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I fell in love last night…with Moshi Monsters ( http://www.moshimonsters.com/ )! It is the cutest virtual world I have ever visited. It allows the player to pick one of six monsters to interact with in the Moshi world. To personalize the monster, the user gets to change the main color and add one accent color. Next, Moshi has a set of user rules everyone must agree to use the virtual world (see image below). The next screen has a Monstro City Adoption Paper, which includes your user name, password, age and email typed in twice. Moshi sends a confirmation email and you must wait for it before you can ‘enter’ the world. The next window that pops-up congratulates you and tell you to check your email. This email also tells you your owner name along with what kind of free stuff you will receive when you enter the world to help get you started. When you receive the Moshi email, you click on the link provided and the link takes you to the ‘monster’ world. Once there, a dialogue box pops-up and asks you to name your monster. Once the monster is named; it receives a house, food and Rox (money that looks like gems in Moshi world). You and your monster can explore a limited area for free, earn Rox by playing educational games and communicate with other ‘monsters.’

Moshi’s makes this statement on its Parent’s page, “We want to reassure you that the three core elements at the very heart of the Moshi Monsters experience are FUN, EDUCATION and SAFETY.” However, the finally selling point for me as a parent and an educator is the ‘thought’ behind it. When you look at the Parent’s page it is very reassuring on various levels, limited social networking, educational games, tracking compliance of rules, etc., but when I played the games…I had to think for myself…they were not boring or slow paced. The games are challenging and keep you on your toes. The games on Moshi are games like I watch high school students gravitate to naturally, if they see someone else playing it and they want to try it out for themselves.

As for use in the classroom, this is the best environment I’ve seen to introduce students, safely, to the virtual world. I’ve seen the Club Penguin (Moshi Monsters can be upgraded for about the same price) and I’ve seen Build-A-Bear.com, I feel this one is the best of them all. I don’t think Moshi is limited to elementary students. I feel a lot of high school level students could benefit from being exposed to it as well. Plus Facebook even has Super Poke Pet and I find adults are playing it. I showed Moshi Monsters to my daughter, who is a senior in high school, and she can’t wait to make an account for herself. Check it out; I think you and your students will fall in love too!