MOOSE Crossing:

Construction, Community, and Learning

in a Networked Virtual World for Kids

by

Amy Susan Bruckman

Bachelor of Arts, Physics (1987)

Harvard University
Master of Science in Visual Studies, Interactive Cinema (1991)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

SUBMITTED TO THE PROGRAM IN MEDIA ARTS AND SCIENCES,

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

June 1997

© Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997. All Rights Reserved

Author_______________________________________________
Program in Media Arts and Sciences
March 17th, 1997

Certified by_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Mitchel Resnick
Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Accepted by_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Stephen A. Benton
Chair, Departmental Committee on Graduate Students
Program in Media Arts and Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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MOOSE Crossing:
Construction, Community, and Learning
in a Networked Virtual World for Kids
by

Amy Susan Bruckman

SUBMITTED TO THE PROGRAM IN MEDIA ARTS AND SCIENCES,
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING ON MARCH 17, 1997,
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

ABSTRACT
In research about the Internet, too much attention is paid to its ability to provide access to
information. This thesis argues that the Internet can be used not just as a conduit for
information, but as a context for learning through community-supported collaborative
construction. A ÒconstructionistÓ approach to use of the Internet makes particularly good use of
its educational potential. The Internet provides opportunities to move beyond the creation of
constructionist tools and activities to the creation of Òconstructionist cultures.Ó

These issues are explored through a specific example: MOOSE Crossing, a text-based virtual
world (or ÒMUDÓ) designed to be a constructionist learning environment for children ages 8 to
13. On MOOSE Crossing, children have constructed a virtual world together, making new
places, objects, and creatures. Kids have made baby penguins that respond differently to five
kinds of food, fortune tellers who predict the future, and the place at the end of the rainbowÑ
answer a riddle, and you get the pot of gold.

This thesis discusses the design principles underlying a new programming language (MOOSE)
and client interface (MacMOOSE) designed to make it easier for children to learn to program on
MOOSE Crossing. It presents a detailed analysis, using an ethnographic methodology, of
children's activities and learning experiences on MOOSE Crossing, with special focus on seven
children who participated in a weekly after-school program from October 1995 through
February 1997.

In its analysis of children's activities, this thesis explores the relationship between
construction and community. It describes how the MOOSE Crossing children motivated and
supported one another's learning experiences: community provided support for learning through
design and construction. Conversely, construction activities helped to create a particularly
special, intellectually engaging sort of community. Finally, it argues that the design of all
virtual communities, not just those with an explicitly educational focus, can be enhanced by a
constructionist approach.

Thesis Supervisor: Mitchel Resnick

Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

This work was performed at the MIT Media Laboratory. Support for this work was provided by
AT&T, British Telecom, Digital Equipment Corporation, Gruppo Grauso, Interval Research,
The LEGO Group, The National Science Foundation (grant 9358519-RED), the Media LabÕs
News in the Future Consortium, Nintendo, and Telecom Italia.
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Doctoral Dissertation Committee

Thesis Advisor_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Mitchel Resnick
Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Thesis Reader_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Pavel Curtis
Principal Architect
PlaceWare, Inc.

Thesis Reader_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Henry Jenkins
Director, Program in Film and Media Studies
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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In memory of
my grandmothers:

Florence Fox Bruckman

Norma Brodney Cohen
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Acknowledgments
A number of people deserve not just thanks, but direct credit for some of the
work this thesis represents. In particular, much of the intellectual work of
this thesis took place in conversations with my advisor, Mitchel Resnick.
Mitch has been not just a great advisor, but a great friend.

A number of MIT Undergraduates worked on the project under the auspices

of MITÕs Undergraduate Research Opportunities Project (UROP). The UROP
program is one of the best parts of being at MIT. Working on the MacMOOSE
client in chronological order were: Greg Hudson, Adam Skwersky, Steve
Tamm, Jon Heiner, and Drew Samnick. Steve Shapiro handled the port to
JavaMOOSE. Special thanks are due to Steve Tamm for sticking with the
project over time, and working hard to support his successors on the
development team.

On the server and people side, Albert Lin helped with the launch of
MediaMOO, and with early work on MOOSE Crossing. Trevor Stricker
helped with the MOOSE language design, wrote the server modifications for
data collection, and kept the kids laughing. Austina Vainius helped with
every aspect of the project, including writing documentation, designing
objects for the MOOSE Crossing world, helping with revisions of the MOOSE
language and client based on feedback from kids, and taking terrific notes on
the kidsÕ learning experiences. She has spent countless hours working with
children online. One visitor to a MOOSE-Crossing classroom commented
that telling the kids he had met Austina was like admitting he knew Elvis.

