ABSTRACT
I remember the first time I took my language students to SchMOOze University (https://schmooze.hunter.cuny.edu:8888/). I had been looking for ways to use computers effectively in my ESL (English as a second language) classes, and someone had recommended this language-focused MOO (multiuser object-oriented environment) to me. I had put students in virtual groups who were supposed to find and help each other once they logged in, and I gave them maps of the virtual university and a list of commands to help them. I also told them that there would be other people to interact with if they were vexed, and I was confident that we could make it work. During this first virtual field trip, my students and I sat in front of our computers, intensely focused on finding our way around. At first it was a little overwhelming for all of us-trying to figure out what to type to move, not being able to get anywhere, wondering what we would find when we did figure out how to move. I had never been to any kind of virtual electronic world before, and I, like many of my students, was motivated by the challenge to figure it out. Once we understood how to use the commands, we “walked” individually and in groups all around the university, looking in files, getting the lay of the virtual land. After happening upon the cafeteria, I was excited to order a pizza and “eat” lunch in the cafeteria with some of the students. I “talked” with other students online from Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan;
played hangman in the Student Union; and discovered how to visit people in their dorm rooms. Even the etiquette of the place was new and exciting. My students, although frustrated at first in this new environment, begged for more time at the end of the class period. Conquering the MOO was exhilarating (and I didn’t realize until I logged out that it had also been more time-consuming than I had planned). I couldn’t wait to return and to take my students with me. The exhilarating feeling of great fun, intense focus, and proud accomplishment that we experienced while working in the MOO was flow.
