The Interview was captured with a virtual video camera which recorded all of the dialog and gestures. The tape was then played back on Pei's TV and VCR. A wonderful event follows.
[on Pei's TV] ***********************************
[on Pei's TV] ** C a m p M a r i M U S E **
[on Pei's TV] ** An Interview with the staff **
[on Pei's TV] ** of the first virtual **
[on Pei's TV] ** Computer Camp **
[on Pei's TV] ***********************************
[on Pei's TV]
[on Pei's TV] . . . the camera pans left to right over
Pei's Studio
[on Pei's TV] A cozy corner with two comfortable sofas
aranged for conversation in front of a large
picture of a schoolhouse. Curiously, the
walls of the schoolhouse appear to be
transparent. There is a copy of Tuesday's
*New York Times* on an end table.
[on Pei's TV] Lila smiles at the camera
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "I'm here with a few friends today
to talk about a project that they have been
involved in this summer, Camp MariMUSE. I
call them friends although I have never met
them face-to-face, and don't even know the
sounds of their voices. Yet I have
profoundly enjoyed their companionship by
interacting not only with their words, but
with their imaginations, and -- most
importantly to this interview -- with their
innovation."
[on Pei's TV] Pei turns to the rest of the group.
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "Hi, Pei"
[on Pei's TV] Avalon looks toward Pei, pleased to be
here.
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Why don't we start with my guests
introducing them selves."
[on Pei's TV] Woody waves to TV land
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K giggles
[on Pei's TV] Lila says, ""I am Lila on the MariMuse, a
volunteer for the project. I am a student
at Phoenix college, a returning student"
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "I am Billie Hughes aka Avalon
on MariMUSE. I worked with the team that
first brought Muse to Phoenix College."
[on Pei's TV] Pei senses that another member of the
MariMUSE team is looking for them and
disappears suddenly for parts unknown.
[on Pei's TV] Lila waits for Pei to return
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "I am Miss-K on the Muse, and
Susan Oram in RL (Real life) -- the school
librarian at Longview Elementary School. "
[on Pei's TV] Pei has arrived.
[on Pei's TV] Wlad materializes out of thin air.
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Hi Wlad!"
[on Pei's TV] Woody says, "I am Rod Brashear, Woody on
Marimuse. I am a student at Arizona State
Universtiy-West and also work for the
Arizona Department of Education. I
volunteered to be involved with the Longview
project."
[on Pei's TV] Lila waves to Wlad, and thinks she has seen
him before ;)"
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "Hi, Wlad"
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Wlad, would you introduce
yourself?"
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "Hi, and I am Jim Walters. I
work at Pheonix College and am intensely
interested in this medium."
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Is that everyone?"
[on Pei's TV] Lila thinks that is all for the moment,
Platoon will join us later"
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "Thanks"
[on Pei's TV] Avalon turns toward Pei,anticipating a
question."
[on Pei's TV] Pei reads from his clipboard, then faces
Avalon.
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Avalon, would you begin by
explaining how Camp MariMUSE came to be?"
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "Wlad and I were in the library
one day when the Dean walked in. We were
excited about what Muse was doing for our
college students. She suggested we do a
summer camp for kids."
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "We jumped at the chance and
the rest is history."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "Avalon had heard a rumor that
Joanne, the principal at Longview, might be
supportive of a technology linked proposal.
So we set out to meet with her."
[on Pei's TV] Pei turns to Wlad.
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Wlad, what exactly went into
setting up a virtual environment?"
[on Pei's TV] Avalon looks at Wlad, fully awary of all of
the work that involved.
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "First we explored virtual worlds
in MicroMUSE at MIT."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "Then we brought in the code and
began to build from the basic one room MUSE.
:)"
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K can hardly believe it all began in
one room."
[on Pei's TV] Avalon adds that Greg Swan, a colleague at
Mesa Community College helped us compile the
code.
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "IT involves building the
community as well as structuring how to
develop the database. - What metaphor will
be followed, and a lot of things up front."
[on Pei's TV] Woody says, "wlad and Av planted a seed and
didn't realize how big the tree would be.
