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.
. . . . . .
Brief List of Helpful Starting Places
- What is a
MUD, actually? - Mafalda Stasi
- The Global
Studio-What is a MOO? - Matiu Carr
- More About MOOs - Steve
Thorne
- MUD Clients "What are
clients?" - Jennifer Smith
- Jeff Galin's Rules of Thumb
- MOO Teacher's Tip Sheet -
Traci Gardner
- "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