The roots of MOOs lie with the online gaming community. EduMOOs are far from games. A biology teacher at DU has created a prokaryote which students can look at, touch, and play with. Most students feel that using the MOO is play, and researchers note that when an attitude of play is adopted in learning activities, engagement and learning are enhanced. The creation of these projects requires little computer expertise, as most of the work is done through writing.
MOOs are predominantly text-based environments.
Students who MOO will spend hours reading and writing each day. As there are MOOs in every major Western language, MOOs are excellent for foreign language learning. I often visit MundoHispano, a Spanish MOO, to practice and improve my Spanish. These are held every Sunday, 8pm EDT at Diversity University. The first Sunday of every night is Newby Night, a chance for educators new to the MOO to ask questions and meet with experienced MOOing teachers.