I have been involved in the field of educational applications of information and communication technologies (ICT) for over twelve years. My main areas of research focus are distributed e-learning (implementation and evaluation in education and health sectors) and information and communication technologies (ICT) integration in learning environments (technology adoption in teacher education and post-secondary education). I am extremely interested in social media in the support of learning and teaching. You can find me on twitter at @_valeriei. I also have expertise in video conferencing learning environments and am always looking for local, national, and international partners in this area. In 2011, we installed the Accordent Media Management Portal which I plan to use to support my design of multi-access learning environments. For more details on my background, please visit the research section of this website.

After completing my undergraduate work in Education at the University of British Columbia, I went to the University of Alberta where I was trained in statistics (univariate, multivariate, test theory) by the experts in the Centre for Research in Applied Measurement and Evaluation and in structural equation modeling (LISREL). I am very much a mixed-methods researcher, however. I have held over $100,000 in funding during my graduate work, including awards and scholarships at local, provincial, and national levels, including the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Alberta. In my tenure-track career, I have already been associated with over 1.5 million dollars in funding including SSHRC Standard Research funding.

I am now co-director of a $800,000 Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) funded "Technology Integration and Evaluation (TIE) Research Lab." To get an idea of the infrastructure involved, please check out the technology page on this website. This is an amazing opportunity for research into educational technology and I encourage faculty, industry, K-12 education professionals, community groups, and graduate students alike to contact me about research collaborations. I am always happy to give a tour of the facilities. For my contact information, please visit my contact page.

I was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and spent most of my life in West Vancouver where I enjoyed the outdoors - often skiing at Whistler-Blackcomb (especially the Sudan Couloir, now known as Couloir Extreme), hiking the local mountains, or finding various ways to be out on the water, be it jetskiing or motorboating - yes, not a sailor yet...). After living in Edmonton during my graduate studies, I returned to the coast and now live in South Oak Bay (Victoria) with my daughters, Lauren (7) and Rachel (5), and my golden retriever, Sydney. I enjoy socializing and am often hosting playdates, big dinner parties, and dance parties for both kids and adults. I recently bought a 14' runabout (20 HP 4-seater) and love getting out on the water! If you enjoy the ocean as much as I do, don't hesitate to ask me to take you out on it! (always looking for an excuse!).