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Announcing Online MS in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech

blog.udacity.com

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

#81

Post by otoburb »

rsanders wrote: post #72
untog wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

From the Inside Higher Ed article I linked elsewhere: > Galil and Bras both said they did not think the Udacity partnership would cannibalize its existing master’s degree program. They said the residential college experience would still appeal to students who are on a Ph.D. track, who want a full range of career services and who want visas to live in the United States while they study.

Nice find. This adds more weight to the idea that the "online" designation was carefully thought out to avoid immigration quagmires.

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

#85

Post by otoburb »

gt565k wrote: post #31
manglav wrote: post #12

I'm so happy to see this - it's a sign of progress of the education system, and it gives me so much relief to see that someone gets it at the top of the education totem pole. I discussed this with a master's degree student a few years ago, because the cost (especially for computer science, no labs) seemed too low to ignore. I will sign up for this as soon as possible. Also, having a master's in Comp Sci will really h…

It usually ranks top 10 in CS for undergrad. It might be in top 5 for graduate school. The robotics lab at GT's College of Computing is insane.

>The robotics lab at GT's College of Computing is insane.

Right there is one of several reasons where having physical access to College of Computing facilities (e.g. robotics labs) would help justify the cost of the full on-campus MS degree program, as differentiated from an OMS where you may only have remote access to a subset of CoC facilities (e.g. compute clusters).

EDIT: As per rsander's link posted in this thread[1] GT plans to go from 300 on-campus students to 10,000. Without a corresponding bump in facilities, it would seem that MS student projects would (naturally/obviously!) take priority over OMS projects. More specifically, OMS students may have to be resourceful with the money they're saving and rent/buy their own resources for computationally intensive projects.

[1] http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/14/georgia-tech-a...

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

#86

Post by k2xl »

Gt alum here. Gt is a great school, but who says that is a forecast of how well an online class will be?

Online classes have been around for about a decade now. But i cant see how taking a class online from Georgia Tech aint gonna be different than taking an online class from another university.

The benefits of getting a CS degree at a university is gaining that physical connection with the professors. There isn't going to be a single thing these online classes will have that you wouldn't be able to find online yourself or at another online course at another institution.

But what you miss is the personal interaction with the professors and students - something you can't get from an online chat room. Especially at Masters level - where your interaction with professors is much closer.

This is a step in the wrong direction. If this was for a BS, I could understand. Especially because it gives access to those who don't have access to that education. But the real benefit of higher education is the personal connections IMO. There isn't really any additional "knowledge" CS pieces that is taught at MIT and not at a normal university. what separates universities is those personal connections with the faculty and the community.

At GT (I received a BS in Computational Media), the real value came from the people - individual connections that help pave your way through career choices and research topics.

I mean come on, what's next? PhD in CS with 3000 other students? Defending your thesis to a random professor thousands of miles away who you only have email contact?

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

#88

Post by mbreese »

sonoffett wrote: post #61
johngalt wrote: post #32

I'm surprised they started with a masters, but I guess it makes sense. They are only targeting people who've already gone through an accredited degree program. Makes the program more likely to be taken seriously. Udacity already issues credit for a fewer lower level classes via SJSU. I wonder how soon the gap will be closed and a whole online degree available.

I think you'll be surprised about what degrees are actually "accredited" and what ones are not. For example, UCSD, Princeton and Cal Tech do not have ABET accredited C{S,E} degrees.

Why would I care about ABET accreditation for a CS program? It's not like CS is a regulated field that requires a national standard. That would be like complaining that a schools History department isn't accredited.

For things like medicine, professional engineering, legal, etc... I care that those degrees are from accredited programs, but not CS. What I do care about is that the school itself is accredited and legally allowed to confer degrees.

For what it's worth: CalTech does have ABET accredited programs in Chemical, Mechanical, and Electrical engineering. So, they must not feel that ABET accreditation offers much for a CS program.

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

#89

Post by timtamboy63 »

manglav wrote: post #12

I'm so happy to see this - it's a sign of progress of the education system, and it gives me so much relief to see that someone gets it at the top of the education totem pole. I discussed this with a master's degree student a few years ago, because the cost (especially for computer science, no labs) seemed too low to ignore. I will sign up for this as soon as possible. Also, having a master's in Comp Sci will really h…

Full disclosure, I'm a current Georgia Tech CS undergrad.

We've got one of the best undergrad CS programs in the world for a few reasons. First up, it's difficult. And I know everyone says that, but Georgia Tech is one of those schools where you come in expecting to easily coast like you have in high school, then you get hit by a bus by the workload and difficulty. The people here are easily the smartest people I've met, and everyone has to work hard.

We've got an awesome threads system, where you can pick your concentrations, and it really lets you specialize in undergrad.

From the people I've worked and collaborated with, I'd say in terms of CS knowledge we're comparable to Stanford and MIT. The biggest difference between MIT, Stanford and Tech is the entrepreneurial culture that Tech doesn't really have yet (and don't get me started on our administration).

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

#90

Post by codezero »

laughfactory wrote: post #78
fiatmoney wrote: post #33

The fact that they qualify it as an "online master of science" makes it significantly less attractive. It implies they're not willing to put their name & reputation behind its equivalency (in terms of rigor & qualifications of outgoing students) to an offline degree.

I'm surprised you interpret it that way. How else are they supposed to market it? All they're doing is being clear about the delivery platform. If they didn't say it was "online" how would you know it was online? The degree you receive will be identical to the one you'd receive in person. This is all that matters. Your degree will be the same, the classes taken will be the same, etc. Besides, studies have shown that…

I don't think the issue is with the marketing, but with the implication that the degree on paper will make this distinction too, creating a distinct potential stigma between an online degree and one received from attending a university directly.
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