MOOniversity: A Student's Guide to Online Learning Environments
Jan Rune Holmevik, University of Bergen, Norway
Cynthia Haynes, University of Texas at Dallas

ISBN-10: 0205271146
ISBN-13: 9780205271146

Publisher: Longman
Copyright: 2000
Format: Paper; 170 pp
Status: Out of Print

Suggested retail price: $47.80
This item is out of print and is no longer available for purchase.



This is the first and only textbook that gives a comprehensive overview of educational MOOs. A combination text, tutorial, and reference book, this convenient resource guides students through the exciting and challenging world of synchronous Internet writing and learning environments. Students and teachers will find the material easy to understand as they write to learn with each other and with new friends from around the world. The text shows students how to use the dynamics of real situations to evoke authentic writing in which collaborative and individual learning are enhanced through conversation, research, real-time events, multimedia presentations, and other interactive activities. MOOniversity is an exciting complement to standard writing texts because it provides clear, useful instructions for writing online as well as productive assignments and discussion questions that involve students with the MOO technology by encouraging them to write in real-time with real people.

  • Balanced and logical sequence of instruction for teachers and students new to educational MOOs.
  • Explains how to join and participate in online writing communities and the realities of becoming part of a worldwide writing community.
  • Offers a wider definition of writing than just the writing of essays; the text extends the definition of writing to include conversing, creating, building, programming, designing, narrating, and other forms of discursive activity.
  • Information is designed for users on any platform, using any system, on most MOOs, via most conventional and more recent modes of access to MOOs.
  • Helpful marginal icons throughout help students locate important information.
  • Special attention is paid to users of enCore-based MOOs by elaborating on its specific features and offering special guides for those using enCore Xpress MOO client.
  • Brief but comprehensive history of MUDs and MOOs gives context for how they evolved for educational and professional uses.
  • Handy appendices provide a list of common commands, a glossary of terms, and a list of educational MOOs to which readers of MOOniversity may have access.
  • Explores the benefit for ESL students of using MOOs to increase their fluency in English.

All chapters include one or more of the following: “Notes,” “Class Discussion,” and “Exercises.”

Illustrations and Tables.


Foreward.


Companion Website.

Preface.

Special Symbols, Fonts, and Terms in the Text.

About the Authors.



1.MOOs in Context.

Background and History: From Multi-User Games to Educational MOOs.

Educational MOOs.

Communities on the Internet.

Identity.



2.Fly Me to the MOO.

MOO Clients.

Web-Based MOO Access and Client Systems.

Noninteractive MOO Browsing.

IP Numbers and Domain Names.

Network Ports.

Connecting with enCore Xpress.

Connecting Using the BioGate System.

Welcome to the MOO.



3.The NewbieSchool: Learning the Bare Basics.

Help, I'm Lost!

Despair Not, Help Is Nearby.

The enCore Xpress Graphical MOO Interface.

Exploring the MOOscape.

Getting Around.

Who Is Online?

Communicating with Other People.

Managing and Troubleshooting the Interface.

MOO Netiquette and Manners.



4.Becoming a MOO Citizen.

Creating Your MOO Persona.

Your Description.

Gender.

Changing Your Password.

Other Things You Can Customize.

Inhabitants of the MOO World.

MOOmail.

Managing Mail Lists the Xpress Way.

The MOO Newspaper.

IRC-Style Chat Channels.

Features, What They Are and How to Use Them.

Privacy and Safety.



5.The MOO Editors and How to Use Them.

Text Input.

The List Command: Viewing the Editor's Contents.

The Insert Command: Changing the Insertion Point.

The Substitute Command: Editing Text with the MOO Editors.

The Move and Copy Commands.

The Mail Editor.

The Text Editor.

The Verb Editor.

Offline Editing Strategies.



6.Digging in the MUD: How to Create Rooms and Other Objects.

How to Become a Builder.

The Dynamics of MOO Creation.

Generic Classes and Objects.

Creating Your Own MOOSpace: How to Use the @dig Command.

Exits.

Connecting Your Rooms to the Rest of the MOO.

Exit Messages.

Creating Aliases for Rooms and Exits.

Creating Other Objects.

The enCore Xpress Object Editor.

How to Lock Your Objects.

Keeping Track of Your Stuff: @audit.

Monitoring Your Resource Usage: @quota.

Keep Your MOO Tidy: @recycle.

Maps and Other ASCII Art.

Adding Multimedia Content to Your Objects.

References.



7.Object-Oriented Programming in the MOO.

Becoming a Programmer: The First Steps.

Object-Oriented Concepts.

The Anatomy of the Object: Verbs and Properties.

Object-Oriented Design.

Creating a Test Object.

Defining Verbs: Arguments.

Defining Properties.

The Building Blocks of the MOO Language: Expressions, Statements, and Operators.

Writing Your First Verb.

Programming Verbs.

Assigning Values to Properties.

Getting Braver: A More Complex Example.

Programming with the enCore Xpress Verb Editor.

From the Programmer's Toolbox.

Fixing Bugs in Programs.

Sharing Your Generic Objects.

Become a Hacker.

Checklist for MOO Programmers.

References and Further Readings for MOO Programmers.



8.MOO Classes, Research, and Publication.

Virtual Classrooms.

Multi-Tasking.

Multi-Conversing: Class and Group Discussions.

Individual Learning.

Publish Web Pages in the MOO.

Presentational Tools and Special Events.



9.Collaboration on the MOO.

What Is Collaboration in MOOspace?

Why Collaborate Using MOOs?

How to Collaborate on MOOs.

Special case: Language Learning and ESL/FL.



Appendix A: Quick Reference to MOO Commands.


Appendix B: Glossary of MOO Jargon and Acronyms.


Appendix C: a Few Educational MOOs.


Index.

For First-Year Composition - Rhetoric


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