There are four specific pedagogical benefits to using MOOs for language learning:

First, the MOO automatically restructures language learning dynamics away from drill-like exercises or an exclusive attention to grammatical accuracy to content-based activities and meaningful communication between students. Activities in the MOO underscore that language acquisition is not a passive skill of recognition but a creative construction process.

Second, MOOs inevitably give students more responsibility for the direction of the course, since the decentered space of the MOO means that students largely control the flow of discussion. At another level, the community-based structure of MOOs also naturally leads to peer teaching, as students begin to learn from and teach each other. This transfer of responsibility is important, since we know that self-directed motivation is essential for effective learning.

Third, the mediated structure of communication in the MOO makes individualized learning possible, since all students can write and "speak" at the level they are capable of while still participating fully in the collaborative learning projects taking shape there. In addition to facilitating partner and group work, the MOO actually induces all students to produce more language than is possible in a traditional classroom, inviting even shy or perfectionist students to actively contribute to discussions. In fact, studies show that the written form of communication in the MOO even seems to lead to improved oral performance outside the MOO.

Finally, the MOO also encourages an element of play and experimentation with the language, which triggers students' creativity, a vital dimension of the language learning process. For instance, the MOO provides a wealth of opportunity for role-play activities that can even extend to constructing the necessary virtual settings and props. Students can even "film" scenes and play them back at a later date.

For additional information on the language learning principles behind the MOO, see Silke von der Emde, Jeffrey Schneider, and Markus Koetter. "Technically Speaking: Transforming Language Learning through Virtual Learning Environments (MOOs)." Modern Language Journal 85 (2001): 210-225.

[Updated: 12 February 2002]