I.Newsgroups/Bulletin Boards 
Newsgroups are discussion groups on UseNet. UseNet is shorthand for "User Network" and is a distributed bulletin board system supported mainly by Unix machines. UseNet was created in 1980 by Steve Bellovin, Jim Ellis, Tom Truscott, and Steve Daniel at Duke University and has swiftly grown to international proportions. 

 

Newsgroups are organized into subject hierarchies  with sub-categories. The first three letters of the  newgroup's domain indicate its general category. Some  common domains are listed to the right.  For a complete list of newsgroups (domains and   subcategories) see the Liszt of Newsgroups  (No - that's not a mispelling the list is called Liszt)

Main Newsgroup Domains:  comp. (Computer-related topics)  misc. (Miscellaneous topics)  news. (UseNet itself and related software)  rec. (Recreational activities)  sci. (Scientific issues)  soc. (Social issues)  talk. (Controversial social and cultural issues)  alt. (Alternative, often controversial topics)

One finds a variety of material in newsgroups ranging from technical articles to flame wars. The quality of the discussion often depends on whether or not the newsgroup is moderated. If a group is moderated, submissions are automatically directed to a moderator, who edits or filters and then posts the results. 

 Accessing Newsgroups 
You can access newsgroups in a variety of ways: 

1. Telnet
• In order to excess newsgroups in Unix open a Telnet session.
• Type pine
• open your folder list (enter L)
• Scroll to the bottem of the folder list to the news bar, at this point the tool bar at the bottom of your page will change.
• Hit A to subscribe to a newsgroup
• Enter the domain for the newsgroup (ex.: alt.comedy)
• If you do not know the domain, hit Ctrl T to view newsgroups, select the one you are interested in by highlighting and then entering S to subscribe and finally hitting enter to accept the subscription.
• You have subscribed to the newsgroup and can now access it at the bootom of your folder list.
2. Netscape

Enter the newsgroup's domain in the box at the top of the Netscape window. 

A URL for a web site looks like this:  http://artsci.wustl.edu/~langlab

A URL for a newsgroup is written like this:  news:alt.comedy

 

You must specify the title of your new newsgroup in the message. Arts & Sciences newsgroup names generally follow the following naming scheme: 
        wu.artsci.departmentname.newsgroupname 

II. Listservs 
A listserv is an email address that is shared by a group of individuals, more specifically it is an e-mail adress which is an alias for a list of e-mail addresses. Mail sent to the "list address" is automatically distributed to everyone on the list. Replies to mail that was sent to the list will also go to all members of the list. Like newsgroups, listservs can be moderated or unmoderated. 

 Listservs are often used for private information-sharing on topics that would be too specialized for public UseNet groups. They are often created temporarily by working groups, the members of which can then collaborate on a project without ever needing to meet face-to-face. 

Setting up a Mailing List (Alias Include) 
Mailing lists are not difficult to set up and are a wonderful way to supplement your class discussions. Instead of listservs, Arts & Sciences Computing recommends that instructors request that an alias include be set up in their class account for them. An alias include functions like a listserv. It is a good idea to set up a class account - which you keep separate from your personal account - to house your alias include list as well as your course page and student projects. 

Follow these steps to set up your account and alias include list: 

1. Go to Arts and Sciences Computing in the bottom of Cupples I. Request an account for your class by filling out the appropriate form.
2. Once you have collected your students' e-mail addresses send an e-mail to help@artsci requesting that they set up an alias include for your class . You will need to provide the list of e-mail addresses you want included on the list with the message.
3. Once you know the address for your class e-mail list make a link to it on your course page.
4. Test the list by sending out a message to the class. Make it something meaningful - people hate getting that "this is just a test" message.
5. Make one of the students' first assignments be to post something relevant to the class list. You could have them lurk (subscribe without contributing) in a professional listserv and report their findings to the class list.

