The on-line Ph.D. as computer-supported cooperative work

This issue’s column by Professor Kevin Crowston is in response to Professor Peter Carr’s column about the online Ph.D. that appeared in the last issue of Decision Line (Vol. 31, No. 3). Dr. Crowston summarizes the previous arguments and then discusses current research on the subject of applying computer-supported work to graduate education. For instance, he emphasizes the importance of face-to-face interaction for particular kinds of collaborative tasks. I hope you find this next entry in the debate about “online” versus “face-to-face” Ph.D.