20
timtamboy63 wrote: post #15

On one hand, I think it's ridiculously awesome that Tech's doing this. Our CoC department is incredibly innovative, and one of the only administrative departments that recognize the need for innovation. However, I wonder if this would devalue a degree from Georgia Tech. You'd obviously have a lot more people taking the course than you would if it wasn't an MOOC. Thoughts?

Same here, I think it's a really easy way to devalue their degree unfortunately. A Bachelor's would be easier to accept, but a Master's? I don't think people are ready for that yet.

> Same here, I think it's a really easy way to devalue their degree unfortunately.

This only makes sense if you consider degrees to be collector's items. Maybe the problem is not with the degree.

Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech

#25

Post by rsanders »

wfunction wrote: post #20
timtamboy63 wrote: post #15

On one hand, I think it's ridiculously awesome that Tech's doing this. Our CoC department is incredibly innovative, and one of the only administrative departments that recognize the need for innovation. However, I wonder if this would devalue a degree from Georgia Tech. You'd obviously have a lot more people taking the course than you would if it wasn't an MOOC. Thoughts?

Same here, I think it's a really easy way to devalue their degree unfortunately. A Bachelor's would be easier to accept, but a Master's? I don't think people are ready for that yet.

I think the Masters degree is an excellent place to start. MOOC-style education requires more of the student than traditional teaching formats. A lot of people don't have the necessary skills leaving high school, but they are likely to have developed them during the course of an undergraduate degree.

Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech

#26

Post by rsanders »

timtamboy63 wrote: post #15

On one hand, I think it's ridiculously awesome that Tech's doing this. Our CoC department is incredibly innovative, and one of the only administrative departments that recognize the need for innovation. However, I wonder if this would devalue a degree from Georgia Tech. You'd obviously have a lot more people taking the course than you would if it wasn't an MOOC. Thoughts?

The word "devalue" comes up a lot in conversations about this sort of thing, but I'm not sure exactly how that works. If half the student body at GT died before graduating, would your degree be worth twice as much?

Re: Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech

#30

Post by peterlongnguyen »

wfunction wrote: post #20
timtamboy63 wrote: post #15

On one hand, I think it's ridiculously awesome that Tech's doing this. Our CoC department is incredibly innovative, and one of the only administrative departments that recognize the need for innovation. However, I wonder if this would devalue a degree from Georgia Tech. You'd obviously have a lot more people taking the course than you would if it wasn't an MOOC. Thoughts?

Same here, I think it's a really easy way to devalue their degree unfortunately. A Bachelor's would be easier to accept, but a Master's? I don't think people are ready for that yet.

Agreed with rsanders. A bachelors carries a lot of other risks/requirements. It's definitely possible (and already available), but I think a masters in CS is perfect.

A masters requires a lot less courses, and you don't have to worry about general education requirements, which often involve a routine amount of writing and open-ended discussion (as opposed to a Q&A basis you'd likely find in STEM classes), or, for example, science courses that may require labs.

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