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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

#111

Post by Moto7451 »

wilfra wrote: post #95
gee_totes wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if you can get in with just a BA.

I am starting an MS in CS program in the fall (not at GT) and I just have a BA. They let me in, however I have to take a full academic year of remedial courses first[1]. I would imagine they will do something like that. [1]Calculus 1 and 2, Intro to Programming, Data Structures, Foundations of CS, Intro to Computer Systems, Intro to Computer Organization, Algorithms and Data Structures, Structures of Programming Lang…

Your local Community College might offer them online. I did most of my AS that way.

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

#112

Post by vecter »

marknutter wrote: post #103
k2xl wrote: post #86

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 go…

Some people benefit form personal contact, others don't. Don't assume your experience is the blueprint for everybody to follow. I got very little out of my college education from personal contact with professors.

For me, faculty connections were worthless. The real driving force behind my college education was the quality of my peers. They forced me to study extra hard and learn the material incredibly well to fight for an A. I suspect this will be the case for most people: if they're measured against a population with a high mean, then they'll be forced to work harder to keep up.

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

#113

Post by _delirium »

eitally wrote: post #91
recuter wrote: post #4

http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/faq/ > How much does the degree program cost? We’re not yet ready to announce a specific program cost, but the plan is to offer the Georgia Tech OMS CS for a total cost of under $7,000—a fraction of the cost of Georgia Tech’s on-campus program and even less than that of comparable private universities. > The total workload is the same as the residential program; the weekly or hourly worklo…

Personal anecdote: I just finished an engineering MS from NC State via their Engineering Online ( http://engineeringonline.ncsu.edu ) program. The per-3hr-course cost for EOL courses is roughly $900. For the on campus version of the same thing, it's about $2200. For a 27 credit hour program, that came out to about $8k, which I thought was entirely reasonable given I [as a student local to the school] always had the o…

To address a question below about GT's program, NC State's is practically equivalent to their campus-based stuff.

Out of curiosity, how does this work with project-based courses where the students design their own projects? Or do those not exist?

At least in the kinds of CS masters projects I'm familiar with, they tend to require a lot of one-on-one meeting time, which seems like it would be hard to scale up. It's certainly possible to do online, so online vs. physical isn't really an issue. But if one of the goals of offering these programs online is also to massively increase student:teacher ratio (as GT seems to be indicating), that seems like it would present a problem for individualized projects.

A typical arrangement is that students propose a project, possibly based on some suggestions from the professor. In the ideal case it intersects students' interests with something active going on in the research world or even the professor's lab, so the students and professor might even co-write a conference paper at the end of the course (for the best projects). They meet with the professor a few times to refine the project idea and scope so it's appropriate for the course, likely to be doable, etc. Then they meet a few more times during the project to ensure they're on track, agree on what parts could be cut if time doesn't allow them to be completed as originally envisioned, etc. Finally they do an oral, conference-style presentation of their work/results, and then hand in a report.

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

#114

Post by techsupporter »

otoburb wrote: post #76
rsanders wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I find that a little wishy-washy, too. I guess that's part of the buying decision you have to make -- are you willing to risk the lesser cachet for the convenience and affordability? I'd do it in a second, but then I'm probably the target audience (other than not having completed my BS). I'm almost 40 years old, with a wife and child, and the flexibility is crucial to me. This isn't an alternative to a traditio…

+1 to your points except the one about the "Online" in OMS being wishy-washy. I propose that this was not just a way to appease administrators, but is a pilot program that other institutions will be closely observing. If institutions can persuade students to accept an Oxx designation (online prefix), then administrations are modelling that they can not only increase revenues based on free MOOC numbers, but simultaneo…

> I am guessing that many online/distance-learning degrees are conferred without making it clear that the degree was earned in this way. Although this is great for students, I'm sure this causes angst in administrations for fear of brand dilution and obvious revenue threats.