[on Pei's TV] Avalon grins knowing the Woody is right. We
had no idea how big and wonderful this would
be.
[on Pei's TV] Lila says, "...and still growing!"
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "it's rather like falling into
the rabbit's hole with Alice."
[on Pei's TV] Pei grins with understanding
[on Pei's TV] Lila laughs at the rabbit hole analogy
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "So it began as an environment for
college student?"
[on Pei's TV] Avalon nods about it beginning as an
environment for college students.
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "We did try to start with the
basis that it could accommidate learners of
all ages."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "But college students were the
group we began with because that was the
group we had access to."
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Was the MUSE part of a particular
class?"
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "We tried it first with our own
students, but always dreamed of a huge one
room school for learners of all ages."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "The dream is starting to come
true, isn't it?"
[on Pei's TV] Lila nods agreement
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "We took some risks in bringing
in some of our own students, then to try to
offer a class entirely in this environment."
[on Pei's TV] Avalon nods in agreement with Wlad.
[on Pei's TV] Pei looks at his watch.
[on Pei's TV] Pei turns to Miss-K.
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Miss-K, Could you describe some
of the landmarks of MariMUSE that your
campers saws when they first entered the
MUSE?"
[on Pei's TV] Woody notices sweat on the brow of Miss-k.
[on Pei's TV] Lila hands Miss-K a tissue
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K smiles sickly!
[on Pei's TV] Pei reaches over and touches Miss-K's hand!
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "Well, we went to Lady
Starlight's castle first. "
[on Pei's TV] Pei 's eyes widen with excitment.
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "We also visited some of the
places the first group of campers had
created. Also, Some of the campers spent
quite a lot of time in an amusement park."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "A couple of the volunteers had
created a space station that was the initial
home of all the Longview campers."
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Tell me about the students who
participated in Camp MariMUSE?"
[on Pei's TV] Woody says, "Do you want a feel for what
they were like in RL, when they entered the
room?"
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Yes!"
[on Pei's TV] Avalon sits back listening to those who were
with the children the most to talk.
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "Well, it was quite a mixed
group of children. Our school is very
multi-ethnic and those groups were
represented at the camp."
[on Pei's TV] Avalon looks at Miss-K remembering just how
diverse the group really was.
[on Pei's TV] Lila remembers being surprised at the young
ages.
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "The kids were all going into
the fourth, fifth or sixth grade."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "The children who attended were
children who were definitely at-risk for
failure in school either because of their
back grounds or skills. They were chosen by
the teachers at Longview on the basis of who
we thought might benefit the most. "
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "The first day of camp was an
exciting day. Students had heard exciting
rumors and were very eager, with a bit of
confusion and trepidation, to come to a
college and work with the MUSE."
[on Pei's TV] Platoon materializes out of thin air.
[on Pei's TV] Platoon says, "HI Pei, sorry I interrupted"
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Platoon, my man! gime five!"
[on Pei's TV] Platoon ^5's Pei
[on Pei's TV] Platoon sits back and listens
[on Pei's TV] Woody says, "The first couple of days the
children were very quite and shy. After the
comfort level was attained the kids were
conversing in the muse and RL with real
excitement and interest"
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "They seemed very young, and shy
and seemed to be wondering why they were
here, but then they got started began having
fun."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K nods.
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "How did the students first
approach the text-based virtual environment?
What was their early reaction?"
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "On the first day, I heard
whispers of, "This is dumb." By the end of
the first session, all the campers agreed it
was about the coolest thing they had ever
done."
[on Pei's TV] Lila recalls the excitement of the children
when they left for the bus, how anxious they
were to come back the secondday."
[on Pei's TV] Lila recalls how quickly the children became
conscious of correct spelling"
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "How was their keyboarding?"
[on Pei's TV] Lila "That varied but was as a whole not
good.
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "It was very slow at first.
But they were extremely motivated to learn
keyboarding and worked very hard at it."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "Some had some familiarity with
the keyboard, but others were one finger
typers at first."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "Some students had had a
keyboarding class but only became interested
once we began the camp."
