New Format Distance Education Courses Offered

Would you like to learn the principles of computer networking through lectures delivered to your home or office? And, in the process, receive six graduate credits from the Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering? Would it be helpful to be able to complete the course at your own pace (fast or slow), perhaps during Winter or Summer Break? If so, we have an experimental course offering that may help you.

The Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering is offering, on an experimental basis, graduate-level courses in networking technology, delivered over the Internet in a new format. Students will sit in on the latest offering of a human-taught lecture from a regular GMU course. Network EducationWare (NEW) captures the instructor's voice and slides. It delivers them with computer-graphics quality via the Internet. This form of distance education is called "asynchronous" because instructor and student are not online at the same time, but it more like attending a live lecture than reading a webpage. The lecture is recorded exactly as it is given and placed on a server for delayed playback. You can learn more about the teaching technology at http://netlab.gmu.edu/NEW.

The courses being offered are IT557, Introduction to Network Science, and IT657, Advanced Network science. The syllabus for these courses is available at http://netlab.gmu.edu/it557. The courses cover a survey of networking technology: telecommunication concepts, data communications, local area networking, wide area network protocols, network security, mobile networking, and network management. Pre-requisite is a Bachelor's degree in math, science, or engineering, including courses in calculus and probability. The courses also are available by NEW in real time as they are taught: IT557 in Fall semester, and IT657 in Spring. Students who have not been accepted to a graduate program at GMU can take these courses in non-degree status. See http://admissions.gmu.edu/grad/apps/ITE_ND.pdf. IT557 will be available for registration starting January, 2003. IT657 will be available in June, 2003.

Students receive lectures using the NEW software, which is available for free download. The format is much like a classroom, with the overhead projector replaced by crisp computer graphics, and accompanied by the instructor's voice. Students have four months from registration tocomplete the fifteen lessons, each with an accompanying online homework set, and take three proctored exams. The course instructor is available by email or telephone to answer questions and provide advice. Students pay normal GMU tuition, plus a 50% surcharge for the distance educationservice. Because GMU doesn't get funding from the state to support this style of delivery, the surcharge is needed to pay the extra costs associated with online delivery and individualized attention from the instructor. You can find the current tuition rate at http://jiju.gmu.edu/catalog/tuition.

To register for these courses in asynchronous form as described above, contact the GMU Office of Continuing Professional Education office at 703-993-2109. If you have questions about the course delivery or contact, contact Dr. Mark Pullen by email: mpullen@gmu.edu.