Keynote at the 2014 BCNET conference in Vancouver, BC. In this presentation I shared stories of learners' and scholars' experiences online, arising from multiple years of qualitative research studies, and framed in the context of the historic realities of educational technology practice. These stories illustrate how emerging technologies and open practices have (a) broadened access to education, (b) reinforced privilege, and (c) re-imagined the ways that academics enact and share scholarship. They also illustrate the multiple realities that exist in online education practice, and the differences between reality and potential and beautiful vs. ugly online education.