Sylvia Pearce
Writer And Editor at Optima Verba
Berlin, Germany
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolSylvia Pearce is an experienced writer and editor with 12 years of professional focus on translating complex technical topics—AI, blockchain, and cybersecurity—into clear, user-facing documentation, course content, and persuasive product copy. Based in Berlin, she combines hands-on contributions to major open-source education projects like Open edX (front-end, back-end, and docs) with corporate work for clients such as Harvard Business School, MIT partners, and Cybereason. As a former Principal Technical Writer at edX, she authored extensive manuals and established documentation standards and workflows that improved usability for both technical and non-technical audiences. She also builds and enforces house style guides, runs writing workshops, and shapes UI text and email templates to boost clarity and adoption—skills reflected in her repo work on course metadata, assessment UX, and platform docs. Comfortable working remotely on freelance contracts, she has a knack for turning messy drafts into polished learning experiences and real-time security bulletins.
12 years of coding experience
14 years of employment as a software developer
Graduate Certificate in Publishing, Graduate Certificate in Publishing at Emerson CollegeBachelor of Arts, English, Bachelor of Arts, English at Brigham Young University
English, Spanish, German
Github Skills (27)
markdown10
data-service10
python10
django10
technical-writing10
user-manual10
guideline10
user-interface10
html-template10
ui-design10
python-templates10
interface-design10
webservice10
user-guide10
code-templates10
Programming languages (3)
Github contributions (5)
openedx-unsupported/edx-documentation
Nov 2014 - Jun 2018
Role in this project:
Technical Writer
Technical WriterContributions:521 commits, 503 PRs, 1069 pushes in 3 years 8 months
Contributions summary:Sylvia's contributions primarily involved documenting the edX platform's features. Specifically, the user created documentation for various aspects of the platform, including video player functionality, account settings, course catalog information, and guidelines for creating and managing content within the LMS and for course authors. The user also added information about student data and the use of different tools, such as the calculator, in the course. Additionally, the user updated and reorganized content in several documentation guides, including information for both edx.org users and Open edX users.
openedx/edx-platform
Dec 2013 - Jun 2018
The Open edX LMS & Studio, powering education sites around the world!
Role in this project:Full-stack Developer
Full-stack DeveloperContributions:308 commits, 52 PRs, 86 pushes in 4 years 7 months
Contributions summary:Sylvia primarily contributed to the frontend, focusing on the user interface of the Open edX platform. The commits show iterative improvements to the calculator tooltip, modifying HTML templates to enhance the user experience. They also updated text strings related to enrollment codes and e-commerce elements within the instructor dashboard, demonstrating frontend and potentially some backend interaction. These changes showcase the user's involvement in UI/UX improvements.
edxlmssitesbackend-serviceopen-edx
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