Introduction to MOO: Tools

           
Image by Sewdoll

One of the things that makes the MOO a very rich environment for classes are the specialized objects (Tools) that expand the posibilities for what can happen in the MOO. These tools make the MOO much better than ordinary chat rooms because they give teachers and students a greater degree of flexibility in terms of how they can customize their places within the MOO.

Here's the list of special tools available on Connections MOO. Other MOOs may not have these, or have items not listed here. Please note: the object numbers listed here correspond to these tools on the Connections MOO only. Other MOOs will have different object numbers to these items.

Tool
 
Function Object Number
 
Note Sharing text. Students could share portions of drafts or write responses to each other. The 'Mailme <notename>' command will allow people to have the contents of any note emailed to them.

#9

#100 is the shared note which people other than object's owner can write on.

Example:

There appears to be some writing on the note ... Type Read Freewriting to see what it says....

FREEWRITING
===========


As of this moment, I have no clue what I will write about. I'm sort of hoping to figure something out as I jot down some random thoughts here. Let's see, I went for a long walk today that took about 2 hours. I was annoyed becuse fr parts of it, there wasn't even any sidewalk! Just lots of weeds and bugs. Oh! that reminds me! during part of it, I saw the most amazing thing! At one point, as I was walking, I saw a whole bunch of orange, white, and yellow flowers off in the distance. But as I got closer, I noticed that they weren't flowers at all, but little butterflies! Thousands of them! All fluttering in the breeze. It was great!

(You finish reading.)

 

Slide Projector and Slides

Inserting prompts, quotes, or questions into the flow of online converstions. This is especially useful for keeping discussions focused.

Projector: #400

Slide: #425

(You will make a projector, then make the individual slides which you then load into the projector.)

Example:

Susan shows the slide "feminist research" on Johanek's projector.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Johanek has said that, "Preferences for case studies and other qualitative forms of research have often been contrasted with what has been called the 'masculinization of thought' that requires objectivity, mathematics, and distance on the part of the researcher. A stronger defense of personal narratives and case studies, then, has been developing among several scholars in our field-- a field said to be highly feminized" (74).

This understanding of feminist research seems to suggest that quantitative, mathmatical, or distanced methods cannot be feminist and are not (or perhaps should not be) supported by women. How is this and similar definitions of feminist methodology problematic? Can feminist method(s)[ology] be defined in a way that avoids this
problem?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 
Conversational Robot Responds to keywords with statements programed by the author. Useful as a way to creat an information resource, or in online role-playing, such as a debate. #343

Example:

You say, "Hi Min!"
Menotaur says, "Hello there!"
You say, "What can you tell me about freewriting? It is the same as writing a first draft?"
Menotaur says, "Freewriting is writing non-stop for a brief amount of time, usually anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes. The point is just to write to see where your thoughts go. Don't stop to fix anything, and keep writing even if all you can think to write is 'I can't think of anything'. Eventually, you'll think of something, no matter how odd or silly it seems. Just go with it and see what happens. Don't worry about if it's any good. Right now that doesn't matter!"
You say, "Thanks"
Menotaur says, "You are most welcome!"

 
Corkboard Notes can be 'pinned' to it. With some creativity, you can also modify this to create 'books' in the MOO. The chapters are different notes you insert into the book or onto the board. #1507

Example:

A big leather book containing information about Composition research
and methodology.
You see eight chapters have been written in The Encyclopedia of
Composition Research...

1 - Feminist Methodology
2 - Narrative
3 - Emperical Research
4 - Scientific Inquiry

5 - Naturalistic Inquiry
6 - Qualitative and Quantitative
7 - Epistemological Pluralism (EP)
8 - Contextualist Epistemological Paradigm
Recorder Creates a transcript of a MOO session which participants can have sent to them via email. Requires special permission from the MOO administrator.

MOO Bibliography

Please visit the Connections MOO homepage for more detailed explanations and tutorials.

 

Susan E. Antlitz
January 2002
http://seantlitz.com/moo/tools.html