Our Team

Liesel Knaack

Director

Liesel provides direction, management, support and organization to the centre and its team members. She has a strong background in the effective design and development of learning opportunities including curriculum design, assessment and evaluation, teaching and learning strategies, supporting at risk learners, as well as the integration of technology in face-to-face and online environments.She began her career as an outdoor and experiential education teacher. Liesel has a doctorate in curriculum, teaching and learning, has assisted in developing two 'laptop universities', taught core curriculum methods, assessment and evaluation and outdoor education for many years in Faculties of Education, and has over 25 years of classroom teaching experience.

Stephanie Didsbury

Teaching and Learning Support Assistant

Stephanie provides teaching and learning support to faculty and students, and administrative support to the Centre. She has lots of experience in planning, organization, purchasing and customer services from her previous experience on campus at VIU and from working with a software company for many years.

Mary Ross

Learning Technologies Support Specialist

Mary provides assistance to faculty and students with VIU's Learning Management Systems and various educational learning technologies. Mary has worked at VIU as a Learning Technologies Support Specialist for 8+ years and has over 26 years of experience working in post-secondary environments.

Arwen Wallington

Learning Technologies Support Specialist

Arwen provides assistance with all Learning Management Systems, technologies related to Learning Management Systems and educational learning technologies for faculty and students. Arwen has over 5 years of experience at Vancouver Island University assisting students, faculty and staff with technology used in instruction, learning, conducting research and performing institutional business functions.

Jeremy Morrison

Web and Media Developer

Jeremy has over 10 years experience in online development at post-secondary institutions; designing websites, creating learning activities, and developing interactive digital media.

Michael Paskevicius

Learning Technologies Application Developer

Michael provides support for educational technologies ranging from research and investigations, pilot projects and institutional initiatives to back end support of technology functionality and front-end faculty and student support with digital learning tools and integrated products. Michael comes to VIU from the teaching and learning centre at Cape Town University in South Africa where he specialized in open educational resources, social media and supports for learning using Web tools.

Cayla Neil

Teaching and Learning Support Assistant