Hello Everyone,

A little about me: I am a bit eclectic in my loves, passions, and career. First and foremost, I am a storyteller, who dabbles across platforms of media, enjoying the challenges and rewards that come with experimenting with different modes of media. These days that storytelling has me developing documentaries, web series, digital magazines, and storyworlds. My mind is also busy brainstorming AR and VR experiences, ARGs, and podcasts.

As an educator, I have taught every age from preschoolers to elderhostel groups. While my formal training is in science education (I am a biologist) and educational technology, these days most of my teaching is in media, communications, and the digital arts. I am also keenly interested in Accessibility in Online Education - both from the perspective of a kid that is dyslexic and having been working through my Master of Educational Technology online with a head injury and a bunch of pain. In terms of my teaching, I teach online (and sometimes in person) for BCIT’s Broadcast and Media Part Time Studies program, and I have been developing a new teaching portal, geared to Contemporary Media at StoryToGo.ca/Classroom. I am proud to say that the site hosted BCIT’s first online summer camps there this past summer, shortly after I built it!

I was first introduced to the world of Open Access over a decade ago through Vancouver’s tech community. It fits my sensibilities as an educator and a storyteller. As someone who is not funded by an institution (or other organization) and has to raise the funds to pay the teams behind the projects I set in motion, I am also a realist. That’s given me a keen interest in Sustainable Funding Models and exploring ways to make creation viable. That means some of the stuff my team and I create is open and some is not - depending on how we’ve worked out the funding model on a given project. As a storyteller, there are also some things we create that are free, but not open. This is because first and foremost our responsibility is to our documentary subjects, in making sure the words and stories they have trusted us with are not taken out of context. Usually with those projects though, even if the video is not open, the accompany educational materials are.

Looking forward to learning more about all of you and the work you are doing through the OE Global Conference.

~ Erica