Georgia Tech graduates first class from MOOC experiment

Dive Brief:

• The Georgia Institute of Technology announced a lower priced, online alternative to its master's degree in computer science in 2013, and with its first crop of 20 graduates and consistent flow of 1,300 applicants per term, it may be time for a program review.
• The Wall Street Journal reports Georgia Tech's MOOC-inspired online program is somewhat of a hybrid between free and open MOOCs and traditional online degrees, enrolling 2,789 students this semester and on track to be profitable by May.
• Students are moving through the coursework more slowly than expected, however, and the approximately $7,000 price tag seems to be low enough to attract students who are not as motivated to actually complete their degree.

Dive Insight:

The idea for massive open online courses was to be as large as possible and free, broadening educational opportunity to everyone with a computer and an internet connection.

Schools have since reined in; focusing on achieving greater success with more targeted groups of students. "Small private online courses" have sprung up for groups like alumni. Arizona State University's Global Freshman Academy has gone in another direction: offering traditional MOOCs but giving students the opportunity to pay for credit once they've passed the course. At MIT, a new MicroMaster's offers students who succeed in a MOOC a credential after just one semester on campus.

Though the concept has evolved, expanding opportunity online is still the goal of a great many traditional higher education institutions.

Ga. Tech's MOOC Master's Degree Program Off To Solid Start

A little over a year ago, Georgia Tech launched a first-of-its kind master’s degree in computer science. The program is taught entirely through Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs.

Here’s MOOC 101: They’re typically online undergraduate courses offered for free, and students don’t usually earn credit for them.

Through Georgia Tech's program, professors post podcasts of their lectures, and students can ask questions through online forums.

So, how’s it going so far at Georgia Tech?

“The short answer is that it’s going awesomely,” Charles Isbell, a Georgia Tech professor and associate dean of computer science, says.

Isbell helped launch the program. He’s pleased with the students and the quality of courses. But he admits there’s room for improvement. The program serves a lot of working professionals who’ve been out of college a while. Isbell says those students need more advisers.

“[They’re needed] to answer ─ not the questions of a specific course ─ but the questions that you get when trying to go through a program, ‘What’s the next course I should take?’” he says. “‘Is it a good idea for me to take this course with that course? How can I actually get out in the shortest amount of time?’”

It takes about two years to get the degree. Tuition is just under $7,000. That’s three times cheaper than it would cost to get the degree on campus.

Tracy Gray specializes in educational technology at the American Institutes for Research. She says despite the bargain pricing, it’s too soon to know if the MOOC model will catch on.

  “Does this work well for all students? Is it the same experience as having a teacher who is directing the learning and monitoring the progress?” Gray says. “We just don’t know.”

But Gray says, Georgia Tech may be onto something, as people get more accustomed to technology-based learning.

The program’s first graduates will earn their degrees in December.

http://news.wabe.org/post/ga-techs-mooc-masters-degree-program-solid-start