About

My work draws on forty plus years of open and education leadership. My career is unique and diverse with extensive experience initiating startups and leading innovations in adult education, online learning, education technology, and open education.

Here is a rough timeline chronology of my career with a sampling of highlights and achievements.

1980-90

I started as a school teacher working with special needs autistic children. Following that I worked for an educational books and games publisher called Educational Motivation Systems. In the mid 1980’s, when the Apple Macintosh first came out, I joined a high tech startup called Up & Running Systems and managed the development and delivery of a full program of training courses to teach adults Macintosh software applications. I then worked at Canada’s National Training Institute on the air traffic control program with a particular focus on the use of simulations to address problem areas in the curriculum and increase successful graduation rates.

1990-1998

In the 1990’s I joined Hughes Aircraft of Canada leading the development and delivery of education and training programs for air traffic controllers and software/hardware engineers associated with provision of large scale air traffic control systems in different parts of the world including Canada, Switzerland, Indonesia, and China. In the mid 90’s as the Internet began to emerge I became interested in its potential as an education tool. I joined the Canadian TeleLearning Network of Centres of Excellence, a national, multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral research initiative focused on use of the Internet for effective online learning practice.

1998-2002

In 1998 I joined a small team of educators to create a new university from scratch. Funded by the government of British Columbia, Canada the Technical University of British Columbia was created to support the burgeoning high tech industry sector. Full degree programs in Information Technology, Business & Management of Technology, and Interactive Arts were designed and created. Online learning was central to the entire program with each program having unique pedagogical approaches and every course being online. In 2002 the Technical University of BC was merged with Simon Fraser University. While at TechBC I also helped form the eLearning BC Association and the Canadian Elearning Enterprise Alliance.

2003 - 2012

In 2003 I joined a small group of innovators to create BCcampus. Funded by the Ministry of Advanced Education, BCcampus was designed to support collaboration and use of education technology across all the universities and colleges in British Columbia. One of my areas of responsibility at BCcampus was the Online Program Development Fund which provided annual funding to universities and colleges for the development of online learning courses. A requirement of the fund was that all courses and resources developed with these funds be openly licensed. And so my work in open education began. In addition to leading the Online Program Development Fund for nine years I hosted BC’s Educational Technology Users Group.

2012-2017

In 2012 I joined Creative Commons. While there I led support programs for universities and colleges across the United States on use of Creative Commons licenses for curricula created through the Department of Labor $2 billion Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program. I helped define the requirements for and supported use of Skills Commons as the repository for all resources created through this program. I helped organize and deliver the US State Department Open Book project mentoring educators from the Middle East and North Africa on open education and open education resources enabling them to create their own initiatives in their respective countries. I helped organize and facilitate a range of Creative Commons initiatives including Creative Commons Global Summits, Institutes for Open Leadership, and the Global Affiliate Network. Through a Kickstarter crowdfunding effort myself and co-author Sarah Hinchcliff Pearson co-wrote a book called Made With Creative Commons a guide to sharing your knowledge and creativity with the world, and sustaining your operation while you do. I was also responsible for the creation of the initial Creative Commons Certificate programs.

2018-2022

In 2018 I became Executive Director of Open Education Global. During my tenure the organization transitioned from being the Open Education Consortium to Open Education Global solidifying its place as the leading organization focused on open education worldwide. During my time OEGlobal delivered five annual Open Education Global conferences, Open Education Weeks, and Open Education Awards for Excellence. In 2021, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Open Education Awards for Excellence, I co-authored with Marcela Morales and David Kindler the book Education For All: Ten Years of Open Education Luminaries from Around the World. In 2018 in partnership with the International Council for Open and Distance Education, and the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research I developed, hosted and facilitated the Open Education Leadership Summit. I also worked in partnership with Centrum Cyfrowe in Poland to develop and facilitate Open Education Policy Forums. I contributed to the UNESCO Open Educational Resources Recommendation and played a role in its subsequent unanimous adoption by all 193 UNESCO member states in Nov-2019. Following its adoption I led the formation of a Network of Open Organizations collaborating to support implementation of the Recommendation.

2023 -

At the end of 2022 I transitioned to the role of an independent global consultant for opening education. Since then I’ve been working on a projects with SPARC Europe and the Open Education Network. See Sample Work for more on these projects.

Education

I am a lifelong learner. I have four different degrees including a B.Sc in Biology, a B.A. in Psychology, a B.Ed in Education and a graduate degree in Adult Learning and Global Change which I earned at the age of fifty two.

Credit for images used on this page are given on the Creator Thanks & Attributions page.