(MOO: What to DOO)

NETEACH Nook
------- ----
Your typical classroom. It's beginning to feel a bit more lived in, and
someone managed to put up at least one nice decoration: a world map with push
pins showing where NETEACHers have connected from. So far, there are pins in
Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, Greece, UK, Brazil, Israel, Canada, France,
Germany, and all over the US.
You see Teacher's Desk, Big Table, Bulletin Board, Beanbags, Fireside
 Bearskin, Kitchen Table, and Wading Pool.
You see Puzzled, Yoshi, Frizzy, Chrisy [Guest], George [Guest], Dasha, Millie
 [Guest], and Gregor, standing about.
You see LCD Panel.
Obvious exits: out

Gregor puts a transparency on the screen:
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             Welcome to NETEACH-L's MOO discussion sessions!

             (with much appreciation to schMOOze University 
             and its fine players, programmers, and wizards!)

               Please note! Our sessions are always logged.
      By participating, you give permission to Greg Younger to allow 
    access to the transcripts for research purposes at his discretion.
    Before using any part of our logs for research or publication, please 
      obtain the permission of Greg Younger at youngerg@colorado.edu

                For a transcript, please see our web page:
              http://spot.colorado.edu/~youngerg/netmoo.html

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gregor puts a transparency on the screen:
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                      ***      INTRODUCTIONS      ***

     You are of course welcome to remain anonymous, but at this time
     we invite all of you who wish to do so to identify yourselves by
     your name and affiliation.

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George [Guest] [to Millie [Guest]]: HI. Welcome from your neighbor 
Puzzled says, "affiliation??"
Gregor is really Greg Younger from the Economics Institute in Boulder,
 Colorado.
Frizzy says, "My name IRL is Karla Frizler and I'm an Instructional Designer
 for City College of San Francisco."
Frizzy [to Puzzled]: "Who signs your paycheck?"
Dasha is Diane (or Daria) Frangie at Wayne State in Detroit
Yoshi's real name is AWAJI Yoshimasa.  He teaches English at a college in
 Japan.
Puzzled is really Pete Mackichan an EAP/ESP teacher in Thessaloniki and a pg
 student of Ed Tech.
Millie [Guest] Millie is really Mary Casey from the Economics Institute.
Gregor refuses to sign Puzzled's paycheck!
George [Guest] says, "`"I'm George Peknik, broadcasting from the Economics
 Institute in beautiful downtown Boulder CO. "
Puzzled says, "please"
Gregor [to Puzzled]: NO!
Gregor grins.
Puzzled scowls.
Millie [Guest] says, "Beautiful it is George!!""

Gregor puts a transparency on the screen:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           ***MOO: What to DOO***

  Whether or not you have actually used MOO with students, surely you 
  can imagine some ways to use it to complement the ESL classes you are 
  teaching. After hearing from some experienced MOO instructors, we'll 
  break up into smaller groups to brainstorm MOO activities for ESOL 
  students. We'll then get back together to share and evaluate the best 
  activities we developed in the small group discussions.

