4/20 PLENARY LOG -- 6a

bro whispers, "yeah."

Mark says, "I think robert's question about available hardware, the use 
question, and the issue of cannonicity all relate" 

Mark says, "I hear Indiana has no graphic capability generally 
available." 

Carole says, " Susan, the Web is disorienting, and I've found that even 
with technical students, teaching them to create documents for the Web 
requires significant handling of what might be called "theoretical" or 
perhaps just "distance" issues. The concept of the server is a hard one 
for many to grasp. And they are bewildered by what happens technically 
once you click on a link"


Mark says, "we may be shaking up the canon, but this is still less 
democratic then we might think. Technical access becomes cultural power- 
the right to determine what gets read and how it gets read- not really a 
vox populi"

Curran says, "In a class, there is a continuing problem of how video 
compels attention, like the silent tv set in a bar. You actually need to 
turn off the text sometimes to talke about it." 

Carole says, " In terms of what Rusche has been saying, I have to agree, 
that as a teacher what I value about the Web most in practucal terms is 
its appeal. Will that last once the novelty wears off, do you think?" 

You whisper, "how about you? Do you have trouble speaking or do you just 
prefer to listen? Incase you want to say something just {request} 
permission to speak" to SamanthaW.

Mark says, "That's an interesting point- lots of dangers as well as lots 
of opportunities in what we're doing"

You whisper, "how about you? Do you have trouble speaking or do you just 
prefer to listen? Incase you want to say something just {request} 
permission to speak" to LauraR.

Rusche says, "One of my students wrote a dissertation several years ago 
on Shakespeare and hypertext, and one of the best discussions in it was 
ways to mount 13 different versions of the same sonnet for examination 
and comparison. At that time--just three years ago!--the possibilities of 
the WWW were just coming in view. He could now mount all the versions and 
let the students struggle with the ways in which variants might affect 
whatever it is that we call the "text" of that particular sonnet. 
Susan--does that suggest ways to use the web in a classroom? The three 
versions of _Hamlet_, for example, in Q1, Q2, and F1." MichaelO says, 
"Think about the decision to make a CDrom version of Wu's anthology 
instead of an online version - there is definitely some financial 
elements implied in this."

Mark says, "just to add a measure of paranoia, are we helping people like 
Buddy Roamer (Gov. of Colorado) dismantle the live academy and replace 
jobs with machines? He thinks so, and he holds office!" 

bro says, "Have to go. I've a Web project on teaching text/image due for 
a class in two days. Thanks to all for the discussion."" 

bro tips his hat.

Carole waves

SusanA says, "Ah, the same old problem. We can't separate theory and 
praxis any more than we can separate the personal and the political!"" 

< bro has disconnected. Total: 11 >


MichaelO says, "Once again, money may lead the way in pushing depts to 
implement courses online, thus reducing the number of teachers." 

SamanthaW says, "Will students be "better educated" if taught through 
resources on the Web?"


SusanA says, "must go now myself, but thanks to everybody; i'm learning a 
lot through this conference!""

SusanA courtsey to each in turn.

Mark says, "it's nearly 2, so maybe we should go to the pub and carry on 
in a less structured environment?"

Juggler smiles

SusanA has disconnected.

You say, "that may be a good idea. The discussion room is noce but there 
are still a few bugs to weed out I fear" 

Mark says, "Let's go!\"

Rusche says, "No, but you give me an idea for yet something else to mount 
on the web. I will get in touch with my student, Randy Ingram (Davidson) 
and see what he thinks. Shouldn't be that much trouble to work it up. " 

MichaelO says, ""better educated" is of course a difficult concept in 
itself, but video-lecture (that is, a lecture being shown on a tv in 
different rooms around the campus) is quite common in some universities 
in Paris, and one cannot point out whether a student was in the 'live' 
room or a video one."

Mark goes east.

>>>Jugglers communication wristwatch chimes softly. <<< 

You say, "let's all {join mark}"

Rusche has disconnected.

pasta goes east.

SamanthaW goes east.

MichaelO goes east.

>>>Jugglers communication wristwatch chimes softly. <<< 

Carole goes east.

look
The Plenary Room
This is the plenary meeting room. Conference participants come together 
in this room for moderated discussions. One person is the moderator. You 
can become moderator using the command {moderate} and you can resign 
using {unmoderate}.
What does the moderator do? In this room only a limited number of people 
can talk at the same time. In order to say or emote something use the 
command {request} and the room will tell you when it is your turn to 
speak. Stop talking using {yield}. If you talk too long the moderator can 
force you to yield using {yield <playername>}. To see who is currently 
speaking use {speakers}. To see who is waiting to speak use {waiting}. 
BTW: You can whisper or page without having to request permission.
A door leads [out] to the conference center in the [east]. 

