========================================================================= Date: Thu, 19 Jan 1995 09:49:31 -0500 Reply-To: Journal of Virtual Reality In Education Complete Journal Sender: Journal of Virtual Reality In Education Complete Journal From: Dick Banks Subject: From the Founder of Diversity University @Copyright DUJVRE and Jeanne gsswky@menudo.uh.edu 1994 3 DU Administrator's Message and DU Mission Statement by Jeanne gsswky@menudo.uh.edu DIVERSTIY UNIVERSITY WELCOME MESSAGE Welcome to the Diversity University Journal of Virtual Reality Education(DUJVRE)! I can't tell you how excited I am about Donald actually making this happen since it's been in my dreams ever since Diversity University(DU) was started. All of us who work on educational M**s(MOOs or MUDs, two types of real time text based conferencing systems) are painfully familiar with the accusatory phrase, hurled at us by some people that says, "M**s are just games! Dungeons and Dragons, with no redeeming value.". This journal will help dispell that myth. The DUJVRE will be a scholarly refereed journal which will present articles, research, observations, insights and dreams regarding the provision of education of all kinds via a VR environment. Currently, we are primarily looking at the text-based environment called a MUD but do not intend to limit ourselves to this type. DUJVRE will provide information about other projects going on in this field thus bringing us all closer together and will allow individuals working on similar or parallel projects to collaborate if they wish. DUJVRE also will contain articles on how this medium impacts on individuals. In future editions you will read how DU and other MUDs are being redesigned in sometimes apparently invisible ways to better serve people with disabilities and by people you might never expect. You will be touched as I was by Samantha's article "How I lost 20 pounds on the New MOO Diet", an account of how the ability of the MUD environment to provide accomodation had a vital impact on the physical life of a person. Dr. Zenhausern's article in this issue sheds considerable light on a disability that many of use who swear by computers may even have and not realize. Computers can be used as assistive devices in more ways than most of us realize. As within any academic community, there are differences between the approaches of individual VR educators. Our journal intends to include as many of these as possible. I hope we can focus on matching the approach to the medium, subject or learning style rather than declaring any one approach to be "the" solution. The variety of learning styles I have encountered only serves to reinforce my belief that there is no best approach to teaching or learning, only the best way to teach this subject to this learner. In December I was privileged to attend a gathering of individuals in Boston who are also working towards using MUDs in education. The purpose of the MUDshop, as it was called, was to bring together as a community, people who have been working, up to this point, in isolation from each other. It was interesting to note that of the many people the committee members recommended to attend, that only Pavel Curtis was mentioned by more than one person. One thing that became crystal clear at this ARPA-sponsored workshop was the desperate need for statistical support for what we are doing. To generate valid and reliable data, research must be replicated and this is one reason to bring this community together. It is our hope that this journal will be one way to do that. Jeanne gsswky@menudo.uh.edu 4 DIVERSITY UNIVERSITY MISSION STATEMENT Our mission is to develop, support and maintain creative and innovative environments and tools for learning and research through the Internet and other distributed computing systems, and to guide and educate people in the use of these and other tools, to foster collaboration in a synergistic climate, and to explore and utilize applications of emerging technology to these ends in a manner friendly to people who are disabled, geographically isolated or technologically limited. Author: Jeanne McWhorter gsswky@menudo.uh.edu Chief Executive Diversity University