Agree with Nimrod. ICTs represent a very wide field. I'm doing a PdD in ICTs for learning and that, in itself, is massive. Others I know are doing Technology and Gaming, Technology and Blogging, Social Software and so on. Search online using Google Scholar for ICT or Technology or Blogging or Social Software and the results could keep you busy (and informed) for months. From your post it appears you are interested in three, maybe four things: ICT generally, Internet, Development and, possible, new media technologies. If so, use these as keywords for your search. Development is a wide field, so it will probably help you to consider what area/field it is that you're really interested in - I know that's difficult at this stage but most people usually have a gut feeling about this.

That said - when it comes down to it - I'll probably be quaking in my boots! *laughing*

Hi pineapple

Me too. Does your institution not have any guidance notes you can look at? If not, you can look at the one's from mine.

http://www.ioe.ac.uk/doctoralschool/Upgrading.pdf

There's also an indication of timetabling and what happens vis-a-vis the upgrade process here.

http://www.ioe.ac.uk/doctoralschool/Upgrading_timetable.pdf

Our institution also gives a seminar on upgrading once or twice a year - in fact, I'm going to mine next Monday. Maybe you could check if they do this at your place.

Upgrading apparently varies depending on discipline. My institute is quite strict and the upgrade process is taken quite seriously - and is treated a bit like a mini viva. I'm not too worried, though - in fact, I appreciate the chance to practice - and the opportunity to prepare.

This is a useful and interesting presentation - sets out the stages of the viva, what to expect, and how to prepare. Enjoy.

http://www.minds.nuim.ie/~dez/postgrad/2004-2005/slides/pmooney2.pdf

My first chapter is just 10 pages... it's a short introduction and summary which sets up the rest of the chapters, so wouldn't be expected to be much longer, I don't think.

In response to Tricky's post - I agree. Unwise move to try to begin a PhD and do a PGCE at the same time. Teacher training year (and NQT year which follows for that matter) are very intensive. You barely have time to live and breathe, never mind study for a higher degree at the same time.

For leb050:

I'd say, go for PhD first, if it's your interest and passion, then do a PGCHE if you want to work in academia. Don't do a PGCE unless you are interested in school-based teaching (at whatever level).

For golfpro:

For many people in a wide variety of professions, a PhD is about interest and passion and not just about CPD or individual progress. That said, I'm a teacher looking to move up to academia, but my interest began with a passion for my subject, and not a desire to move on or teach at a higher level. I guess there are many, many reasons for wanting to do a PhD.

Well, speaking as a PGCE (Secondary) graduate and a PhD student... I guess I'm qualified to say something on the topic. Firstly, PGCE covers all age ranges 4-18, not just 11-16. Secondly, my desire to do a PhD arose out of my PGCE. The PGCE FE is for post-16 further education (e.g. sixth form and further education colleges). I think for HE (i.e. university level) there is a further PGCE, called the PGCHE which is specifically aimed at lecturer training.

Hi Jojo

With you there. Methodologies are murder! I suffered long and hard with mine - but, like me, you'll get there in the end. Then, when (and if) you complete a pilot study, it'll all make sense and you'll go back and cut out the half that's making your head hurt now.

My supervisor is also very good and feedback times vary - a month if I'm not in a hurry, two weeks if we're having a meeting to discuss the work (and I submit it in time by email). I'm also social sciences (education and technology). I think two to three weeks seems about reasonable for your situation JoJo, assuming you're full-time. Best thing would be just to chat with your supervisor about reasonable times for feedback, etc. at your next meeting, just indicate you like to know where you're going. What you need to bear in mind, though, in these situations is that supervisors often have more than one PhD student to mentor (mine, for instance, has 8) as well as their own research (deadlines, experiments, papers, RAE pressures, etc.) and, if they teach, courses, exams, etc. to manage as well.

Hi

You can add the image as a Fig. and reference it that way. You make the reference in EndNote the same way as for a book or article, but choose Figure from the drop down list. Go to the section that says image and right-click and insert your image. Add the usual referencing details into the reference further up, e.g. Title of Book, etc. Hope this helps.

Sorry to hear of your woes, driven2... and thanks for the reminder. I've just backed up three months' work onto my external hard disk!

[part 2]

If your aim is to get into lecturing as quickly as possible, and you're not too fussed about a higher level (e.g. PhD) than that... go for the MA. If you can't get into the institution you applied to, can you not try another one? It's difficult to advise you when we don't know the subject area you're interested in, mind you.

Hi Kathy111

All sounds a bit weird to me. If they thought you were too good for the MA, surprises me that they wouldn't recommend a suitable alternative MPhil/PhD route. I was in a similar situation to you and initially applied to do an MA but indicated at the time it was a precursor to doing a PhD and was asked to submit a proposal for the PhD and ended up going the MPhil/PhD route as being the better option (since it was what I wanted ultimately anyway). I'm halfway through my second year and glad I took this route (although there are days when I wish I'd just done the MA as it would have been over and done with quicker). You're right that most universities want you to have a higher degree if you want to lecture, but some will accept you part-way through your PhD (depends what subject area you're aiming for and whether you're studying full or part-time - I'm part-time). [need to do this in two parts... *sigh*]

If you use endnote, you can store the pdfs in a folder and link directly to them via endnote. You can also store notes about the paper in endnote. And you can use key words that then become searchable. You can copy and paste these in from the pdf.

If you don't want to go to all that trouble, you could just store them in a folder with a prefix keyword, e.g. semiotics_funky discourse.pdf and then you can use Windows Explorer to search for 'semiotics' and so on. I usually find it useful to prefix downloaded pdfs with the date also so I can sort them by date to look through them. e.g. 070419 Today I downloaded this one.pdf.