Curran is here. RobertC is daydreaming. LauraR is dozing. Rusche and 
SusanA are asleep.

>>>Jugglers communication wristwatch chimes softly. <<< 
Curran says, "ciao"

:waves
Juggler waves

Curran has disconnected.

>>>Jugglers communication wristwatch chimes softly. <<< 

You say, "for the rest of you - we continue the disussion in the pub or 
the tea & coffee room"

:waves
Juggler waves
e

>>>You automatically unmoderate before you leave. You are no longer the 
moderator.

The Center
You are at the center of the virtual conference site. You see a huge 
modern atrium here -- big enough that the designer decided he could place 
a nice fountain into the middle of the atrium. A broad walkway leads 
around the fountain and you see the sessions of the conference arranged 
clockwise along the walkway. From here you can easily reach the [friday], 
the [saturday] and the [sunday] sessions.
In one corner of the atrium you see the [plenary] and the [keynotes]. To 
the [south] you see the statue of Prometheus at the entrance. You see a 
Panel overview sign, a Tequila Sunrise, and an albatross here. pasta is 
here.
s
>>>Jugglers communication wristwatch beeps softly. <<< 

The Entrance
You are in the entrance of the emoryMOO world. The entrance is a large 
plaza with a tall statue of an angry looking man in the middle. Hallways 
lead in four directions. Directly [north] is the conference center. To 
the [west] lies the library and [east] is the entertainment area. If you 
are new here and especially if you never used a MOO before go [south] to 
the information area. Somebody hung a bulletin board on the statue's big 
toe. Fixed only with leather straps it gently sways left and right. You 
can {look at board} or {list board}.
You see a Bulletin board on Prometheus' big toe and a statue here. 
SamanthaW is here.
e
The Entertainment Areas
The eastern part of emoryMOO contains rooms to relax or to meet and chat 
in a very informal way. [West] from here you can see the [entrance]. 
Directly [east] is the Tea and Coffee room and it seems there are even 
more rooms further east. One of the walls here is scribbled all over with 
graffiti! Have a {look at the graffiti}!
The exit [east] seems to be used quite often. You see a Big Board of 
Happenings here.
e
The Tea and Coffee Room
You are in a strange room. A part of it looks like an old-fashioned 
english tea room with mahogany tables and Chesterfield sofas, another 
part is more like a Viennese 'Kaffeehaus' where people meet to chat and 
read the newspapers. Yet another part looks like the interior of a 
bedouin tent where heavily sweetened peppermint tea is served. 
Newspapers, books and other reading materials are scattered all over the 
room -- some of them happened to land on the bookshelf where they belong. 
Have a {look at the bookshelf}. There may be interesting stuff there. 
Through the [north] door you catch a glimpse of the Opium Den and [south] 
seems to be a Pub. The [west] door leads back towards the entrance. The 
exits [west] and [north] seem to be used above average. You see a 
drinking cup, a Box of muffins, and a messy bookshelf here. 

s

The Davy Byrne's Pub
This is one of the famous pubs in town. Have a beer, a chat with friends, 
... Enjoy.
And if you don't enjoy any more or you left your darling at home, waiting 
for you - the exit is to the [north]...
On one of the walls, there is a large polished mirror. At the bar, there 
are three taps: one for Guinness stout, one for Smithwick's brown ale, 
one for Harp lager. Good stuff, folks! Oh, and there is a small sign that 
says: "Sorry, due to repair works no beer can be served right now - 
please bring your own and enjoy the atmosphere, anyway - Jim O'Duncan, 
licensed publican" 

You see a Pub review, a 8-Ball, and a Poor Thing here. Mark, MichaelO, 
and Carole are here.


Juggler smiles

You say, "well - that was not sooo bad after all, huh?" 

You [to Carole]: btw: I logged the whole discussion on a file so we can 
make a web page out of it

MichaelO says, "Pretty interesting stuff that was talked about in the 
conference rrom!"

>>>Jugglers communication wristwatch chimes softly. <<< 

RobertC arrives from the Tea and Coffee room. 

Carole [to you]: good deal!