A poster on the scholarly uses of IRC and MediaMOO. READ SCHOLARLY. About two years ago, a small group of writing teachers who were active on the Megabyte University (MBU) Computers and Writing networked discussion group decided to try out a synchronous (real- time multi-user networked communication tool called Internet Relay Chat (IRC). IRC allowed them to meet weekly and sometimes even bi- weekly on a channel called #cw (for Computers and Writing) to discuss scholarly articles, plan events such as conference presen- tations, collaborate on articles, and, in general, exchange a great deal of information and ideas. In Spring, 1993, many of them saw the invitation to explore and use MediaMOO which was posted on MBU, and registered themselves as characters here. They found that having rooms and text-objects further augmented their ability to work collaboratively and share information. Now these teachers use MediaMOO for planned weekly meetings, and schedule work sessions regularly. They find the text-based environ- ment here ideally suited to a kind of collaboration based on the synergy that arises from the participants' willingness to explore and reflect on new ideas as they come up. They capture "thought-coming-into-being" in text before critical consciousness can quash it, a process which allows them to quickly build rough-cut thought-structures for later revision into more polished scholarly forms. In short, they think MediaMOO is a great tool for long-distance collaboration, more productive than many face-to-face conferences.
Last updated: 10 June 1996. Questions and comments? Please e-mail Sharon Cogdill at scogdill@tigger.stcloud.msus.edu.