1999 VRoma Workshop:
Preliminary Readings

We are very excited about VRoma's potential to test assumptions about the role of internet technology in teaching and learning classics (see VRoma Pedagogical Objectives). We do not, however, advocate using technology for its own sake, but rather as a way to create new educational possibilities. Since understanding the nature and capabilities of the tools helps us envision these new possibilities, we highly recommend the following two on-line articles from Diversity University, which provide an excellent overview of the various types of internet tools available for educational purposes:

• Internet-Based Tools for Education
• Online Learning Environments Compared

The first article includes a clear and concise description of all the major internet tools commonly used in education, including their basic functions, advantages, and disavantages, plus an appendix with links to specific examples of each type of tool. The second article briefly describes and compares various "learning environments" that bring together several on-line tools through a common interface (note that VRoma represents one such learning environment, an on-line virtual world); its appendix includes links to a number of articles and collections of articles on MOOs.

For those with the time and interest to explore them, the following on-line resources provide useful insights into various topics:

• Teaching with Electronic Technology. An excellent collection of annotated links to articles, resources, examples, and other helpful materials related to the topic of teaching with technology, compiled by Michael L. Hall of the University of Maryland.
• Engines of Inquiry: Teaching, Technology and Learner-Centered Approaches to Culture and History. This excellent article by Randy Bass of Georgetown University presents a compelling case for why we need to incorporate technology into our teaching and offers a number of scenarios about how to do it.
• Engines of Inquiry: Supplemental Online Resources. The New Media Classroom Project provides a very useful series of links to articles and sample assignments on teaching with technology.
• Finding it On Line: Web Search Strategies. In these pages, Debbie Flanagan provides a well-designed tutorial describing various types of web search tools and effective search strategies, including practice exercises and a scavenger hunt.
• Evaluation. Peg Syverson of the University of Texas posted this information about the methods of evaluation in her writing courses, providing an excellent example of how internet technology can enable new forms of assessment of students. For a more detailed discussion, see her pages describing the Online Learning Record, which include a number of short, evaluative articles.
• Student's Guide to Research with the WWW. Craig Branham of Saint Louis University posted this resource for his writing students, but it would be useful for students doing any type of research on the web.
• The Internet Class Page. Paula Davidson of the University of North Carolina-Asheville has prepared this excellent compilation of resources for her class on the internet; it includes explanations, examples, and links relating to all types of internet technology.
• "Lingua Unlimited: Enhancing Pedagogical Reality with MOOs", by Cynthia Haynes and Jan Rune Holmevik. Kairos (A Journal for Teachers of Writing in Webbed Environments) 1.2 (Summer 1996). This article uses Lingua MOO to explain many of the pedagogical possibilities of MOOs.
• "Synchroni/CITY: On-line Collaboration, Research and Teaching in MOOSpace", a 1995 MLA paper by Cynthia Haynes and Jan Rune Holmevik. Presented in the form of a MOO conversation, this article describes how the authors' collaboration led to the creation of Lingua MOO and the development of various types of pedgogical and collaborative tools.
• Collaborative Spaces and Education, by Daniel Anderson and Joi Lynne Chevalier. These pages include both theoretical and practical discussions of the educational uses of MOOs and Web pages. You must have a frames-capable browser to access the pages and the necessity of continually jumping between frames can be annoying, but the the detailed examples of how the authors used the technology in specific courses are intriguing, particularly Chevalier's creation and use of a MOO called "Foreign Realms."
• VRoma Links for Participants. Lists further articles and related resources.