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Frizzy signs Gregor's signature on Puzzled's paycheck.
Gregor glares at Frizzy.
George [Guest] [to Millie [Guest]]: Don't you think so?
Gregor says, "So, let's start by sharing anything we have already tried with
 students here..."
Gregor nudges Frizzy.
Millie [Guest] says, "I am a newbie...HELP!!""
Yoshi [to Millie [Guest]]: OK, what can I do?
Chrisy [Guest] is a newbie, too.
Millie [Guest] says, "Just be patient...or maybe I should and just take it all
 in!""
Yoshi [to Gregor]: Show them the basic commands OHP sheet, will ya?
Frizzy says, "I've used schMOOze to hold conferences with students.  I logged
 them (with permission, of course), then sent the log to the students via
 e-mail."
Gregor says, "I have briefly experimented with students for collaborative
 brainstorming... Iwant to expand my use of that."
Puzzled [to Gregor]: "you could expand on what you mean.
Gregor [to Yoshi]: I'm going to skip the basic commands for newbies today...
 they know how to talk, and that's enough for today! ;o)
Yoshi says, "I offered an online class at Frizzy's FUN, but it didn't turn out
 very well."
Millie [Guest] says, "How about cloosing off the systyem just for your
 purposes so that no one else can access it...Is that possible?""
Yoshi nods to Gregor.
Frizzy says, "This summer, I had a group of students do role play at schMOOze.
  They had a political debate (one was Bob Dole, another was Clinton, and one
 student logged on as God!)."
Yoshi says, "Page me if you have trouble:  page yoshi "
Gregor [to Puzzled]: I mean having two (or more) students in the same virtual
 room brainstorming a topic and logging what they say. They can then look at
 their conversationlater and pice together what they need to make a next draft.
Millie [Guest] says, "Frizzy, that sounds like fun!""
Frizzy [to Millie [Guest]]: "Do you mean you'd like to have a "private" MOO
 session?"
George [Guest]  Yoshi, what kind of problems did you encounter?
Frizzy nods to Millie.  "it was really fun.  The students had a blast."
Millie [Guest] says, "yes, that's correct, Friizzy!""
Smoody is going to try to join you.
Smoody has arrived.
Frizzy says, "You can lock the door of a private room here."
Yoshi says, "Hi Smoody."
Millie [Guest] says, "Hi Smoody...who are you really?'"
Smoody [to all]: "Hi!
Dasha says, "Since access to the MOO is just beginning and since I've got it
 set up only in my office and in a lab where my class is a guest, which isn't
 our regular lab, I have started students with just basic conversing, mostly
 from the entrance gates.  We haven't gotten beyond the novelty stage yet. 
 Everyone who has tried it likes it, but access spots as well as lab times are
 extrememly limited"
Gregor greets Smoody. "Introduce yourself, Smoo!"
Smoody says, "I'm Suzan Moody at the University of Kansas."
Gregor [to Yoshi]: What activities did you have your students do?
Yoshi says, "I tried to start out my class with a class mailing list but there
 was some techie trouble on the list and didn't work out right...."
Yoshi says, "Then I tried to gather my students here at the same time but
 couldn't get over the time difference.  That's a very important factor we
 have to keep in mind."
Millie [Guest] says, "I just wanted to see if I can properly input the page
 command...thanks- hope I didn't waste your time!""
Gregor says, "Anyone else have activities they've already tried? If not, we can
 start brainstorming some ideas."
Gregor drops a pin and goes on.
Gregor grins.

Gregor puts a transparency on the screen:
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   Let's begin our discussion by just brainstorming some of the functions 
   of MOO that could be useful. We can use the BLACKBOARD, a feature of 
   this virtual classroom, to facilitate this process. To add a line of 
   text to the blackboard, anyone can type:
                  writeb 
   For example, 
                  writeb Students can keep a record of their conversation.

   To see what has been written, type:
                  look black  (or just L black)

         Feel free to toss some ideas up onto the blackboard now.

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Yoshi [to Gregor]: Lead on. Oh.
Gregor writes on the blackboard...
Gregor writes on the blackboard...
Frizzy tries to remember Gregor's original question as she gives a MOO demo to
 some teachers at City Collge. :)
Gregor [to Frizzy]: Which functions of MOO would lead to language learning?
 What technical capabilities of MOO can we exploit?
Yoshi writes on the blackboard...
Smoody [to Gregor]: "By function, do you mean any of the special "places" like
 the grammar maze?
Millie [Guest] looks at you.
Gregor [to Smoody]: That would be fine.
Millie [Guest] looks at George
George [Guest] looks shy
Gregor writes on the blackboard...
Gregor thwaps George and Millie upside the heads.
Frizzy looks at the map of Schmooze.
Millie [Guest] says, "Well , George...did you get my page and answer mty
 question...I don't think so.""
Smoody writes on the blackboard...
Puzzled writes on the blackboard...
==================== BLACKBOARD ===========================

1)  Students can keep a record of their conversation. 
2)  students can practice typing actions.
3)  Students in non-English-speaking countries can easily get in touch with
 ns's.
4)  small group discussions for later analysis
5)  Students can participate in games like scrabble, the grammar maze, etc.
6)  Simulations - might be good for doing the RT enactment, especially when
 working across cultures.

