Hello everyone.
Wanted to ask if a Phd in educational technology a qualification is something that can be rewarding?
If you wanted to go for a phd, had interest in education, would you go for such a program compared to something like information systems, business. economics etc.
Thanks
Re: Educational Technology PhD
Hi Erudition,
I was personally considering a D.Ed. / Ph.D. Ed. In technology assisted learning – before I opted for my current program in Information Systems.
After talking to a bunch of people who had their Ph.D. in Education related disciplines, I got the impression that their Ph.D.s had narrowed them a little too much, and the institutions they were working at didn’t see them as value-added. Specifically, w.r.t. technology assisted learning, there are a lot of Masters level programs that sufficiently prepare candidates for jobs at the University, whether it’s in teaching at the faculty of Education, or a more hands-on role at Teaching & Media Resources departments.
Having been in academia for a while, I have seen faculty members from various departments engage in pedagogical research which can be geared towards the improvement of their individual departmental programs, success factors for their niche of professional training, or even focused on exploring and relating general best practices in academia. So faculty members can pursue these complementary research interests in pedagogy while doing regular research in their specialties.
To give you an example, I personally am currently involved in projects that explore the training and learning opportunities afforded by new technologies such as web 2.0 and mobile devices. This is in addition to my regular research projects in e-Government and Community Informatics which are my core specialties.
This is not to say that there’s no value in a D.Ed. / Ph.D. in Educational Technologies program… but it is a little too narrow for my liking. The other reason that I opted to puruse my Ph.D. in a business related discipline was because it kept my options open to a myriad of consulting opportunities in the industry. Again, these are relatively more difficult to come by if you have a Ph.D. in an education related discipline.
Hope this makes some sense.
Re: Educational Technology PhD
Thanks for your detailed reply and thoughts. It does help in getting a clearer picture. I had a feeling that PhD educational technology does surely become a little narrow.
Another query or maybe a confusion (which i am sure you would be the right person to clear) is about the program itself. If the interest area is education and learning technologies, would it fall under business or information systems? I have noticed that information systems programs also fall under the business schools. Please correct me if i am wrong.
There are many good options available , I hope I am able to make the right decision.
Re: Educational Technology PhD
The answer is neither… a Ph.D. in educational technologies or technology assisted learning falls under the faculty of education. That’s why the designated degree at many institutions is an D.Ed. (Doctor of Education).
This is a tricky question - while Information Systems is primarily considered a business discipline, it may also sometimes fall under Library & Information Sciences or even Computer Science in some instances. A formal definition of the IS discipline classifies two sub-disciplines: Organizational / Behavioral Research AND Design Research.
These days, much of research in IS has an Organizational / Behavioral focus and that’s why many schools have an IS dept. within their business faculties. On the other hand, Design Research may be considered a Computer Science domain. Lastly, if the body of knowledge in IS pertains to content and knowledge management etc., then it can be considered a part of Library Sciences.
So all in all, Information Systems is a pretty broad discipline… but I’d say that 70% of the time, it’s considered a business domain.
This website may shed more light on IS research: http://www.aisworld.org/#research
Re: Educational Technology PhD
Thanks for the reply.
I just checked the link. Its excellent.