Udacity: Online Master's in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech

[IrishJohn]

Sadly, not my field but someone might find this useful to their own career goals and it gives me hope for further expansion of these alternative!

Udacity Blog: Sebastian Thrun: Announcing Online Masters Degree in Computer Science in Collaboration with Georgia Tech and AT&T

[Johann]

The degree will cost about $7,000, so they say. That's a fraction of the on-campus price at that school. The slightly-less-than-stellar news is that the degree will be known specifically as the On Line Master of Science degree. Wish they could skip that differentiation. Doesn't bother me -- but some employers, well ...you know.

Lots more here and on the associated pages: OMSCS - Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Thrun and Udacity seem to be making major "disruptive" (his favourite word) announcements every couple of weeks. I note Georgia Tech has also adopted the word, in the same positive sense, when describing this program. Maybe there's a T-shirt, "Stay disruptive and MOOC on!"

See Thrun.
See Thrun run.
Run, Thrun, run.

Johann

[Daithi]

Under $7,000 for a Masters in Computer Science at Georgia Tech. That is an incredible deal. The FAQ says it should take about 3 years to complete. I wonder why so long. It also says you need to apply for admissions and need a Bachelors in a computer science area, which limits who can pursue this degree. The FAQ says they are looking at a goal of 10,000 students. I really hope this succeeds, because I'd like to see other MOOC providers start offering degree programs.

[sanantone]

I briefly scanned over some of the FAQs. I think I saw something about a cohort, which would probably mean that you couldn't move at a faster pace. There is a 6-year option to allow for more flexibility, but I didn't see anything about a shorter option. I'd rather pay twice as much for a program that takes half as long, especially if I could recover the extra cost by getting a bump in pay sooner.

[Johann]

Apparently, there may be more than one kind of credential for this MOOC - not all confined to the degree, depending on how you enrol. Dr. Thrun is considering opening it up to WAY over 5,000 students. He tends to think v-e-r-y "big" in this regard.

Heard elsewhere: "MOOCS are the Kardashians of Higher Ed. All hype, very little substance." What do you guys/gals think of that statement?

Johann

[IrishJohn]

Heard elsewhere: "MOOCS are the Kardashians of Higher Ed. All hype, very little substance." What do you guys/gals think of that statement?

That some folks are scared and unable to process how quickly change is coming to higher education, nor what to make of it all.

[Johann]

I don't doubt that at all, IrishJohn. When I first posted on Dr. Thrun and Udacity somewhere else, one of the "Old Guard" opined that reliable evaluation of learning, i.e. testing etc. from a MOOC was nonexistent at that point, and very likely impossible to achieve. Well, from what I've read, most MOOC providers seem to have that problem pretty well licked from the get-go.

I thought that true or not, (and I don't think it is true) the "Kardashian" comparison was one of the best zingers I'd heard. MOOCS have attracted a lot of scholarly attention and research -- something I don't think the Kardashians have done! Dr Thrun's Udacity says it has been growing "faster than Facebook." That's OK, as long as it's better than Facebook! And it is - no doubt of that.

Another zinger I read, applied to MOOCS was "When college is free, it will be worth nothing." As I see it, learning itself has an inherent value. The cost may go down, up or sideways, but the value does not necessarily follow the cost.

Johann

[publius2k4]

"MOOCS are the Kardashians of Higher Ed. All hype, very little substance."

College is a business, and a very pricey business at that. MOOC's, CBE's, PLA's, etc. all take away from the college's ability to sell their product. Therefore, they have to downplay their competition and try to make their product (which is truly equivalent) seem like the better option.

The truth about education is that it doesn't matter where it came from, as long as you have it. Earning my degree is going to be a fantastic achievement, but not nearly as important as the knowledge I've gained along the way.....Endless nights looking through IC flashcards...Days spent sitting in a test chair....countless days spent in many classes learning about history, science, ethics, etc...hours spent clicking away at my keyboard, typing English papers....many nights spent Googling my heart out, trying to find needed information for research papers....for all of us, this list goes on.

Many in higher education want to do something I call "knowledge hoarding" so that they don't become obsolete.

"They don't want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don't want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They're not interested in that. That doesn't help them. That's against their interests." -George Carlin

[Johann]

College is a business, and a very pricey business at that. MOOC's, CBE's, PLA's, etc. all take away from the college's ability to sell their product. Therefore, they have to downplay their competition and try to make their product (which is truly equivalent) seem like the better option.

110% True - as is the rest of your excellent post. Traditional schools have one other option, though: if you can't lick 'em, join 'em. That's why the B&M schools I went to (mostly at night) now have such a plethora of online offerings. Sadly, they're all at B&M prices - the only saving is on the ridiculous cost of on-campus parking. It's also why so many schools are eager to hype MOOCS and collaborate with the MOOC providers. They realize this is the way of the future. Better a sliver of the pie than have the whole thing waltz out of the kitchen!

Yes indeed - education is education, wherever you get it... That will always be so.

Johann

[sanantone]

The upfront costs for developing online courses is rather high. For Georgia Tech's program, the cost is $200k-300k per course. I believe the only reason why this program is being offered so cheaply is because they plan to enroll thousands of students.

Georgia Tech Offers Online Master's Degree for $6,000 - WSJ.com