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13 Tips for Teaching in the MOO

The following 13 tips are based on our experience designing and teaching language and cultural studies courses in the MOO for the past couple of years. We offer them as general advice that may help other teachers get the most out of using the MOO in their classes. Thus, when planning activities for the semester or preparing for the next class session, it's helpful to keep in mind that…

1) the MOO is more than an online discussion space. Though the MOO does have a powerful "chat" dimension that enables students to achieve a higher discursive level in the target language, Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) in the MOO should extend beyond real-time discussions. With enCore Xpress's menu-driven programming menu, it is easy for students to create objects such as notes, noteboards, rooms, etc. These objects not only function as writing activities (and thus allow for asynchronous communication), but they also enable the MOO to become a public sphere with cultural dimensions. Creating cultural artifacts that can be viewed by their fellow students (or even anonymous users) dramatically increases the stakes of target-language use and invites language experimentation.

2) partner and small group activities work best. Though many language classes often rely on discussions involving the entire class, such large class discussions can easily overwhelm students in the MOO&emdash;especially when students are working in the target language. For discussions and other work, we have found it most helpful to break students up into small groups (either letting them choose or assigning groups arbitrarily). We also have students complete many creation assignments (such as writing notes, acting out skits, etc.) with a partner, especially for the first time. With the MOO, it's easy to make reading and writing a truly communicative activity at all stages.

3) the MOO facilitates collaboration not only inside but also outside the MOO. In a computer classroom, it becomes easy to think that each student should work at his or her own computer. But we have found it very productive to put partners or even small groups at one monitor to work together outside the MOO on collaborative writing and reading activities. Because the MOO so easily serves as a public forum for the display of work, we often have these outside collaborations lead to a product in the MOO, such as a note, lecture, room, skit, etc.

4) for communicative activity to take place in the MOO, there must be meaningful content at stake. Though the communicative approach has de-emphasized the role of explicit grammar instruction and cognitive attention to linguistic forms in the language learning process, many communicative activities in the language learning classroom are often short, specific exercises involving the exchange of information that may or may not be truly meaningful, such as asking students to describe their room to practice colors or giving their telephone number to practice numbers. An effective MOO discussion session must have real stakes to it&emdash;such as working together to understand the meaning of a text, solve a problem, or create and interpret target-language artefacts in the MOO. Since the mediated form of communication in the MOO allows students to achieve a higher discursive level, teachers can introduce intellectual content already in the low-intermediate course.

5) for critical self-reflection on the learning environment, it is important to thematize the MOO as a medium rather than view it as a transparent tool. Thus, though the MOO is an excellent medium for discussing the target culture, such as the construction of French identity or certain effects of colonialism in Latin America, it can often be more effective to also thematize the virtual activities taking place in the MOO rather than ignore them in favor of focusing exclusively on such "real content. For instance, units around issues such as the meaning of geographical space, the roots of national identity, the remnants of historical ideologies, or the practices of the public sphere enable a reflection about the activities in the MOO that can produce new insight about target culture through the students' more immediate experience of similar features in the MOO. Indeed, attending to the MOO as a medium of expression is an important part of helping students reflect on their own learning and the politics of classroom practices,activities that both cultural studies pedagogies and the authenticity movement in language learning circles in Europe emphasize as important to the overall learning process.

6) using the MOO doesn't mean that all class activities have to take place in a computer classroom. Though we use the MOO twice each week throughout the semester at the intermediate level, we have found that it is also important to hold weekly classroom sessions in a traditional classroom in order to reflect on activities that have taken place in the MOO. Thus, we have regular follow-up activities in the classroom where we can discuss the results of work in the MOO, review grammar points, and practice oral skills. We keep these sessions separate, since it is not easy to get everyone's attention at the same time when they are sitting in front of terminals, even when those terminals do not block their line of vision to each other. (Note: Paul Kane in Vassar's English department has used the MOO to establish two simultaneous planes of discussion at the same time: a virtual, text-based one and a "real-life," voice-based one. But this atmosphere may be too challenging or disruptive for intermediate language learners.)

7) the MOO should actually get used during class time. Since students work relatively autonomously in the MOO&emdash;in small groups, with partners or even alone&emdash;it can be tempting for teachers to assign many MOO activities as homework and use class time for more traditional activities. Nevertheless, there are many reasons to make MOO activities the centerpiece of class time. First, teachers send students a message about what is important through the allocation of class time. If it's not important enough to do in class, then it is not really important. Second, for students just starting out in the MOO, even simple tasks such as creating a note can lead to confusion. Even when some assignments are to be completed as home work, it can be a good idea to begin them in class so as to avoid confusions and make students comfortable with the MOO. Finally, it is important to remember that students working in small groups in the MOO will use far more of the target language than in a traditional language classroom.

