It is
not unusual for frequent users of technology to create multiple personae
for participation in various electronic meeting places. Many establish multiple
email accounts, choosing self-descriptive or playful usernames rather than their
real-life names. In the MOO, users may add aliases and appear as different
personae within a single session, adopting different voices and actions and
choosing different icons to represent them.
Some
successful classroom uses of this flexibility that I have witnessed included
discussions in which students or instructors selected identities as literary
characters, authors, or philosophers or chose to play devil's advocate in order
to foster debate.