[on Pei's TV] Lila says, "By the end of the camp, great
progress in keyboarding had been made."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "I had worried that the ones who
couldn't keyboard might become discouraged
and quit, but they just hung in and their
skills kept improving."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "Even this morning some kids
were asking about getting back on the system
so they wouldn't lose their keyboarding
skills."
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Those of you who were volunteers,
how did you assist the campers and what sort
of impact did this experience have on you
personally?"
[on Pei's TV] Platoon says, "My best the very best
experience I had was when I started paging
some of the campers and ask them if they
need help...and they responded where are
you...and i said that I am kinda far away
from you...they couldn't imagine that "
[on Pei's TV] Lady Starlight materializes out of thin air.
[on Pei's TV] Platoon says, "I thought that was so cool to
have to convince them that I am about 20
miles away from them"
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "She was having difficulty with
him being in the scame virtual room with
her."
[on Pei's TV] Lila says, "To build on Platoon's comments,
one child initially refused to believe a
volunteer was really in California."
[on Pei's TV] Pei smiles
[on Pei's TV] Lady Starlight says, "And another looked for
a volunteer in the disk drive."
[on Pei's TV] Pei laughs and laughs and laughs
[on Pei's TV] Wlad ecalls one student looking in the disk
drive slot trying to see Angus."
[on Pei's TV] Lila laughs at the rememberence
[on Pei's TV] Platoon says, " I think those kids had a
life time experience in that camp that they
will never forget"
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "This program was enormously
motivating to me as a teacher. "
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "What, exactly,
did the MariMUSE campers do on a daily
basis?"
[on Pei's TV] Woody pulls out his muse curriculum daily
guide.
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "every day the students were
asked to complete a journal entry. They
also wrote at least one article per week for
the newsletter. They were also responsible
for doing some creating in the MUSE."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad recalls some of the homework and how
serious the students were about getting
together their descriptions and setting
their character names.
[on Pei's TV] Azure_Guest says, "What amazed me was that
they were so unwilling to leave for break."
[on Pei's TV] Woody adds that they felt three hours was
too short of a day on the muse.
[on Pei's TV] Lila says, "Do you remember how Ginji would
go home, make her sister help her research
so the cave could be exactly what she
wanted?
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "At the end of the first week,
the students were wanting to come in over
the weekend, knowing they could get someone
to bring them here."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "Yes, Ginji is especially eager
to get started again. She asks every day."
[on Pei's TV] Woody snickers happily at the Ginji comment.
[on Pei's TV] Lady Starlight says, "They were all very
proud of their work."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "Ginji wears her Phoenix
College t-shirt often."
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "Above all, we learned that
this medium was exciting to students, it
captivated them despite its text-base. And,
they could handle the coding. They were
reading and writing for 3 hours a day,
thinking and problem solving, and loving
it."
[on Pei's TV] Woody says, "It taped the intrinsic
motivation of all the persons connected to
the program. Students Teachers, and
volunteers."
[on Pei's TV] Pei nods
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Have the kids come back to school
yet? If so, what are they saying about the
MUSE now?"
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "Everyday I am asked, WHEN can
I come back on line?"
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "The children are eager to get
back on-line and are stating that they have
projects to work on, and they really want to
check their mail."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "I called all the MUSE kids
into the library this morning and they were
all talking at once. They did not want to
leave to go back to class."
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "We believe we are just seeing
the tip of the iceberg. We believe we are
on the wave of the future. This medium is a
window to a new way of learning."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K agrees heartily with Av.
[on Pei's TV] Avalon looks at Miss-K remembering the child
who said, You don't think I am stupid, do
you.
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "The kids are so proud of the
NY Times article. They all want copies of
it."
[on Pei's TV] Woody says, "We assisted the campers on an
entusiastic, caring, proactive level. And
because we were projecting such a
personality the children emulated this
eagerness to their classmates in the muse."
[on Pei's TV] Pei nods in understanding
[on Pei's TV] Lady Starlight pats Woody on the head.
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "How did the parents react to Camp
MariMUSE?"
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "We had an enormous turn out on
the parent day. We were amazed. The
parents are especially proud of their
children. I think it raises their self-
esteem too."