===========================================================
Gregor [to Puzzled]: What's RT enactment?
Yoshi writes on the blackboard...
Dasha [to Gregor]: When you say that students can keep a record of their
 conversation, are you saying that they should keep a log?  
George [Guest] [to Millie [Guest]]: Plesae send your message again.
Puzzled [to Gregor]: "doing the real time stuff after prep.
Gregor [to Dasha]: Exactly.
Millie [Guest] writes on the blackboard...
Gregor nods at Puzzled.
Frizzy's teachers want to know, "What are "relatively low listening skills
 like Japanese'?  Could you please explain?
George [Guest] writes on the blackboard...
Gregor says, "OK, any more? This is good so far..."
Yoshi says, "A lot of Japanese students are terrible in listening skills, but
 since they have a lot of grammar knowledge, they can enjoy the conversation
 here without being disturbed by their lack of listening skills.   Am I
 clearer now?"
Dasha says, "I don't know how to maintain a log.  I'm not sure my client has
 that feature.  If it does, there's no one here to help me.  "
Millie [Guest]  says Aha.
George [Guest] writes on the blackboard...
Puzzled writes on the blackboard...
Gregor says, "Alright, see what y'all think of this. What I wanted to do next is
 try to work together to  produce some detailed activities. We can break up
 into smaller groups to do it... sound OK?"
Frizzy's Ts nod to Yoshi.  "Thanks for explaining. :)"
Millie [Guest] says, "Go George...your brAINSTORMING ABILITY IS BLOWING ME
 AWAY...NO PUN INTENDED!""
==================== BLACKBOARD ===========================

1)  Students can keep a record of their conversation. 
2)  students can practice typing actions.
3)  Students in non-English-speaking countries can easily get in touch with
 ns's.
4)  small group discussions for later analysis
5)  Students can participate in games like scrabble, the grammar maze, etc.
6)  Simulations - might be good for doing the RT enactment, especially when
 working across cultures.
7)  Students with relatively low listening skills like Japanese will have less
 difficulty in communication than in spoken language.
8)  "Students can move around and interact with objects on the MOO
9)  students can brainstorm before a writing task
10)  students can interview each other during information-transfer tasks
11)  Simulations can be more meaningful since objects can be programmed to
 disrupt them, like a fax message happening after twenty minutes of discussion.

===========================================================
George [Guest] says, "Fine"
Puzzled assents
Smoody nods to Gregor
Yoshi nods.

