The Backstory

(Backcountry photo credit ‘webwrite’)

I have just discovered OpenETC this week in a tweet and added my own webwrite.opened.ca to the collective. Why did I join? Here is the back story.

In 2013, I enrolled in #etmooc (a Massive Open Online course on educational technology and media facilitated by Dr. Couros) where I met like-minded educators, world-wide, who were pushing the boundaries of online education and/or were curious about open education. Many of my ‘co-conspirators’ in #etmooc are still in my personal learning network. It has been 8 years.

My edtech journey led me to the creative multimedia learning platform at the open course DS106 where I was a frequent and avid contributor on Twitter to the Daily Creates. I also became a co-conspirator / creator in some of the digital storytelling web ventures hosted by DS106 on WordPress. Here is one of my creations for the Fairy Tales Summer Chapter of the story (all photos, gifs, videos are my own). You will recognize my contributions by the Sappho avatar I used. Our site achieved its 15 minutes of fame at the #Pressedconf18. “The story is an example of inquiry-based learning, embedded in digital improvisational theatre.” Summer 2015 found me completing assignments at the DS 106 Prisoner open course and receiving my badge, a precursor to micro-credentials?

I have been on many other open webventures while teaching, and I have incorporated a lot of my open ed learning into my courses and service at KPU keeping within the institutional parameters, of course! When I discovered the invitation to join OpenETC and then also talkstory, the call had the ring of familiarity where I could engage, learn, and have fun!

There is not much on my webwrite.opened.ca site yet, but I am looking forward to creating a space which will complement my post-secondary writing courses.

Postscript

To quote Jim Groom’s blog post about the OERxDomains Conference 2021,“You see, everything I do now is simply an attempt to try and recapture a bit of the creative magic of ds106 a decade ago, and this project filled that need quite nicely.”