Title: Georgia Tech’s Online MOOC-based Master Program
Presented By: Zvi Galil Georgia Tech
Abstract:
In May 2013, Georgia Tech announced a bold and revolutionary move. In collaboration with its partners Udacity and AT&T, it was going to launch a new and unique online high quality-low cost Masters program in Computer Science (OMS CS). Delivery would be through a platform popularized by massively open online courses (MOOCs), using the “disruptive power of massively open online teaching to widen the pipeline of high-quality, educated talent needed in computer science fields.” The program’s price tag was significantly less than an MS CS at comparable public and private universities (less than $7,000 as opposed to $40,000 and $70,000 respectively) making it accessible to a higher number of students.
The program launched in January 2014, sparking worldwide conversations about the evolving nature of higher education in the 21st Century. Since its launch, it has been described as a potential “game changer” and “ground zero of the revolution in higher education.” It has also paved the way for more than 40 similar MOOC-based programs, grown to what is apparently the biggest MS in CS program in the world (from 380 students in 2014 to 9,000 in spring 2019), and it has also been predicted that the OMS CS alone will be responsible for raising the annual number of MS CS graduate in the United States by at least 7%. This will address a great national need for computing professionals, as predicted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Science Foundation who estimate that in 2020 there will be a shortage of one million professional in this area.
The talk will describe the OMS CS program, how it came about, its first five years, and what Georgia Tech has learned from the OMS CS experience. The potential effect on higher education will also be discussed.
Biography:
Dr. Galil was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel. He earned BS and MS degrees in Applied Mathematics from Tel Aviv University, both summa cum laude and a PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University. He worked at Tel Aviv University 1976-1982 and served as its president 2007-2009, at Columbia University 1982-2007 where he served as computer science chair 1989-1994 and dean of engineering 1995-2007. He is currently working at Georgia Tech where he served as dean of computing 2010- 2019. At Georgia Tech he envisioned and led the faculty in creating OMSCS - Georgia Tech’s online master program in computer science. He is currently executive assistant to online learning. Galil’s research areas have been the design and analysis of algorithms, complexity, cryptography and experimental design. In 1983-1987 he served as chairman of ACM SIGACT, the Special Interest Group of Algorithms and Computation Theory. He has written over 200 scientific papers, edited 5 books, and has given about 250 lectures in 25 countries (about 70 in 16 countries on OMSCS). Galil has served as editor in chief of two journals and as the chief computer science adviser in the United States to the Oxford University Press. He is a fellow of the ACM and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In 2008 Columbia University established the Zvi Galil Award for Improvement in Engineering Student Life. In 2009 the Columbia Society of Graduates awarded him the Great Teacher Award. In 2012 the University of Waterloo awarded him an honorary doctorate in mathematics.