Gregor puts a transparency on the screen:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It's easier to 'talk' in smaller groups. A feature of this room is
    that we can divide ourselves into smaller groups by 'sitting' at
    separate 'tables.' When you are sitting at a table here, things you
    say will only be 'heard' by those at your table (or hot tub!).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Millie [Guest] is offtask
Puzzled says, " I wanna hottub."
Dasha says, "There is no hot tub...."
Millie [Guest] says DITTO
Gregor grins. "No problem, Puzzled. OK, Yoshi and I will each station ourself
 at a table, and otehrs can join us..."
Millie [Guest] says, "How do we break into smaller groups Gregor?""
Gregor says, "Umm... anyone here prefer to talk about either young or older
 students? I myself am in higher ed...anyone involoved in elementary school or
 anything like that?"
George [Guest] says, "Older for me plesae."
Millie [Guest] says, "I would like to talk about older students""
Yoshi shakes his head but doesn't mind to talk about that level of students.
Puzzled is going to try to join you.
Puzzled feels himself breaking into smaller groups.
Puzzled steps out.
Puzzled has arrived.
Gregor . o O ( Puzzled is spazzing out! )
Chrisy [Guest] says, "HE for me pls"
Gregor says, "OK, Maybe we're all inhigher ed... likely. Any other categories we
 could break up into?"
Yoshi . o O ( Who for her?! )
Puzzled says, "older for me too."
Gregor says, "Sorry if it seems I'm being slow here.. I am trying to establish
 categories.."
Gregor pokes Yoshi, Frizzy, Smoody, Smoody... "Help me out here, folks!"
Dasha says, "More experienced users, as teachers, NOT players,  and Less
 experienced?"
Frizzy [to Gregor]: "I'm sorry!  I'm demoing. ;)  What can I help with?"
Yoshi says, "Well, we might even go on discussing among us all.  We're not so
 crowded and there're some newbies today who might be confused with sitting at
 tables."
Gregor [to Yoshi]: Good point...
Gregor says, "OK, I'll set a topic. Let's talk about activities for writing class."
Gregor says, "Say... intermediate level."
Millie [Guest] says, "Exactly Yoshi...you must have read my page to Gregor.""
Yoshi can see anything:p
Gregor cowers at Yoshi's feet.
Yoshi thinks.
Millie [Guest] wonders
Gregor says, "First, I think having students collaborate on brainstorming
 could work well..."
Yoshi says, "How about role-playing of newspaper reporter?"
Frizzy [to Yoshi]: "I like that idea."
Yoshi wonders if he should explain a bit more in detail.
Gregor says, "Have put two in a room and have them log their conversation as they
 discuss the topic of the writing assignment..."
Frizzy says, "You could have students interview other students from other
 countries."
Gregor [to Yoshi]: Yeah, go with that!
Millie [Guest] says, "Did you actually want us to do that Yoshi...is that a
 command?""
Chrisy [Guest] [to Yoshi]: "Yes, please explain a little bit.
Gregor brainstorms. "Maybe have them read something before class, then go into
 the MOO to do the roleplay. One could be a reporter, the other someone in the
 article they read....
Yoshi says, "Frizzy's way would be more realistic, but I was thinking of
 providing some studens with the explanation of their character, what they did
 and what happened on them, and then have another group of students interview
 them, and later have them sum up and write an news article about the people
 they interviewed."
Millie [Guest] says, "yOu must be tired Yoshi...I hear t's 3AM your time. 
 VERY DEDICATED!""
Yoshi says, "The time in Japan is now 2:41 a.m. on Thursday"
Gregor props Yoshi's eyelids open with toothpicks.
Yoshi ouches.
Gregor [to Yoshi]: Maybe about a historical event? Or a current event in the
 news?
Frizzy wonders if Yoshi's wife has noticed he's not in bed.
Millie [Guest] [to Yoshi]: Close enough.
Yoshi [to Frizzy]: I stuffed it with my pillow!
Dasha made three of her students count how many different people they could
 talk to, find out where they came from, where they were while on_line, etc. 
 Assignment was to fill in a chart.
Gregor . o O ( A trick Yoshi uses often? )
Yoshi [to Gregor]: Could be either one.
Yoshi nudges Gregor, another expert of the trick.
Millie [Guest] [to Dasha]: That sounds like fun."
Smoody says, "Has anyone had students interview folks who are on schMOOze
 (like the "person on the street" articles in local papers)?"
Gregor [to Smoody]: No, how would you go about it in your class?
George [Guest] says, "How about this for a task: choose three people in your
 class to invite to your sister's wedding. If you receive an invitation, turn
 it down and provide an excuse. When all three invited people respond, write a
 report for the teacher explaining why they can't attend."
Millie [Guest] [to Smoody]: Do tell!
Smoody says, "I mean, not arranged.  Just talking to the people on-line."
Dasha [to Smoody]: It's a good idea.  
Frizzy likes that idea too.
Gregor likes the specificity of George's idea...
Yoshi echoes with Gregor.
Smoody says, "Our local paper has a section with a question for the day like
 "Should Perot be allowed in the presidental debates?"  People interviewed "on
 the street" just give their opinion.  Students could write a question,
 interview, and make a report."
Chrisy [Guest] I like Smoody's idea to interview folks who are on SchMOOze
 Campus, and then write a report.
Dasha prearranged to have other players look for her students.  It really
 helped to have someone READY to chat.
Gregor says, "How about "in-class" MOO assignments? I think it's pretty hard to
 make your students count on quality responses from people across the globe..."
Millie [Guest] [to Smoody]: That sounds like a great way to incorporate
 current events.
Gregor nods to Dasha.
Gregor sees George typing like a demon IRL next to him.
Yoshi says, "Possible problem with the interview idea would be a teacher can't
 bring a large group at once.  Players here would be fed up with the same
