The lost library of Moo.  Article of choice:  “MUDs in Education: New Environments, New Pedagogies”. 

Source:  http://www.ibiblio.org/cmc/mag/1995/jan/fanderclai.html

Introduction:  It was very interesting to learn that MUDs have been around since the early 1990’s.  Of course, my first question was, “What is a MOO/MUD?”  To find the answer, I went to Wikipedia (an awesome source) and discovered that a MOO is “MUD object oriented” which connects multiple users using a text-based virtual reality system.  This then led me to research MUDs, which are (again, thank you Wikipedia) Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension groups which have a common interest, mostly gaming, and have been in existence since the late 1970’s.  It began as text-based, but has recently become more graphics based.  MOOs are designed to be virtual conference rooms, where the users can create meeting places and change the server setup in order to better serve others who are part of the group.  The programming language uses the best components of the C language (my favorite programming language from college because of its efficiency and power) and other efficient languages, such as Algol and Lisp. 

I chose this article because it related to education and new ways to teach.  Interestingly, the article was written in 1995, and the ideas it expresses are still valid concerns in education twelve years later.  Educators are still struggling with the implementation of technology.  The author brings up a very valid point.  There are educators out there who choose to use this tool with the controls of a regular, lecture-oriented classroom, where students are not given a voice, therefore, defeating the effect of giving students more control over their own learning. 

I like the way that she used the MUD with her students, giving them identities so that they were free to express without fear of mockery from other students for their answers.  This fear of being “wrong” is the greatest battle that I face as a math teacher.  Students are reluctant to answer questions for fear of being seen as dumb.  I do a lot of confidence building with my students, and encourage them to answer, even if they are not sure they are right.  I tell my students that we are in the learning process, and that they are not expected to be geniuses right away, and my classroom has a helpful ambience.  Do I still reach every student?  Of course not.  Using a chat room or MUD like this would help my classroom environment.  I am still going to test the TappedIn chat room with two of my groups to see if it is effective as a learning tool for students.  It is not quite like her MUD, but it is a step in the right direction. 

The last point that the author makes is:  “to use MUDs effectively, educators must replace control with structure. Students need clear goals, and knowledge of the tools and methods they might use to accomplish those goals. And then they need for us to stand out of the way and let them learn.”  Educators seem to have gotten into the mentality that in order for students to learn well, they need to be spoon fed the information, drill and skill only, and that makes them educated.  Our educational system has seemed to have lost its love of learning through exploration and replaced it with memorization for the sake of testing.  It will take a radical rebirth of education to get back on the right track, but if people like this author keep being innovators in their field, maybe this change will happen sooner than later.