8) the MOO is a student-centered space. Thus, in using the MOO students assume a great deal of responsibility for the success of MOO activities and their own progress in learning a foreign language. Greater student responsibility means that teachers inevitably turn over to students some of the control they typically hold in teacher-centered classrooms. In a certain sense, then, the structure of communication in the MOO helps transform teachers into facilitators or partners rather than traditional authority figures. Indeed, the teacher's comments on the screen hold just as much visual weight as anyone else's comments. Of course, teachers still exercise significant organizational control when they plan the MOO lessons and assignments, and they can use functions like the bulletin board (bb command) and the shout command (@shout) to intervene within the MOO itself. Of course, it is also still possible for teachers (as partners and facilitators) to monitor MOO discussions through the microphone function on the large recorder (which can simultaneously transmit the discussions taking place in as many as five virtual rooms) or even by physically moving throughout the classroom and glancing at students' monitors. To some extent, we view this smaller direct role in the execution of activities in the MOO as an opportunity to take a step back and absorb more information about how students are performing.

9) for activities to work in a student-centered learning environment, it is important to make the goals and objectives of each activity explicit. To some extent, transforming teachers into partners or facilitators also means transforming students into partners and decision-makers of their own learning. From the very beginning of their work in the MOO, we regularly explain why we are using the MOO and what we expect students can gain from such online work. When organizing projects, we also negotiate with students about the guidelines for their work. This commitment to involving students is also important when students seem reluctant to use technology or express concern that time devoted to the MOO might mean less progress in their oral skills (which, according to certain studies and our own experience, doesn't seem to be the case). For instance, when we interviewed students at the end of the 1999-2000 academic year, we were pleased to see how well they articulated specific learning goals and results from their work using the MOO.

10) for effective learning to occur in the MOO, teachers need to give students regular feedback. Just as it is important to demonstrate the value of the MOO environment for learning by using it in class, it is also important to certify that learning has occurred by assessing the work that students do. Though teachers can regularly read over student logs, teachers should consider evaluating student work in the MOO much as they would grade any written or formal assignments. For instance, we show students how to copy their notes, room descriptions, and other MOO documents (including logs) into word processors, from which they can print out and hand in their texts double-spaced, sometimes even with additional commentary and reflections. We also regularly ask students to revise their texts (an activity that is often more effective in the MOO because their documents are on public display). Since the MOO functions like an archive for student work, it is also possible to use portfolios as an evaluation mechanism that integrates students into the assessment process and emphasizes their progress. (In portfolios, students establish their learning goals, gather their work over the course of a unit or a semester, and then evaluate their progress in reaching their goals. By gathering and printing their work, they also begin to tangibly see how much they have written and produced in the MOO in such a short time.)

11) working with technology requires a great deal of flexibility and preparedness on the part of the instructor. It is important to check out every activity before entering the classroom to make sure that it is possible for students to do what they will be expected to do (such as create a room in a particular location or post a note on a particular noteboard). It is also a good idea to sign on to the MOO at least one hour prior to the start of class to make sure that it is up and running and accessible to users. (There's nothing more unsettling than walking into class and finding that the MOO is inexplicably "down.") As part of teaching in the MOO, it is a good idea to know the main MOO administrator (or other wizards) and know how to contact them in an emergency. It is also a good idea to know who is responsible on your campus for maintaining the computers and their connection to the campus server. In case of sudden technical problems, it is always a good idea to have a back-up lesson plan that does not involve the computer.

12) even&emdash;or especially&emdash;when the technology is working correctly, teachers still need to be prepared and flexible. For instance, in some open-ended activities students may take the class in a direction that may be different than you anticipated. Or you may find that some discussions and activities may require more time or less time than you set aside. Like in any teaching situation, it's important to be flexible or come prepared with additional activities&emdash;at least for some groups.

13) working in the MOO should be playful and fun. Even serious intellectual discussions can be exhilarating, while meaningful project work in the MOO involves creative expression with an eye towards audience and display. In our experience, the sound of a MOO classroom is often dotted with bursts of laughter as students make word plays or get carried away with the range of their expressive abilities in the target language. Encouraging that activity should lead to the highest compliment students pay to well-crafted lesson plans in the MOO: you have to remind them when the class period is over!

Comments to JeSchneider@vassar.edu or vonderemde@vassar.edu

[Updated: 5 May 2001]