Guide to Online Education > Online Education In-Depth > Meet Real Online Students > Andrea B., Ph.D. in Education & Leadership, Self-Designed
Name: Andrea Bowe
Age: 56
Marital Status: Divorced/Single
Children: Girls 13, 16, 19, 21; and one 29-year-old boy
Current Location: Washington
Occupation: Director of a Washington-based nonprofit Computer Social Impact Research Institute, Inc.
Current School: Walden University
Target: Ph.D. in Education, May 2011
Walden University utilizes an interface for which there is an Online PSP (Personal Start Page) for each student.
She prefers the PSP system to Blackboard, which was used in her previous online learning experience. "I believe the Walden interface is effective and better than Blackboard, which never had a working portfolio interface, although they did try!"
If a textbook is required for a class, it is always available for sale through Walden's Web site. "I just order it directly," she says.
Because she can access her schoolwork anytime, Andi manages to balance it well with her work and family life. "I only have to attend a residency, where I meet teachers and students in person, about one or two weeks a year."
Not all online programs require residency visits, and it is an extra expense, but this makes up for what Andi sees as the biggest drawback to online learning: the difficulty of making personal connections.
She believes that "the residency is good to connect and network with instructors and fellow students and is a valuable addition."
Though Andi would consider getting another degree online in the future, she says she is "more likely to found [her] own College of Synthesis to solve global and local problems using feedback from the children themselves."
After dedicating herself so fully to the cause for so much time, she is certainly the one to do it. And it appears that she's learned more about education than just in regards to children.
Her biggest surprise in the process? "I am still capable of learning, even at over 50!"
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