A number of people gave thoughtful comments on drafts of this thesis. IÕd

like to single out Danny Bobrow and Carol Strohecker in particular, for giving
me some new ways to think about things. Other extremely helpful
comments came from Andy Begel, Aaron Brandes, Justine Cassell, Mark
Guzdial, Greg Kimberly, Jon Orwant, David Shaffer, Vanessa Stevens,
Michael Travers, Austina Vainius, and Terry Winograd. My advisor Mitch
Resnick read each chapter of this document two to four times, carefully each
time. My thesis readers Pavel Curtis and Henry Jenkins provided lots of
helpful feedback.

Pavel Curtis wrote the MOO software, on top of which MOOSE is built. He
made a number of modifications to MOO to make MOOSE possible. Special
thanks to Pavel for being a diligent thesis reader despite having other tiny
little things like a startup company to worry about.

Henry Jenkins is an inspiration in all of his work. I thank Henry for

reminding me to believe not just in active readers, but in the basic creativity
and intelligence of people.
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Sherry Turkle taught me how to think about how people relate to media. It
was Sherry who encouraged me that thinking about MUDs and peopleÕs
relationships to them and within them was a topic worthy of intellectual
study.

Brian Silverman gets a gold star for being there to help me pull the technical
pieces together. One afternoon in 1994, I tickled Boo Boo Bear and then went
to get a cup of coffee while I waited for him to laugh. That was when I
realized we had some serious performance problems. Brian helped me tear
the system apart and put the pieces back together more efficiently.

Glorianna Davenport, my masterÕs thesis advisor, gave me the chance to be at

the Media Lab in the first place, and has continued to support my work.

IÕd like to thank members of the Media LabÕs narrative-intelligence reading

group for helping to create a greater sense of intellectual community at the
lab. Other communities that have helped sustain my MIT experience are the
AI Lab dance group, and the thirsty-magic gang.

Michael Maier made the nifty moose icon used on the

MacMOOSE application and other parts of the MOOSE
Crossing project.

Jon Callas, Randy Farmer, and Dean Tribble contributed

ideas to the design of the MOOSE language. Developing a
friendship with Randy online has probably been my best personal experience
with use of this medium. IÕve benefited greatly from all of RandyÕs
experience from Habitat and beyond.

IÕd like to thank Brenda Laurel, Howard Rheingold, and Sandy Stone for
existing. And for having more faith in my work than I deserve.

Thanks to the members of MediaMOO and MOOSE Crossing for making

these projects happen. On MediaMOO, special thanks to members of
MediaMOOÕs Membership Advisory Committee for all their time, especially
Michael Day, Randy Farmer, Beth Kolko, and Diane Maluso. Thanks to Tari
Fanderclai and Greg Siering for organizing The Tuesday CafŽ. Finally, thanks
to all of MediaMOOÕs volunteer janitorial staff, especially Judy Anderson,
Gustavo Glusman, and Seth Rich.

On MOOSE Crossing, special thanks are due to the children who participated
in the Media LabÕs MOOSE Crossing after-school program, and to their
parentsÑfor letting me study their children, and for transporting them to and
from the lab each week for almost a year and a half. IÕd also like to thank
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residents of The Pond area of the lab for putting up with the noise and the
litter of empty hot-chocolate cups each Monday. Special thanks are also due
to the teachers who brought MOOSE Crossing into their classrooms, especially
BJ Conn, Andrea Martin, and Richard Smyth. I hope it was worth the effort.

Thanks to members of the Epistemology and Learning Group for being such a
great group of people to learn and play with. Special thanks to my officemate
David Cavallo for many long conversations about the meaning of it all, and
for putting up with my mess.

Thanks to Jon Orwant for moral and emotional support, emergency Perl
scripting, and sharing his Nintendo 64.

