Generic Improved Classroom

The Generic Improved Classroom allows teachers an even greater range of options for conducting MOO classes than the Generic Classroom. An instructor is still able to break students into groups in which members can only hear one another or to allow open discussion among the entire class. You must be a builder and dig your own room before it can be turned into a Generic Improved Classroom.

To convert your room to a Generic Improved Classroom, type @chparent #<room number> to #980. If you want to convert your British Literature Classroom with the object number 14232 to a Generic Improved Classroom, you would type

@chparent #14232 to #980

Once you have created your generic classroom, you will want to design its basic layout. The room is equipped with a blackboard, a teacher's desk, a big table, and a clock. To look at any of these objects you need only type look <object name>. For example, you can check the time, by typing look clock. The MOO responds with the Eastern time.

To leave messages on the blackboard for the people entering the room, type writeb <message>. For example, to welcome everyone to your room you would type: writeb Welcome! If you looked at the blackboard by typing look blackboard, you would see

1) Welcome!

You can erase lines from the blackboard by typing eraseb <line number>. If you want to clear the entire blackboard at once, you can type cleanb. If you don't want the blackboard to display the number of each line, type @numbers off. You would then see

Welcome!

To reactivate the numbers type @numbers on. The default feature on the blackboard automatically displays the numbers of the lines.

More importantly, you can customize the room's physical environment to support your pedagogical objectives. You can add or remove your own features from the room by using the commands

@addfurn <name of item> and @rmfurn <name of item>

For example, if you wanted to add a conference table to your room, you would type @addfurn conference table. The MOO would then ask you to describe the conference table, to which you could respond:

A rectangular table with white formica top, around which are grouped several padded office chairs.

The MOO will then ask you whether visitors can sit at/on the object, to which you can respond yes or no. After you have finished setting up the new room feature, it will appear among the list of things in the room.

The command @addseat <name of detail> is another way to add seating to your room. This will create a detail which people can sit on by typing sit <name of detail>. For example, if you want to create a desk for your classroom, you would type @addseat desk. The MOO would return

Detail "desk" added with 1 seat.

A seat detail has only one seat by default. You can adjust this to fit your needs by typing @setseats <name of detail> to <number>. If you want four people to be able to sit at the desk, you would type

@setseats desk to 4

The MOO will not automatically include this detail in the list of items in the classroom, and if your room still has its original description, people entering the room will not know that this desk exists. You can make the students "see" it by including it in your own description of your classroom. For example, you can add a line to the description which says There is a large desk in the corner of the room with enough room for four people.

The items preprogrammed into the classroom, such as the teacher's desk, big table, blackboard and clock are also details. You can use the @setseats command to change the number of people who can sit at the teacher's desk and big table.

Before you can use many of the features of the Generic Improved Classroom, you must set up the room for a particular class and group of students in that class. To add a class to the list of classes taught in your room, type @mkclass <class name>. For example if you wanted to put an English 101 class on the class list, you would type @mkclass English 101. You can remove any class by typing @rmclass <class name>.

Since it is possible to create a number of different class offerings, you must use the @class <class name> command to make a class the current one. To check which class is current, type @class. For example if you were going to have a class meeting in English 101, you would type @class to see if this was the current class. If the classroom is set up for a different class, you would then type

@class English 101

For a list of the registered classes for the classroom, with the number of students in each, you can type @classes. To find out which classes are offered in MyRoom, you would type @classes and the MOO would respond Registered classes for MyRoom (#14232): English 101 [1 student].

Once you have established your classes, you can add and remove students from the class by using the register/unregister command. The name entered will be registered into the roster of the current class or of the class you just created using @mkclass. For example, if English 101 is the class currently set up for MyRoom, but you @mkclass English 102, the students you register will be in English 102. You can then @class English 101 if you want to register students for that class. If you wanted to register Jane Smith for English 101 you would type

register Jane Smith

After doing this, you can check the status of your generic classroom by typing @status. This will provide you with the class list, number of students registered for each class, and a list of the students' names in the current class, among other information listed.

If you would like to provide particular individuals with authorization to use the classroom, without adding them to the rosters of your classes, you can use the @authorize <user(s)> command. An authorized user is able to use all of the administrative verbs. For example, if you want to make a fellow instructor an authorized user, you would type @authorize SusanB. The name you enter must be a recognized character on the MOO. To check a list of currently authorized users, type @authorized.