If you would like to set up a listserv for your class send an email to help@artsci.wustl.edu 

The body of your message must contain at the mimimum: 

• Name of owner/manager of list
• Email of owner/manager of list
• Phone number of owner/manager of list
• Name of the list
• Suggested password for list (may differ from what you are assigned)
• Statement of whether list should be available to general public or limited to the Washington community (off-campus or on-campus list)
• Statement on whether list should allow postings or not (posting policy open/closed)
• Welcome message (sent to new subscribers)
• Statement on subscription policy (open/closed)
• Statement on unsubscription policy (open/closed)

Finding Listservs 
In addition to this type of personal listserv, you may want to participate in a professional listserv. The quality and volume of messages differs form listserv to listserv. The best way to find a good listserv is therefore often by word of mouth. There are however a few directories of listserv addresses you can start with: 

• http://www.liszt.com/(Liszt is a searchable directory of listservs)
• http://galaxy.einet.net/GJ/lists.html
• http://www.tile.net/tile/listserv/viewlist.html

To subscribe to a listserv 

1. send an email to the Listserv address (which starts LISTSERV@.....)
2. leave the subject line blank
3. write one line in the body of the email message
SUB listname firstname lastname
where name is the name of the listserv, firstname is your first name, lastname is your lastname.

1. send an email to the Listserv address (which starts LISTSERV@.....)
2. leave the subject line blank
3. write one line in the body of the email message
UNSUB listname firstname lastname
where name is the name of the listserv, firstname is your first name, lastname is your lastname.

While meaningful as a word, Chat has been used as an acronym for "Conversational Hypertext Access Technology". 

Setting up a Chat Room 
You can set up a chat room for your class at Talk City for free. Fill out their online application form and you'll be up and running in less than two weeks. Take a look at the chat rooms already established while you are visiting at Talk City 
 
 

What is a MOO? 
Jeff Galin provides an excellent definition of a MOO on his MooBasics page, where he explains: 

"MOO, technically, means MUD-Object Oriented. And MUD is a Multiple-User Dungeon (or Dimension). MUDs started as interactive adventure games similar to Dungeons and Dragons for the computer--but a version that participants could play over the Internet. Since those days, the use of MUDs has expanded to other sorts of games and to more social uses. The object-orientation of MOOs puts more of the programming focus on the "objects" that are in the MOO. In other words, these text-based virtual realities are like real-time conferencing programs that offer a pseudo-physical dimension: Players talk in rooms, can move between rooms, interact with objects ranging from chairs (they return a pre-set message like "You sit down in the chair and relax. Ahhh!"), to bartenders (you can order drinks from them, they answer you, and they hand you drink-objects that you can drink virtually), to games like Scrabble."

What can I do with a MOO? 
Educational MOOs are often designed as writing workshops and discussion forums to enhance traditional classes or to create distributed learning opportunities. 
Traci Gardner of The Daedalus Group offers some ideas for teaching with MOOs on her MOO Teacher's Tip Sheet. Tracy focuses on how to prepare oneself and one's students for collaborative MOOing, more concrete ideas for activities can be found at MOO-Teach. D. Jason Nolan provides a very sophisticated discussion of the pedagogical usefulness of MUDs in his paper Research into Educational Computer Mediated Communication. See also Tari Lin Fanderclai's articleMUDs in Education: New Environments, New Pedagogies for further insights on applications of MUDs and MOOs. The TECFA page on eduacational uses of MOOS and MUDs is also quite informational. 

Professional MOOs exist for educators interested in discussing pedagogical applications of computer mediated communication. Netoric is a group interested in computer assisted writing instruction in MOOs. Another popular MOO for educators is Diversity University (DU), a non-profit instructional organization dedicated to meeting the on-line distance education learning needs of individuals and institutions. 

How do I use a MOO? 
MOOs run through Telnet, the program you most likely use for e-mail. Click on one of the links above and Netscape will open a Telnet Window for you. Once in a MOO there are specific commands for speaking, reading, picking up objects, etc. Take a look at this quicklist of MOO commands to get started. Most MOOs will offer some sort of guidance for newbies, nonetheless, the following list of definitions for MOO related terms might come in handy.