WEB PAGE
http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~syverson
BIOGRAPHY
Margaret Syverson is the Director of the Computer Writing and Research Lab in the Division of Rhetoric and Composition at the University of Texas at Austin. She teaches graduate level and undergraduate courses such as "Virtual Worlds," "Computers and Controversy," "Knowledge Ecology," and "Information Architecture" in well-equipped networked classrooms, where students have the opportunity to create Web sites, standalone hypertexts, multimedia projects, and MOO spaces (in text-based environments online). These classes also develop students? skills and experience with email, Web research, and real-time conferencing. You can find information about Dr. Syverson and her recent classes at http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~syverson.The Online Learning Record, a portfolio based assessment system developed by Professor Syverson is used for student evaluation in all of her courses, and was the subject of a Carnegie Scholars project. Information about the Online Learning Record is available at http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~syverson/olr. Professor Syverson?s dissertation research, conducted at the University of California, San Diego, focused on the application of complex systems theories and distributed cognition in composition studies. Her recent book, THE WEALTH OF REALITY: AN ECOLOGY OF COMPOSITION was published by Southern Illinois University Press. She is Chair of the Board of Directors for the Center for Language in Learning, and Editor of Computers and Composition Journal?s online site. Her work on evaluating learning in MOOs and MUDs has been supported through a CAETI grant. Recently, her collaborative online composition Worlds Fair received an Innovations in Instructional Technology Award from The University of Texas.
