Introduction | Preparation | Activities
Plan B | Assessment | Resources
MOOniversity is primarily written for undergraduate and graduate students taking writing courses or courses that involve the use of MOOs; but teachers will also find it useful as you venture into MOOspace for the first time, as you prepare your course materials, and as a resource for connecting with other teachers who use educational MOOs. Many educators in many disciplines are prime candidates for integrating educational MOOs into their teaching, and those who do research about online learning environments, as well as those who train faculty, will find MOOniversity ideal for their purposes. There are many tips, shortcuts, guided questions, exercises, and visual and textual examples throughout the book. As teachers ourselves, we understand the need for supplemental information when using any textbook, so this site is designed to provide basic instructional resources as well as frequent updates to the text. Furthermore, we understand that the MOO technology itself enables teachers to facilitate preparation efficiently (and from outside the classroom), plan activities creatively, and introduce innovative ways to connect students to other classes. But new instructional technologies are often not accompanied by technical support material beyond the basic installation procedures. Because MOOs are dynamic and interactive spaces, teachers need a support network that includes information as well as access to other teachers who use MOOs. Thus, this site is also a dynamic network designed to provide teachers with ideas and solutions by sharing among themselves.
We anticipate (and hope) that MOOniversity online will serve as a research test bed for all who use educational MOOs, especially with respect to evaluation and assessment of student writing and interaction given that the outcomes of real-time learning pose new challenges for teachers in this area. For this reason, in the Class Sites section we provide space for user-contributed resources, readings, experiences, successes, failures, questions, and comments. MOOs have developed primarily via an ethic of sharing, and thus we want to continue that tradition here with MOOniversity's online archive.
If we can stress one thing above all, it is the importance of preparation when you plan to use educational MOOs in your teaching. But this goes without saying for any new pedagogical method or set of materials. So while we want to emphasize the need to prepare, we hope teachers exercise patience and understand that the learning curve must take into account their own proficiency with computers and with Internet-based software. From there, teachers may then factor in the time it takes to conceive new assignments, activities, and modes of assessment, as well as new aims and arguments for why they are using MOOs in their teaching. Developing your rationale is first and foremost important for your own preparation, but it will also become crucial to helping your students understand quickly and comprehensively why the MOO is being used. And ultimately, formulating a sound rationale is important to consider when teachers are faced with their own professional evaluation or when asked to assist in training other faculty in the use of educational MOOs. We recommend the following steps to insure successful and satisfying teaching with MOOs and MOOniversity:
MOO Notebook -- First things first! Have students begin their MOO Notebooks from the very beginning. If your students have guest access only on the MOO, then we suggest that they open a word file in another window to begin their MOO notebook. This will make it easy to paste in 'help' texts, basic commands, and other information they want to refer to often, as well as their own notes. The temptation to write longhand notes in a notebook will be natural, but if students understand that it is more effective and efficient to toggle between windows, they will hopefully refrain from this method. Remind them that at any time they may print out the Notebook file they are keeping. We recommend that students become used to the MOO environment as a work environment, so if students have player accounts at the MOO your class is using, then the most obvious and efficient way to keep the Notebook is on the MOO itself. There are a number of possible ways to keep a notebook. Students may create a $note object and @notedit it using what they learn about the MOO editors in Chapter 5. Another method of keeping a notebook would be to create a 'note board' on which each entry is kept separate and may be dated. Still another option is to create a chain-story object on which text is accumulated with each entry. However, the best method is a built-in feature of all enCore-based MOOs, the Xpress Notebook feature (see Notebook instructions below).
Describe character, set gender, change password -- If students have player accounts, they should take care of several items right away, namely, describing themselves, setting their gender, and changing their password. If they are using an enCore MOO with the web-access system Xpress, they may also want to try out the various screen layout options, as well as other options listed in the OPTIONS window from the enCore Xpress toolbar. NOTE that all of these preferences may be set in Xpress using the OPTIONS window.
Scavenger hunt -- One quick way to teach students the basics of moving around on the MOO is to conduct a scavenger hunt. This will entail some preparation on the teacher's part. Create some objects on the MOO and hide them in various MOO rooms, or in 'outdoor' settings on the MOO if they have them. Have the students compete to see who can find the objects, pick them up and drop them at some prearranged 'finish line.' Creating such a competition entices the students to find out on their own how to use the help database as well as to interact right away with the MOO environment. They will find out where they can and cannot go, and what commands the MOO will and will not understand. Trial and error is often the best teacher! But, if you sense that students are getting frustrated, you may intervene and help them out. One other option is to hide yourself somewhere and ask the students to 'find' you. Those who quickly figure out to type @who will win, but if you are using a MOO on which you may be 'invisible' and @hide yourself to the @who listing, this makes it more difficult. The main point is to get the students engaged in a fun activity that teaches them how to manage the MOO environment on their own.