[on Pei's TV] Lila says, "Many parents had to take off
work, with no pay, to attend any function to
which they were invited. Such as
graduation"
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "Some even rode over on the
school bus to be here."
[on Pei's TV] Woody says, "When the parents first met with
us, PC volunteers and Wlad, There was a very
small turn out. After the camp was over
there was almost 100 percent parent
participation."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "I loved watching Wlad
interacting with the little brothers and
sisters on graduation day."
[on Pei's TV] Lila says, "Running Wind's parents went to
great lengths to attend graduation, were/are
VERY proud of him and his accomplishments."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "And parents who had never heard
their children talk about what they were
doing at school were getting rave reviews
and daily updates on the camp activities."
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "We had the superintendent who
was amazed at the children's creativity and
the amount of writing they did. We also had
state representatives who felt the
excitement. And we had parents who knew
their kids were really excited about
learning."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "On graduation day, it really
felt like one big family celebration."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad laughs remembering how he tryed to help
Running wind while entertaining two of his
younger relatives.
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "Remember, this was only a 3
week camp. All of this happened in 3 short
weeks."
[on Pei's TV] Lila shakes her head, and says, "Hard to
believe we did all that in 3 weeks."
[on Pei's TV] Pei 's heart is full!
[on Pei's TV] Woody says, "3 weeks that were like three
hours. Time flew."
[on Pei's TV] Woody throws time out the door.
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Were there any real surprises?"
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "It seemed like a magical
time."
[on Pei's TV] Lady Starlight nods.
[on Pei's TV] Lila says, "I was very impressed with the
increase in global awareness."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "I was blown away by the
research that the students initiated!"
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "One of the other teachers
committed this week about how important it
was for these kids to see the volunteers
from the college working at jobs,
volunteering, and going to school. It
helped them see they could go to college
too."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "But it was also like a whole
other lifetime for some of the kids. a
magical time with fantacy, adventure,
approval and a feeling of being peers with
college folks and other adults."
[on Pei's TV] Avalon smiles, very happy that all of this
happened.
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "It was a time of being
completely accepted."
[on Pei's TV] Avalon grins at Miss-K.
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "They felt accepted for who
they were, with no strings attached."
[on Pei's TV] Lila nods in agreement
[on Pei's TV] Platoon says, "it was a time of beeing
equal"
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K says, "Actually, I still get misty
eyed about it. "
[on Pei's TV] Avalon hands an embroried hankie to Miss-K.
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K giggles
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "What plans do you have for the
future of MariMUSE?"
[on Pei's TV] Avalon has been assigned to work on grant
writing and assessment so we can continue
and can learn as we procede into the future.
This is a major commitment from the college
to a very important project.
[on Pei's TV] Woody boogies about the future.
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "By the 15th of September, we
should have 12 terminals installed at
Longview for the students to use. There
will be a 9600 baud modem line to the
college. We know that the equipment will
work with that speed. We want something
that will work right away, so that we can
get the kids back on-line."
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K squeals in delight
[on Pei's TV] Pei applauds
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K will never get anything done once
those terminals are in!
[on Pei's TV] Pei rolls over laughing
[on Pei's TV] Lila laughs and thinks about Miss K darting
about from terminal to terminal
[on Pei's TV] Avalon grins and grins and grins with
excitement about the future.
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K wrings her hands thinking of so much
to do and so little time.
[on Pei's TV] Avalon says, "We have very strong support
from the Longview, Phoenix College and the
district offices to continue and build on
this."
[on Pei's TV] Wlad says, "Osborn School District is also
thrilled about this project."
[on Pei's TV] Pei looks at his watch and turns back to the
camera.
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Viewers...I am speechless!"
[on Pei's TV] Miss-K smiles
[on Pei's TV] Pei says, "Except to say that I am deeply
moved by these people and what they have
accomplished this summer. It is impossible
to know all the consequences of how they and
the experiences they have provided have
touched the lives of a handful of children
this summer. Or how the technologies and
techniques they are pioneering will effect
lives in the future. But my bet is that it
is enourmous."
[on Pei's TV] From MediaMOO, this is Pei saying "good
night!"