ERIC Number: EJ1126410
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1470-3297
EISSN: N/A
Digital Doctorates? An Exploratory Study of PhD Candidates' Use of Online Tools
Dowling, Robyn; Wilson, Michael
Innovations in Education and Teaching International, v54 n1 p76-86 2017
Online environments are transforming learning, including doctoral education. Yet the ways in which the PhD experience is shaped and transformed through these digital modes of engagement is seldom addressed, and not systematically understood. In this article, we explore PhD students' perceptions and use of digital tools. Drawing on the results of focus groups with PhD candidates at a metropolitan Australian university, we argue that PhD candidates' appropriation and use of online resources and tools are growing but at the same time remains overlain by traditional concerns of time and convenience, technological expertise, established channels of communication and preferred services. We conclude that PhD candidates' use of online tools is not so much a question of skill proficiency as it is about the tools' immediate utility in relation to candidates' time-pressured and habitual ways of researching.
Descriptors: Doctoral Programs, Online Courses, Educational Environment, Focus Groups, Student Attitudes, Foreign Countries, Technology Uses in Education, Educational Technology, Learning Strategies, Qualitative Research, Blended Learning, Computer Mediated Communication
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A