Text Based Virtual Reality


	Enabling Support Foundation


	Text-based Virtual Reality

ESF Partnership Project.
Text Based Virtual Reality
PART 1
Purpose and Potential

Ann Parsons
Head Gardener, GrassRoots

Below you will find some information about GrassRoots, the ESF Text Based Virtual Community, and some suggestions about how you can use this medium in your classroom to achieve your goals. You will also be receiving some logistical information in this handout, so you may want to keep this and make copies if you want.

What can TBVR do for me? Text Based Virtual Reality or MOO can be used in many different ways. It is a fluid medium and is only limited by the imagination of the teacher, parent or student who uses it. Here are some obvious benefits: promotes literacy by encouraging reading and writing in a natural way; can be used as a way to communicate in real-time with people at a distance; can be used to teach descriptive writing and poetic expression; can be used as an environment in which to role play or act out plays;

When we learn to speak as children, we do so in a natural way because we have to, it's a survival skill. MOO acts in the same way using reading and writing. You must read in order to access the medium. You must write in order to communicate to others within the environment. The more you read, the more you write, and it becomes a circular process that benefits the person using the medium.

People living in Australia can speak with students and teachers living in New York City. Students can get to know students from Kansas or California by communicating in real-time. Teachers can converse with others who are in distant states or countries about current problems or projects. This is all done in real-time. Unlike e-mail, which is asynchronous, MOO can be used as a conference medium for people who want to meet and discuss an issue together.

GrassRoots is filled with rooms where different people have described different things. It is all done through the use of language. Students can read descriptions of the sea, a forest, an office, and more. As teachers, you can encourage your students to use this medium to improve their descriptive writing. Poetry is a possibility as well.

Have you ever wondered about the benefits of drama for your students? Many teachers have found that drama in the classroom promotes observational skills, promotes self-esteem, and promotes group cohesion and more. MOO continues these beneficial effects of using drama in the classroom. It is possible for your students, or for you to take on a role while logged onto GrassRoots. You will find Ann Parsons wrapped in the cloak of a bard and called Dicken_Wanderer. He bows when he greets you, uses archaic language and generally has a great time playing a 12th century bard. Students who are shy in class may find expression within a role on the MOO.

Acting out actual play scripts is another option. By taking a Shakespeare play or something simpler, one could have robots in costume, or have the students do a "reading" live.

The possibilities are only limited by your imagination and the limitations of the technology. If you remember that The Word is king, it will help you to imagine all the marvelous educational and social uses for this medium.

Logistical Information: On the back page of this handout, you will find information on how to contact me for help with MOO related questions. In addition, we will be setting up a discussion list for MOO related questions and information. If you join this list, you will be able to ask questions and get them answered either by me or by Matt, our Head MOO Programmer, or by your colleagues. It will also be a forum for discussion of ideas for projects and how to achieve a goal using this fascinating medium.

We are also in the process of updating our tutorials for the web site at GrassRoots. http://www.enabling.org/grassroots

It is our hope that you will use these tutorials as an independent study method for learning the commands you will need to take advantage of all aspects of GrassRoots. You can use the MOO-list to ask questions about the tutorials or about anything that is MOO related.

I will make it a point to be on GrassRoots part of every day. I will post my schedule on the MOO-list so that you will be able to talk with me in Real-time when I am on-line. I hope to be able to get ICQ to work for me, but should that not be possible, I will make sure that you know when and where to find me.

Ann K. Parsons

Contact Information
Ann K. Parsons
Email: akp@eznet.net
Web site: http://www.eznet.net/~akp
Phone: 716-244-0477 (Do not call after 22:00)

MOO contact Info
Dicken_Wanderer, Head Gardener
MOOmail: @send DW (follow prompts)

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