Most likely you'll want to assign Chapter Sixteen after students are more comfortable with technology in general. The activities that we cover are somewhat complex, so we recommend assigning them later in the term. Remember, too, that this Chapter assumes a working understanding of navigation and interaction in MU* space, so it should be taught after Chapter Eleven.
Before assigning Chapter Sixteen, you should think about the time commitments required to successfully build well-developed MU* spaces. If you are teaching a course on Internet communication, you may want to assign the chapter as a way of framing an investigation of the issues at stake in MU* composition. However, if you wish to use this chapter as the basis for undertaking an extended MU* development project, be sure to have carved out enough time for yourself and your class to become proficient with MU* programming. If you are not comfortable with MU* building yourself, you should prearrange to have expert help available or take some time to learn the process before creating a major assignment (see the Connections Web site Resources node for links to several MU* resources.).
As students begin to build a MU* space, make sure that their work is backed up sufficiently. MU*s are often relatively unstable and it's easy for data to be lost. We've had experiences where entire student projects have been erased when a MU* crashed. There is some debate about whether MU*s should be developed in a native environment (i.e. all building occurs on the MU* itself) or whether longer descriptions of rooms, objects and people can be written in a word processor and then pasted into the MU* space. Whatever building style they choose, be sure to develop methods of safeguarding your students' work.
Be sure to have documentation and help resources available. Refer to the commands given in Appendix Four and also to any handouts or instructions available from your own system. You'll probably want to provide students with information about the resources available on-line, perhaps by posting a collection of resources for MU*s on your class site.
Be aware, too, of some of the peculiarities of the MU* medium as you craft assignments. You may want to focus on descriptive and creative elements of writing and forego trying to build argumentative projects using MU* space. If you are trying to create MU* arguments, you might make assessments based not only on the persuasiveness of the final projects, but also on how well the participants develop a sense of argumention.
One way to implement a well-developed MU* project is to map out its features using pen and paper. By sketching out the topography of a project on paper, you can often get a clearer sense of its complexity and facilitate reader movement from one section to another.
Exercise 16.1 Constructing an "Academic" MU* Space
Time: Of all the exercises in the book, 16.1 requires the most time, energy and investment. You should look at this assignment as a framework for creating one of the major projects of a writing course. Before deciding to use this assignment, then, you should arrange to have several weeks of the semester available so that students can develop their MU* building skills and create a well-developed MU* space.
Suggestions: You may want to make this a collaborative assignment, so that groups have the opportunity to draw upon the different experiences of their members and to create projects with sufficient depth. You might also work out the criteria that you plan to use to evaluate the projects with the class as a way of both demonstrating elements of successful design and clarifying expectations.
You'll also need to do some pre-assignment coordination. You'll want to find a MU* space and obtain permission for your students to build. If you don't have access to MU* space at your own institution, you can arrange to use one of the educational MU*s that have been set up for student projects. You might try DaedalusMOO (http://www.daedalus.com/net.html), Diversity University (http://www.du.org), or CheshireMOOn (http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/moo/cheshire). You'll also want to coordinate with one of the administrators of the MU* you plan to use so that you'll be able to integrate your students' work with the rest of the MU* and work through any permission and privilege problems that might arise.
Finally, you'll probably want to map out some space within the MU* ahead of time on your own. You may be able to create a classroom "hub" or some other space where you can meet with your students so that they can build their own projects within the context of the overall class space. Be sure to allot time in the project for response and revision. Spend time looking over the projects as they are being developed and set up a "draft" due date for the projects so that students will have time to update the projects based upon feedback.