eLearners News is edited by Steve Foerster.
Steve has worked in higher education for nearly ten years, both as a staff person specializing in eLearning and international higher education, and as an adjunct instructor, designing and teaching online courses in IT and business.
He's also an eLearner himself, having completed a Bachelor's degree from Charter Oak State College and a Master's degree from George Washington University, both thanks to eLearning.
For more about Steve, visit his website.
This week the educational technology news is pretty slow. Evidently all the news makers are coming down from Christmas and taking a well deserved break, and there probably won't be much more from them until the new year. And I already promised recently I wasn't going to harp on politics much, and it's too soon to renege on that anyway. So instead I'll take the liberty of offering some personal news that's been building up for a while.
I have a strong person background in eLearning. When I went back to complete my Bachelor's through Charter Oak State College, I transferred in a lot of credit earned on campus at schools long before that, but I finished up solely through testing out of courses and by taking courses online. Then when I did my Master's, I chose an entirely online program, although it was through George Washington University, which is known for its extensive campus and its programs that take place there.
I've made a number of attempts at doctoral study as well, and true to form, all of them have been online programs. Long time readers of my blog know that I've tried to climb the steep mountain of doctoral work a number of times, but always ended up at the base camp of my Master's degree for one reason or another. I started with the Doctor of Health Education at A.T. Still University, but decided before long that my research topic wasn't really in line with my interests. I considered a PhD in Economics through Swiss Management Center, but I similarly realized I didn't have four years of sustainable interest in the subject. Then I enrolled in the EdD in Higher Education through the University of Memphis, but the program really didn't well designed for distance learners, and I was the only one in the program who didn't live within a stone's throw of campus.
Finally I enrolled in the EdD in International Higher Education at Northeastern University. I realized at this point that I would either do this program, or step back from the idea of doctoral study for a good long while. And while I had a good first semester, with interesting courses and fellow students, and a program that was reasonably well run despite some snafus stemming from fast expansion, I have realized that I simply do not have the time it takes to reach this goal and also do everything else that I want to accomplish in the next few years. So, in other words, I have withdrawn and will not be returning to it.
Will I ever return to doctoral study? It's possible — completing a doctoral degree has been a goal for a long time, and even now when I know I'm not in the right place in life to complete it, I was reluctant to cut myself off from it. But if I do, it won't be soon, and should that happen it's likely I'll seek out a program that consists of research only, rather than the coursework based program found at North American universities.
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