GMU is committed to using information technology to help our students learn. In Computer Science, we are delivering an increasing fraction of our graduate courses over the Internet. Our focus is regional; the idea is to allow students to save time by telecommuting to class.

Most of our courses already take advantage of the Web to make available the course syllabus, notes, slides, homework solutions, etc. Now we are going a step further by making the actual class available over the Internet as it is being delivered. As a network student you hear the instructor's voice and see the slides plus any markings made on the slides in real time. You can ask questions or make comments by typing a message that is delivered immediately to the instructor. This approach is called "synchronous" distance education. In addition, the whole class is recorded and can be played back from a network server.

We use the Network EducationWare system. It has these characteristics:

• runs on a Windows or Linux system (500 MHz and up, with sound card)

• no cost to student for software

• accessed through Web browser plus a package that is downloaded by the student from the webpage

• students can ask questions during class by speaking through the computer channel, or typing the question

• needs a clear network path (no network congestion)

• but works though ordinary 56K dial-up modem connection!

We also have video available for those with higher performance connections (such as cable modem), but it is not essential for a high-quality educational experience. For more about our work in Internet class delivery technology, see http://netlab.gmu.edu/pubs.

The Computer Science courses that will be taught by distance education in the coming year are listed below. All of these courses are taught from rooms in Science & Technology I (Fairfax Campus) which are equipped to originate Internet classes:

Fall 2007

CS 540 Language Processors
CS 571 Operating Systems
CS 555 Computer Communications and Networks
CS 580 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
CS 583 Analysis of Algorithms
CS 652 Computer Graphics
CS 706 Concurrent Software Systems
CS 755 Advanced Computer Networks

Spring 2008

CS 540 Language Processors
CS 555 Computer Communications and Networks
CS 571 Operating Systems
CS 635 Foundations of Parallel Computation
(available asynchronously only; contact pwang@cs.gmu.edu)
CS 672 Computer System Performance Evaluation
IT 657 Advanced Network Science

For more information contact Nooshi Mohebi (mmohebi@gmu.edu) or Dr. Mark Pullen (mpullen@gmu.edu).