Hello, I have been trying to decide on a Masters degree to pursue. I have thought about a Masters in Management but I would really like to teach computer programming online someday. I have a B.A. from Charter Oak with a concentration in history with a background in programming mostly from the 1990's. Could anyone recommend a Masters program that would qualify myself to teach programming online? Thanks, Bob
Northcentral University offers a Master of Business Administration degree with a specialization in Applied Computer Science. The specialization covers the major topics typically included in a computer science degree. NCU has received ACBSP accreditation, if that is a consideration. The terms are 12 weeks in duration and courses start on a monthly basis.
I think at the CC level, a master's in anything along with industry certifications (e.g. Microsoft, Sun Java) might be enough.
Industry certifications tend to have a limited lifespan before you have to take another examination for the next version of a vendor product. A graduate degree with 18 credit hours in software development, programming, and related subjects is a better fit for the person who started this thread. Certifications in various languages or frameworks to complement the graduate degree can be used to fulfill specific requirements of a teaching position, if desired.
Actually, in practice I see a lot of people with master's degrees in education technology, business, math teaching computers with certifications. CCs and technical schools tend to put a lot of emphasis on certifications rather than formal computer science or IS education. Universities are a different story since courses tend to be more theoretical so formal education is a must. The best bet would be certifications with graduate education. The MBA in applied computer science from NCU wouldn't be a good fit in my opinion since MBAs by nature are not considered programming degrees, a hiring committee would be confused since MBAs are normally hired to teach management and not programming courses so you will be stuck in the middle (unable to teach programming and management since your major will be programming). If your goal is to teach at the CC or technical school level, I would recommend SUN or Microsoft certifications with a master's degree in math, education, IS, CS or business. If you want to teach at the University level, it is getting very competitive with only a master's degree so a PhD might be required in IS or CS. If you want to teach part time, any accredited PhD will do the job, if you want to teach full time then the name of school will play an important role in getting you the job.
Unfortunately, community colleges do seem to place undo importance on vendor certifications. The students are the losers in this situation because rather than being taught fundamentals they are taught products. Based on the perception of many who participate on this forum all that is required to teach in most cases is a graduate degree with 18 credit hours in the subject area. Therefore, why would an MBA with 18 credit hours in applied computer science be insufficient, all things being equal, to teach at a community college? Right. And an MBA is a business degree. If you have 18 credit hours within the MBA in the area of IS or CS, then it would seem your criteria has been met. Community colleges also want instructors with real world experience. Certifications are fine but will not necessarily turn an accountant into a computer programmer or a network engineer. On this point we completely agree. Education requirements to teach at a university have always been higher than those for teaching positions at most community colleges. Name recognition usually only plays a role if you graduated from an Ivy League or similar school; any other school will be just another school and very few people among the populace attend an Ivy League school. As always your insights are much appreciated.
Technically, the MBA in computer science from NCU would qualify you to teach programming but with so many Master's degree holders in Computer Science and IS looking for work, I would think that the MBA tag would put you in a disadvantage. I have seen many MBAs teaching programming but things being equal, the MS in Computer Science has more weight to teach programming.
The MS(CS) would likely carry some advantage over an MBS(ACS) but the professional background of the person applying for the teaching position is a factor as well. It all comes down to the individual situation (education, professional experience). In my own case, the PhD(Applied Computer Science) makes more sense than a PhD(Computer Science) due to my interests in the application of computer science to the forensic sciences, specifically, digital forensics. I covered the theoretical aspects of computer science during my undergraduate studies.
Since Applied Computer Science seems to be a rare specialization in business that I have only seen at NCU, I suppose that most people couldn't tell the difference between Applied Computer Science and Computer Science anyways. Since you are getting the PhD, I assume that wouldn't really make much difference one or the other.