It also opens opportunities for smaller universities with decent programs to make a dent. My university recently did entirely away with the on-campus format for the degree I received since most students signed up for the online format (I did). My diploma does not say "Online" at all.

If the quality of instruction and coursework is alleged to be equivalent, why not put the full standing of the University's name behind it? To me, adding the caveat of "online" makes it seem like the school is admitting in advance that the degree isn't equivalent to "not-online" MSc degrees.

I wonder if, since this is accredited, the body that certifies Georgia Tech's offerings wouldn't agree to do it without an "online" tag. Though, if that were the case, I wonder how my university was able to change its MSc offering (not Computer Science, though) to entirely-online without adding that word since both GATech and my college are covered by the same body.

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

#115

Post by EvaK_de »

rsanders wrote: post #54
sliverstorm wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think dilution is less of a concern than reduced rigor, which is a completely valid thing to worry about IMO.

I agree -- but we can't really know about that until the program's run for a while. I think they made a pretty smart choice starting with a CS degree. The field is notoriously full of extremely talented autodidacts, whether because the material is more amenable to that approach or because those who learn it are more capable of doing so. In any case, the attitude towards educational background in the field of CS/softw…

This course will not help autodidacts, since a BS is required for enrolling.

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

#116

Post by Muzza »

bayesianhorse wrote: post #67
neilxdsouza wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

katholieke universiteit leuven offers a masters course in AI for about EUR 5000, on campus. I checked with them in Jan of 2012. I then asked the professor if this was for students of Belgium and what is the price for international students ( I am from India). He confirmed that the price was the same. The university is ranked about 68-75 in the world, of course that is subjective. I feel the USD 40,000-50,000 price is…

In Europe education is usually cheaper. The general idea is that the society can afford to foot the bill for education better than it can afford to have people not attain the highest level they could reach.

Yes, we do enjoy our 50-60-70% tax rates here in Europe. Thankfully Sweden recently stopped pissing away the Swedish taxpayers' money by paying for the university education of foreigners.

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

#117

Post by ZirconCode »

cstejerean wrote: post #94
recuter wrote: post #4

http://www.omscs.gatech.edu/faq/ > How much does the degree program cost? We’re not yet ready to announce a specific program cost, but the plan is to offer the Georgia Tech OMS CS for a total cost of under $7,000—a fraction of the cost of Georgia Tech’s on-campus program and even less than that of comparable private universities. > The total workload is the same as the residential program; the weekly or hourly worklo…

The only thing left is to allow people to earn a BS in CS through Udacity as well (or dropping the requirement for a BS for this program, but that seems less likely).

Why? Why wouldn't they just drop the requirements? They are not taking any risks, the online course is incredibly cheap to scale.

If the student passes the course, doesn't he deserve a masters? If he doesn't, well, he still paid 7k.

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

#118

Post by zura »

k2xl wrote: post #86

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 go…

Yes, I'd love to do PhD in CS from home, and defend the thesis with my slippers.

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

#119

Post by chris11 »

readme wrote: post #60
ryguytilidie wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a non-CS grad, could I really get an MS in CS from doing an online class? Seems pretty insane, but something I might consider for 7k.

Yes. Maybe you'd have to take some remedial courses first though. SNHU offers B.S. in CS online. http://www.snhu.edu/ There is nothing in CS that requires your physical presence in a lecture hall to learn.

All I find is a BS in IT, with a concentration in software development. And the IT department is under the School of Business. It doesn't look like they actually offer any computer science courses.

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

#120

Post by cma »

s_baby wrote: post #50
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?

It doesn't devalue the prestige of my degree but it devalues the thousands of dollars I've spent and the opportunity costs paid by not having a remote option. It's de-moralizing being midway through my degree knowing future students will not have my debt or be constrained geographically and temporally. It's like an externalization of costs where my debt will be used to frog hop the next class(es) ahead of me.

"devalues the thousands of dollars I've spent"... sunk costs fallacy
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