There are a number of ways to moderate the classroom. When you begin your class, type @session begin. This way when anyone on the MOO types @who, they will see that your class is "In Session" and your students are therefore busy. If your class is finished or you'd welcome visitors to the discussion, you can turn off the sign by typing @session end.

If you would like to keep the names of your students off of the @who list completely, you can use the command

@invisible-session <on/off>

You can keep unwanted visitors from entering your room by typing close door. This will restrict entry to persons in the current class. You can turn this function off by typing open door.

Within the classroom, you can simulate small group discussions by allowing students to sit at different places in the room. If half of the students type sit Big Table and the other half type sit Conference Table, neither group will be able to hear the other group's discussion. By typing speakup <message>, a student can communicate with the entire class. The student can also type stand to stand up from the table, and his/her messages will be heard by everyone in the room. However, a standing student can no longer hear what is being said at the tables in the room. He/she needs to sit back down at one of the tables (for example, sit conference table) in order to hear the comments of his/her seated peers.

Students at the individual tables can speak to one another using the say command. If they want to speak to the entire group, they can use the emote command, and their message will be seen by everyone in the room. This is the default setting for speaking in the classroom. You can alter the status of say and emote, as well as other commands, with the command

@stifle

To see a list of the verbs which the classroom currently allows output from, type either @stifle or @unstifle. The computer will respond with the verbs which are currently unstifled.

You can moderate communication in your classroom, by stifling or unstifling such commands as say, emote, and to. By stifling these verbs, you will restrict communication to the students' tables. They will only be heard by the other students at their table. To restrict the say command, for example, you would type @stifle say. You can even restrict your students' ability to stand or sit. For example, you could limit standing by typing @stifle stand. Persons attempting to use a verb which has been restricted will receive a hush message. [Remember that owners and authorized users are not effected by these stifle commands. There is a different command for moderating their abilities which will be explained later.]

You can create specific "speaker seats" which grants any person who sits in them, not just an owner or authorized user, unrestricted use of the verbs, regardless of the activation of stifle commands. To designate a speaker seat,

type @addspeaker-seats <name of item>

You are also able to use the @stifle command to moderate the output of movement within the classroom, as well as that from the manipulation of the items in the room. The following is a list of the commands which restrict these "noise-sources". To stifle or unstifle any of the following commands, follow the form, @stifle <item> or @unstifle <item>. For example, @unstifle connection-message.

connection-messages

Stifling this command will keep the people in your room from receiving the message that people are logging on or off the MOO.

teleport-messages

Teleport messages are the messages you receive when someone into or out of your room.

exit-messages

These are the messages a person receives when someone enters or exits a room.

seat-messages

Stifling this command would eliminate the message people receive when someone sits down or stands up from the classroom.

door -messages

These are the messages sent to people in a room when the door to the room is either opened or closed.

blackboard-messages

These are the messages which are sent when the someone uses the blackboard, for example, writes on it, or erases it.

It is useful to stifle some of these commands so that students will not be distracted while they are involved in their own discussions. For example, if you want to create a message on the blackboard, without disturbing people who are working in the room, you could type @stifle blackboard-messages. This way you can work on the blackboard without interrupting any of the groups with a message telling them that you have just written on the blackboard.

You can also restrict the use of particular verbs so that only owners and authorized users can use them. For a list of the verbs currently restricted in your classroom, type @restrictions. If you want to remove a verb's restricted status, just type @unrestrict <verb>. To allow anyone to use the @mkclass command, for example, you could type @unrestrict @mkclass. If you want to add a verb to the restricted list, type @restrict <verb>, for example, @restrict sit.

Authorized users can also be placed under particular restrictions, with the @hush-controllers on/off command. When @hush-controllers is on, authorized users are bound by the same regulations as the rest of the people in the room. Their restrictions include both the moderation features of the stifle and restrict commands. To enable the @hush-controllers command, type @hush-controllers on. You can turn it off by typing @hush-controllers off. Classroom owners are not effected by the @hush-controllers on command. The restrictions they set up do not apply to themselves, even when this feature is on.

For a complete list of commands or to get help on general and special functions of the generic classroom at anytime, you can type help here within one of the Generic Classrooms.