CALL’s Hot Potato Reflection

Inpotatoduction

It has been 3 weeks since I started using Hot Potato. I really enjoyed a lot in using this software because creating it is as much fun as testing it. So far I have learned how to use JMix, JMatch, and JCloze. To me, it is one of the simplest web-based teaching exercise around, since I can do many types of web-based exercise within a short space of time. Before this, it would take years for me to do that silly html coding thingy. Then came this new breed of potato. Of course, it is not easy at first, but with the right guidance from the lecturer, it is as simple as baking a potato. There are three basic things in this potato, which are questions, answers and responses. Once done with these three things, it’s time to make it pretty and interesting with colors and pictures. So simple.

As a student, we are used to do online exercises from websites, but making one is a different thing. It is like a gamer who had the chance to create his own game. As in the common tagline in pc gaming industry, ‘For Gamers, By Gamers’. To be able to create a good game, we too need to be in the game. I think HotPotato as one kind of a game, since it is interactive and fun. Anything which is interactive and fun, is a game for me. Of course, having the freedom to mash the potato into our own mould is an extra motivator. I never knew that I could make one of my own, after years of eating it in KFC. But why the name is HotPotato is beyond me. Probably because the company’s name is halfbaked software, and they could not find any other ingredients that can be as easily mashed as potato’s. Potato is the staple food in many countries anyway.

Potatospective

Before this, we used to create exercise and worksheet based on the free templates and samples found in books. This time, we could see and relish the fun in making it from scratch through a computer. We can create many kinds of potato, whether it is wedges, mashed, french fries, etc. It is fun because we have the freedom to design our own colorful layout, put background pictures, and even media objects such as flash and music, according to the theme that we want. This will make it more attractive and can assist users in understanding the theme of the exercise. In short, this potato allows us to exercise our creativity to come up with our own original recipe and masterpiece.

Of course, not everything is perfect and simple. HotPotato has its own potato blight at times. It is not as non-linear as what I would want it to be. Although its crossbreeds such as JCLoze, JMix, Jmatch, etc. do make it a bit non-linear, we are still limited only to these types of exercises. But I guess it’s pretty much suffice for a newbie like us (my classmates of course). Although it is not that perfect, it is perfectly perfect for people who are newly exposed to educational courseware design. I couldn’t ask for more, although I know I could, but then of course I need to pay more for a more sophisticated one. I should be grateful to get this software for free.

Apart from the non-linear issue, some other blights come from our lack of knowledge in HotPotato and basic HTML. Firstly, the JMix. Just nice with its name, it can easily mixed up word structure and convert it into an exercise. With resounding affect, it also mixed us up while creating the exercise. We had to be very particular in linking one exercise to another, especially when involving more than 4 html files. We did get it right at the end of the class. I wouldn’t say it as a drawback though. It is more to our careless mistakes, and that’s all.

Another frustrating problem that my friends encountered was to get the pictures to load in html. I know how they feel, especially after putting tons of pictures and later knew that it failed to load. It usually happens after exporting the html to the online hosting file. It is either due to incorrect URL, or they thought everyone in this world have the exact same pictures in every computer, or they thought the pictures is already embedded in the html (no separate files). So, in order to use HotPotato, it is essential to have some basic knowledge in HTML. But HotPotato, in a way, indirectly taught us how to make it work, after lots of trial and error.

Importatotance

Since everything has been broadbanded online, including education, it is high time for next generation of educators like us to be exposed to this kind of software. It is a good preparation especially with regards to smart schools and virtualization of education. Instead of adopt and adapt other people’s work, why not create our own? With HotPotato, everyone can make a web-based teaching exercise of their own. Let us liberalize education!