Observations -- Have students observe other MOO classes or explore various other types of MOOs and record their observations in their MOO notebook. Have them write down their feelings about interacting in real-time, about reading text that scrolls by quickly, about trying to follow more than one thread of discussion. Ask them to note the differences between traditional F2F classroom interaction and MOO interaction. Ask them to comment on the advantages and disadvantages of using MOO environments. Have them record these observations at different times in the semester so that they can look back at the end of the course and reflect on how their observations and comments changed (or did not change) with increased MOO experience.
Interviews -- Have students interview other members of the MOO community about various subjects and/or what they do on the MOO and why. Remind them that if they log such interviews they need to ask that person for permission to log the conversation. It is not good MOO etiquette to record without the knowledge of those present.
It is crucial for teachers to have a backup plan if the MOO or network is down. This, of course, will vary depending on your own ideas for contingency plans. The main thing to remember is always to have a Plan B in mind. In some cases, this would involve using another MOO (if the MOO you usually use is not available for some reason). In the event that the network is down, whether on your campus or your regional internet provider, then you must be prepared for class activities that do not involve the MOO. It may be helpful to hold a class discussion using the topics at the end of each chapter in MOOniversity. Or, you may opt to use a previous log of a MOO discussion as a basis for class discussion if you can't be online. If your students are tackling MOO programming, they may use any text editor to practice writing code using the instructions in the exercises at the end of Chapter 7. The main thing is that you always have a Plan B!
How to handle misbehavior -- If your class is new to MOOing, you will most likely encounter behavior online that is distracting at best or disruptive and offensive at worst. To diminish the possibility for such behavior to occur, it is imperative that you prepare your class before ever MOOing by explaining behavior protocols and manners. Explain the rules. Explain the consequences of offensive behavior. Explain the implications of misbehavior and its affects on the MOO community they are part of. It is important to remember that playful behavior is part of learning, but offensive and disruptive behavior is not and should be controlled. A MOO is foremost an environment that is inhabited. That is, it is a community of real people, not a space for engaging in inappropriate activities. Your students should view the MOO just as they view the traditional classroom: they should not behave in the MOO any differently than they would in the classroom. Failure to abide by these simple rules could result in loss of privileges.
How to handle harassment -- Students do, however, need to know the options available to them if they encounter offensive or disruptive behavior on the part of other students or other members of the MOO community. Most MOOs have policies about such behavior, as well as commands that help users deflect harassment. Teachers should locate this information on the MOO and explain to students what to do in the event that they encounter harassment.
Peg Syverson's Online Learning Record -- A unique method of assessing student activities online, Syverson's OLR site contains background on the method, forms for evaluation, and explanations to the students and teachers who use the OLR. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
enCore Xpress Notebook feature -- Users of enCore-based MOOs (versions 2.0 or higher) will find the Xpress Notebook feature useful for keeping notes, but it may also be used as a journal in which students write much as they would for any journal assignment. The notebook feature is found by clicking on the Xpress button on the Xpress toolbar, then clicking on Notebook. Once the Notebook text window is open, whatever text is entered there may be composed while online, or users may paste in text from an outside text file or web page. In addition, the Notebook text may be saved online in the MOO or as a file saved to disk or your hard drive, enabling the user to save separate Notebook entries if so desired. Teachers may opt to require the Notebook files to be turned in just as journal entries are in traditional writing classes, but as a built-in feature of the MOO environment, the Notebook texts may be mailed to the teacher's MOO player account or emailed to her external email address. This makes it also efficient for teachers to reply via MOOmail to the student if the Notebook text is being graded or if teachers wish to comment on the text in any way. (Other modes of using the Notebook texts are discussed in the Activities section of this web site.)
Other MOO writing/activity assessment methods -- This section will contain user-contributed assessment methods. We are interested in new and innovative means of assessment that relate to assessing MOO writing and/or activities, or that use the MOO as a means of assessment itself. Please contact Cynthia Haynes to have your assessment method contribution included in this section.
The following are general MOO resources specifically for teachers:
Suggested readings:
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