Online College Course Forum

I'm on the search for a good subject area for my online doctorate. I work in educational management, but my background is in business and information technology, and working as a lecturer in higher education. Ideally I would like a subject that sort of touched on all these areas, and that is very relevant to what I do now.

I'm examining the kinds of links between educational programs and industry, in particular with information technology as the linking subject. Although I will be actually working in this area, I can't simply write up what I do, as research at this level has to be largely objective. So I need to examine an area where I can set up projects to work through and observe.

You may have noticed that there is quite a difference in the way that material is presented to you in an online program from material offered on traditional classroom courses. Online courses tend to be much more proscriptive, with assessments that are either multiple choice or yes no based - although this is not true of more advanced online programs.

Online material is written by skilled tutors who understand the advantages and limitations of using computers to deliver instruction. They also realise that you will study differently online, for instance you are able to revisit material that is difficult to absorb at first glance.

For some people, studying online is a real benefit as it suits their learning style. For others it can be difficult to learn without personal interaction.

The time has come for me to get real about doing an online doctorate. I want to do the degree, and studying online seems a good option. However, I have to start to consider what my subject should be. My major occupation is that of an academic leader in the area of IT, so ideally I should choose a subject that is in this area.

However, it's not that easy. In order to gain a doctorate (or at least a PhD) I need to choose an area of research where I can do some original work that has not been researched before, so contributing to the academic body of knowledge. I sort of want to research management rather than IT, so I'm heading towards the project management area. I've started to do research into what has already been published in this area, so at least I've started the process. Watch this space as I progress.