Find a problem of importance that you want to know the answer to Will get you through

Much faster than just meeting a requirement will ever do. Good luck, David Booth.

In your area of interest search for a current (!) literature review / scoping review in a good journal and read it carefully.

Authors will point to relevant research gaps in the discussion.

You can then choose from those suggestions (based on your theoretical and methodological skills) and use the review paper as a reference.

_A 24‑step guide on how to design, conduct, and successfully publish

a systematic review and meta‑analysis in medical research(https ://doi.org/10.1007/s1065 4-019-00576 -5)

_Framework for Determining Research Gaps During Systematic Review: Evaluation

_https://www.editage.com/insights/dont-know-where-to-start-6-tips-on-identifying-research-gaps

I think your topic should be based on something emerging in the field of education like the biggest dilemma nowadays students are facing is how to earn and learn together. Moreover, you can also add and find a large gap between education and online earning. Gisel Greeneich

The guidance in relation to establishing research gap as per the following publications may further help:

• Bambale, A. J. (2014) Facilitating the PhD research process: Guides for identifying research problem and establishing research gap, International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology, 4, 1, pp. 116-124.
• Carnwell, R. and Daly, W. (2001) Strategies for the construction of a critical review of the literature, Nurse Education in Practice, 1, 2, pp. 57-63.
• Müller-Bloch, C. and Kranz, J. A framework for rigorously identifying research gaps in qualitative literature reviews. Thirty Sixth International Conference on Information Systems - Exploring the Information Frontier, ICIS 2015, Fort Worth, Texas, USA, December 13-16, 2015: AIS eLibrary, 1-19.
• Pautasso, M. (2013) Ten Simple Rules for Writing a Literature Review, PLoS Computational Biology, 9, 7, pp. 1-4.
• Ridely, D. (2012) The Literature Review: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students. 2nd edn. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Hopefully the following papers/link (see some more discussions and recommended publications) could help provide some ideas in finding your research topic.

• Cheng, S. C. and Lai, C. L. (2020) Facilitating learning for students with special needs: a review of technology-supported special education studies, Journal of computers in education, 7, 2, pp. 131-153.
• Kuo, M. H., Orsmond, G. I., Coster, W. J. and Cohn, E. S. (2014) Media use among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, Autism, 18, 8, pp. 914-923.
• Obiakor, F. E., Bakken, J. P. and Rotatori, A. F. (2010) Current Issues and Trends in Special Education: Research, Technology, and Teacher Preparation (Advances in Special Education Volume 20). Emerald Group Publishing Limited: Bingley, UK.
• Sani-Bozkurt, S., Vuran, S. and Akbulut, Y. (2017) Design and use of interactive social stories for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Contemporary Educational Technology, 8, 1, pp. 1-25.
• Thomas, C. N., Peeples, K. N., Kennedy, M. J. and Decker, M. (2019) Riding the special education technology wave: Policy, obstacles, recommendations, actionable ideas, and resources, Intervention in School and Clinic, 54, 5, pp. 295-303.
• How should I select a PhD research topic?: https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_should_I_select_a_PhD_research_topic

Instead of looking for a gap in literature, find a practical problem/issue, in the area of your interest. This will make your job easy. Good luck!

In other words, instead of doing theory-building research, do problem-solving research.

A gap in literature refers to an area that has yet to be examined or that has been under-explored. An easy way to spot a literature gap is through gap statements. In this regard, you could check out the online tutorial by Costanza-Robinson et al. (2021); it could be helpful. You might also find the book by Fink (2014) and the one by Shon (2015) interesting. Here are the references.

Costanza-Robinson, M., Maxwell, A., Wright, C., & Bertollini, M. E. (2021). Gap statements « write like a scientist. The Middlebury Blog Network | Selected Posts from the Midd Blogosphere. https://sites.middlebury.edu/middsciwriting/overview/organization/gap-statements/

Fink, A. (2014). Conducting research literature reviews: From the internet to paper (4th ed.). SAGE Publications. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/conducting-research-literature-reviews/book259191

Shon, P. C. (2015). How to read journal articles in the social sciences: A very practical guide for students (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications. https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/how-to-read-journal-articles-in-the-social-sciences/book245481

Good luck,

You just need to read hundreds of articles, that's it, there is no secret formula, read hundreds of articles on a subject that you like and you will find a small gap.

I think you have to go back to your literature search again and find the knowledge gap or knowledge boundary in your study area and find something for you to persue.