Finally, thanks to my family: Mom and Bernie; Dad and Mari, Danielle,
Alicia, Rachael, Lucy, and Yikes. Not to mention Gilda and Judy; Betty,
Midge, and Drew. For everything.
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Table of Contents

Abstract...........................................................................................................................3

Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................7

Table of Contents .........................................................................................................10

1. Introduction: MOOSE Crossing .......................................................13

1.1 An Evening at The Crossing .............................................................13
1.2 Construction and Community .........................................................16
1.3 What is a MUD?................................................................................... 19
1.3.1 MUD History.........................................................................................19
1.3.2 Personas .................................................................................................20
1.3.3 Places.......................................................................................................22
1.3.4 Objects.....................................................................................................25
1.4 Prior Work: MediaMOO....................................................................27
1.5 The MOOSE Crossing Project............................................................27
1.6 Outline ...................................................................................................30

2. The Day After Net Day: Approaches to Educational Use of

the Internet............................................................................................33
2.1 The Hype and the Reality...................................................................33
2.2 Distance Education ..............................................................................35
2.3 Information Retrieval ........................................................................37
2.3.1 Children Accessing Controversial Information ...........................38
2.4 Knowledge-Building Communities................................................40
2.4.1 Global Science.......................................................................................40
2.4.2 CSILE.......................................................................................................42
2.4.3 Professional Communities................................................................43
2.4.4 Real-Time Writing..............................................................................46
2.5 Technological Samba Schools...........................................................47
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3. Designing Enabling Technologies: The MOOSE Language

and the MacMOOSE Client................................................................53
3.1 The Need for a New Language .........................................................53
3.2 The Design of the MOOSE Language...............................................56
3.2.1 A Gently-Sloping Learning Curve...................................................58
3.2.2 Intuitive Simplicity Versus Formal Elegance ...............................59
3.2.3 Be Forgiving..........................................................................................64
3.2.4 Leveraging Natural-Language Knowledge ....................................65
3.2.5 Avoid Non-Alphanumeric Characters........................................... 68
3.2.6 Make Essential Info Visible and Easily Changeable .....................72
3.2.7 ItÕs OK to have Limited Functionality.............................................74
3.2.8 Hide Nasty Things Under the Bed...................................................75
3.2.9 A Design Philosophy...........................................................................77
3.3 The Need for a New Programming Environment ......................78
3.4 The Design of the MacMOOSE Client .............................................80
3.4.1 A Tour of MacMOOSE........................................................................81
3.4.2 Equal Access for Few Versus Unequal Access for Many .............88
3.5 Designing Empowering Technologies ............................................89

4. Collaborative Learning Strategies: StormÕs Weekend with

Rachael...................................................................................................91
4.1 StormÕs Weekend with Rachael.......................................................91
4.2 Friday: Diving In.................................................................................93
4.3 Saturday: Independent Progress ......................................................102
4.4 Sunday: More Mutual Reinforcement...........................................105
4.5 Monday: Camaraderie Combats Frustration................................108
4.6 Tuesday: Collaboration......................................................................110
4.7 Seven Months Later: Meeting Face to Face....................................114
4.8 Conclusion: Integrating Technological and Social
Contexts..................................................................................................116

5. Community Support for Construction...........................................119

5.1 UziÕs Frustration ..................................................................................119
5.2 Pilot Study: Programming for Fun ..................................................120
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5.3 ÒDid You Really Make This?Ó: The Importance of Role

Models....................................................................................................124
5.4 Situated, Ubiquitous Project Models ...............................................126
5.5 Emotional and Technical Support...................................................128
5.6 An Appreciative Audience................................................................135
5.7 Local Community and Online Community..................................145
5.8 An Extended Example: Lady's First Script.....................................149

6. Constructionist Culture......................................................................159
6.1 A Felicitous Type of Community.....................................................159
6.2 ÒTelevision Fans and Participatory CultureÓ ................................159
6.3 Objects of Construction.......................................................................160
6.4 Worlds Made by Their Inhabitants..................................................166
6.5 Sharing Scarce Resources...................................................................168
6.6 Believing in Users ...............................................................................170
6.7 Construction and Community .........................................................172

7. Conclusion: Constructionism and Virtual Communities .........175

7.1 Open Research Questions ..................................................................175
7.1.1 The Social Implications of Distributed Systems............................175
7.1.2 The Cognitive Implications of Graphical Media ..........................176
7.1.3 Gender, Technology, and Learning Styles......................................178
7.2 Contributions........................................................................................183

Appendix: Five ChildrenÕs Creations ..................................................................187

Goofy.........................................................................................................................188
Mouse.......................................................................................................................189
Angela ......................................................................................................................212
Werdna ....................................................................................................................213
Rowena ....................................................................................................................219

Bibliography..................................................................................................................224