Time Magazine named Mark Zuckerberg the 2010 person of the year for creating Facebook, a social network that unites over half a billion people and maps the communications between them. Zuckerberg's invention has arguably changed the way people live, but it began as a simple service for his Harvard dorm. Following Zuckerberg's lead, IT students may create a business plan and model for companies that utilize information technology to alter the way people live. To complete this project, students first identify a need that a specific group of people share. Students then brainstorm ways that information technology can fulfill the need and use a combination of research, informal feedback and experimentation to make a plan for developing the new technology. At the culmination of the thesis project, students create a small-scale working model of the new technology and evaluate its effectiveness in a comprehensive report.
One idea for a master thesis is to investigate the history, evolution and social significance of information technology; students may opt to focus on the telephone. The thesis paper would describe the first telephones and the social climate in which they were created. The paper would then examine the effects the telephone had on society and the evolution of the phone from having a rotary dial to a push-button keypad. The paper would also focus on the advent of cellular phones and the transformation of traditional cell phones into touch phones that contain numerous applications and allow for Internet access. The paper would explore how people's changing attitudes toward the phone correlate with changing views of communication and community in general.
Receiving a comprehensive education online has become increasingly popular at both the college and K-12 level. Master's degree students may investigate the particulars of providing an online education and discuss ways in which information technology may be maximized to create the most comprehensive educational experience possible. Some considerations to make when planning this report include meeting state and national accreditation standards, fostering strong student-teacher and student-student relationships, minimizing the potential for plagiarism, providing accessibility to quality learning materials and tracking student progress online.
A final idea is to complete a case study. The study would compare the different methods in which two companies have implemented information technology programs. The study needs to explain the purpose of each company, each company's goals for using information technology and specifics about the technology used. The study would highlight strengths and weaknesses of each method of implementation. It would also examine the degree to which active integration of information technology has altered the effectiveness and direction of each company. The report would make research-based recommendations to future companies seeking to implement the technology reviewed.