Wading Through the MUD:

The Process of Becoming M** Literate

MUD: Multi-User Domain
MOO: Multi-User domain Object Oriented
MUSH: Multi-User Shared Hallucination

We hear about them in the computer labs on campus. We read about them on our listservs. We notice them on the syllawebs of our colleagues. We try our best to integrate any new technology into our own classrooms, but we are reluctant to MOO. Perhaps we fear entering any area whose acronyms we associate first with wet dirt, next with barnyard animals, and finally with soggy cereal. Or perhaps we simply haven't yet made the time available for the extensive exploration that MUD, MOO, and MUSH require before we feel comfortable as users, let alone as teachers.

. . . . . .

Before we begin to explore the M** world as newbies, we need a basic understanding of the terms that we will see repeatedly in these environments. M** space is characterized by two main features: real time communication and object orientation. Although we tend to use the term MOO generically to cover all M** environments, this web will refer specifically to MUDs as they pertain to the communication aspect of M** technology, or the simple sharing of ideas as texts between multiple users who are online at the same time. References to the MOO will concentrate on the objects aspect of M** technology, or the creation of teaching tools by programming objects in the virtual world. Although there are several educational MUSHes, this web will refer to them mainly in the When and where can we start to learn how to teach in the M**? link as a type of M** that focuses on creative learning applications. Regardless of their subtle differences, M** environments are all similar in their ability to connect Multiple Users in a conversation across physical space, at the same time, and this web may refer to them almost interchangeably, frequently substituting M** as a generic term to cover all of them.

Newbies to any Multi User Domain initially demonstrate excitement, anticipation, and trepidation upon entering the world of virtual, text mediated reality. As newbies, we begin by discovering that this virtual world allows us to interact with other professionals, in real time, in a mysteriously enchanting world of clients, characters, objects, movements, and wizards. Next we are understandably overwhelmed by the new commands we must learn, yet we are inspired by the pedagogical possibilities we envision in these sessions, and we are eager to implement MOOs into our own classes. Finally, though, we are hesitant. We realize that MOOing takes time to master, that we have to allow ourselves time to become proficient, and that we have to allow our students that time also. In the semester system, we realize that fifteen weeks barely enables us to cover the requisite principles of composition, rhetoric, and grammar using the World Wide Web, electronic mail, word processors, let alone trying to conquer the vast domain of virtual text reality.

. . . . . .

But there are dozens of helpful resources available to us, and so we rejoice in the prospect of immersing ourselves in Multi-User research papers, tutorials, and practice sessions during semester breaks. We may begin by exploring all the materials that our colleagues, those innovators of Computer Mediated Communication, have published on the Web. And we enthusiastically start attending meetings, conferences, festivals, and social gatherings on our own, where we may be pleasantly surprised to find extensive technical help, moral support, and social camaraderie among our colleagues who frequent these virtual spaces.

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Brief List of Helpful Starting Places

  1. What is a MUD, actually? - Mafalda Stasi
  2. The Global Studio-What is a MOO? - Matiu Carr
  3. More About MOOs - Steve Thorne
  4. MUD Clients "What are clients?" - Jennifer Smith
  5. Jeff Galin's Rules of Thumb
  6. MOO Teacher's Tip Sheet - Traci Gardner
  7. "MUDs in Education: New Environments, New Pedagogies" - Tari Fanderclai

    The Process of Becoming M** Literate

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    Last updated: June 8, 1996 by Claudine Keenan Send any comments to cgk4@psu.edu