 questions over and over again."
George [Guest] says, "It seems to me that the task has to be rather specific,
 in addition to the teacher's guidelines. Although I've not used a MOO in
 class (hope to very very soon), I would imagine that one problem would be
 some students wouldn't write much (say to an open-ended question). "
George [Guest] says, "Putting students into smaller groups, asking them to
 interact with their teammates might be a good way to proceed to ensure
 maximum interaction by all."
Millie [Guest] says, "As I had mentioned earlier, it seems as though students
 would have a hard time following conversations.""
Smoody [to Gregor]: "I'm not sure what you mean by "in-class" MOO assignments.
  But, . . . students could also explore different buildings, rooms, special
 places on campus.  Maybe going in pairs and then collaborate on a schMOOze
 guide.
Gregor agrees. "Any topic you might use in a speaking/listening class for
 small group discussion could work pretty well here, too, with the added
 benefit that students could print out their conversation and analyze it later.
Smoody [to Yoshi]: "Students could have different questions and work in
 pairs/groups
Millie [Guest] [to George [Guest]]: Yes that seems to solve the problem I just
 mentioned somewhat.
Chrisy [Guest] says, "Yes, what Yoshi thought is right, too."
Dasha says, "I have seen other groups go to the library, for example, and
 manipulate take-able objects.  That's why I asked for my quota, so I can have
 students move my things all over creation."
Gregor says, "These are good ideas... How about activities that focus on grammar
 or structure?"
Smoody says, "For grammar, take a trip through the grammar maze!"
Yoshi hmmms.
Smoody apologizes for bringing that maze up so much, but it was the first
 place she visited in schMOOze.  It was fun!
Yoshi would like to devote some time to improve the maze after he finishes
 Boggle....
Dasha wants to play boggle.  Hurry up!
Yoshi [to Dasha]: Oh, OK:)
Gregor says, "Maybe George's earlier idea would work...invitations or any other
 function. The students could focus on question formation (for example).."
Gregor babbles on... "any functional language could be roleplayed, again with
 the benefit that a log could be analyzed later to check for errors, to look
 at where the conversation broke down, etc..."
Yoshi [to Gregor]: I didn't understand how you extend the activity up on here
 though.
George [Guest] says, "Good, Greg"
George [Guest] [to Yoshi]: what do mean plesae?
Smoody . o O ( Maybe we need some directions for how to make logs.  Directions
 and some ideas for using them. )
Yoshi says, "Are the students asked to interview someone they happen to meet
 here or are they going to work among their group?"
Gregor [to Yoshi]: I mean that students could roleplay a request for help
 from a librarian, or requests for clarification in a business meeting,
 agreement or disagreement in an argument...
Dasha needs to learn how to make a log.
Gregor [to Yoshi]: I mean within my own class.
Puzzled has disconnected.
Yoshi [to Gregor/George]: Ah I see.
Gregor says, "Making a log is sort of software-dependent... using tinyfugue, I
 just type /log  at the beginning of the conversation and /log off 
 at the end. Then it's in my home directory as a text file."
Millie [Guest]  sees George typing away!
Gregor winks at Millie.
Yoshi says, "So, your concept is having your students interact here instead of
 in real life, right?"
George [Guest] says, "Or role-play by practicing certain structures aes and
 phrases associated with certain target functions and notions. I think, for
 instance, it would be a lot of fun practicing the language of disagreement
 with each other on line. ("Assignment: disagree with each posted statement")"
Gregor [to Yoshi]: Right, because the RL interaction leaves no record for
 later analysis.
Smoody [to Gregor]: "I can see some teachers wondering why you would take
 students on schMOOze if the assignment is possible to do in class.  Can you
 say more about why you'd do it on-line?
Yoshi wondered the same.
Gregor thinks he just did, Smoo. ;o)
Smoody [to Gregor]: "so, for the printed record?
Gregor says, "Yeah. I think that's one of MOO's unique functions."
Smoody agrees
Gregor says, "Or unique capabilities. Whatever."
George [Guest] is amazed at how fast Millie types...and thinks.
Gregor is amazed at how fast Millie talks when she should be typing. ;o)
Gregor ducks.
Millie [Guest] says, "I think that MOOS work well as "Chat" sessions for
 Speaking/Listening classes because of the register of the language we use
 online...Informal and conversational in manner.""
Gregor notes the time...
Gregor says, "Any closing comments, anyone?"
Yoshi imagines Gregor's lab is filled with key-clicks.
Millie [Guest]  says How about noting my comment?
George [Guest] says, "I've greatly enjoyed the hour. L'll be back. And tahnks
 to all. Say good night, Yoshi."
Gregor [to Millie [Guest]]: Good comment!
Millie [Guest]  says DITTO
Yoshi [to Millie [Guest]]: There rises a problem.  People tend to develop
 specific, not desirable manner or language on the net when they chat.
Gregor grins.
Frizzy is finally back.
George [Guest] says, "Thanks, Greg!""

Gregor puts a transparency on the screen:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                              A REMINDER...

               Please note! Our sessions are always logged.
      By participating, you give permission to Greg Younger to allow 
    access to the transcripts for research purposes at his discretion.
    Before using any part of our logs for research or publication, please 
      obtain the permission of Greg Younger at youngerg@colorado.edu

                For a transcript, please see our web page:
              http://spot.colorado.edu/~youngerg/netmoo.html

             ******     Thanks for participating!     ******

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