Margaret Riel obtained her B.A. at the University of California, her M.A. at the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D. at the University of California, Irvine. Riel began her career as a researcher, and studied interactive learning environments. her research focus is on collaborative learning facilitated by technology.

Riel has developed a number of models of networked learning,: InterCultural Learning Network, Learning Circles, Passport to Knowledge, to name a few. Her most recent “webtour” is called “Technology is Shared Minds Made Visible.” A webtour is a “hybrid of writing and talking (a form of online writing that is halfway between a publication and a presentation, using colors and graphics on the web, the web links are illustrations, the conceptual points are independent of the examples.” (Online)

Currently Riel is the Associate Director of the Center for Collaborative Education (CCRE), and is working with 2 elementary schools in California to aid them in integrating technology into the curriculum.

Riel has worked with AT&T to design educational structure and write the currciulum guides for the electronic Learning Circles on the AT&T learning network.

Reil is also currently working with Henry Becker on a research project to analyze the survey responses (remember, reader, Becker is crazy for surveying large amounts of people) of 4,000 teachers in the Teaching and Learning and Computing, 1998 project (Crito). The findings will be released soon and will address issues such as:

• How prevalent are different uses of computers by teachers?
  
• How prevalent are different teaching philosophies and instructional practices?
  
• What factors in their personal background and teaching environment, such as the pattern of school expenditures on technology, social support for technology use, presence of school-wide reform efforts, and the teacher’s own previous technology experiences and educational background, distinguish among teachers who use computer technologies differently?
  
• How much do teachers believe that their computer experiences are changing their teaching practice in other ways, such as the kind of assignments they give and how they interact with their colleagues and students?