Do You Really Want a Revolution? CyberTheory Meets Real-Life Pedagogical Practice in FrankenMOO and the Conventional Literature Classroom

This paper is a case study in the pedagogical uses of literary MOOs in a discussion-based undergraduate literature classroom. Student responses to experiences in the author's FrankenMOO, a MOO based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, test the revolutionary pedagogical promises of cybertext theorists like N. Katherine Hayles, David Bennahum, and Espen Aarseth. This paper examines cybertext theory's relationship with older reader-response theory of Roland Barthes and Wolfgang Iser as a basis for understanding the ways current theoretical approaches to interactive electronic hypertext environments succeed or fail to revolutionize pedagogy and actual classroom practice. The paper highlights practical approaches to using literary MOOs to enhance student learning.