Hot Potatoes: Introduction

NB: Hot Potatoes is free of charge only for non-profit educational users who make their pages available on the web. (Other users have to pay for a licence.) Hot Potatoes consists of six different exercise making tools. Exercises, once created, are 'exported' as HTML files. These files can then be uploaded to your web pages for students to use. (A gallery of 3000 teaching images for use in lower-level vocabulary exercises is also available at http://web.uvic.ca/hcmc/clipart/.) The six exercise types are: Multiple Choice (called JBC in the program) Gap-fill (JCloze) Text Entry (JQuiz) Crossword (JCross) Drag-and-drop jumbled word/sentence (JMix) Matching/Ordering (JMatch)

1. Opening the program. The program is already downloaded and installed on your computer. Open the program from the desktop shortcut.

2. Registering the program to get the full version. Click Help/Register

3. Sending for a key. Click Get a key.

4. Filling in and sending off the registration form. Fill in the form as follows:

5. Open your email inbox. You should find a new email from Hot Potatoes. Open it to retrieve your user name and Key. Write the Key down. Close your email and return to the 6 Hot Potatoes opening menu.

6. Click Help/Register

7. Enter your user name and key (just picked up from your email); click OK. You should now get a message to say you have successfully registered.

6. Tutorial The Hot Potatoes "Tutorial" is comprehensive. Open the tutorial:

Click

"Next" (at the bottom) to go to the main tutorial menu. Work through the tutorial sample exercises in the order shown on the menu page. When you want to return to the tutorial menu from the sample exercises, click "Index" at the top of the exercise page. When you have seen the examples, try the "2-minute Challenge": Click on "The 2-Minute Challenge: Make your first exercise" and follow the instructions carefully (follow the attached Tutorial, page 5). To reveal the program on screen, click on the icon at the bottom of your screen.

Return to the Tutorial and Continue with the next part: "Three steps in making an exercise" to find out more about the program's capabilities.

Hot Potatoes Toolbar Functions

1. When Hot Potatoes is open, you'll see this icon at the bottom of your screen: If you can't see the program on screen, click this icon to bring the Hot Potatoes interface up on your screen.

2. The basic toolbar (slight variations for different exercise making) to the configuration Use this to get
Export your exercises for a version 6 browser menu

3. Configuration. Configuration Menu: e.g. buttons

Use this to fine-tune what you want the users to see on screen. You can configure using the menu below.

This tells the user they can e.g. go back to your web site pages Enter the URL the users can use to go to (e.g. your web site or an external URL)

The 2-Minute Challenge: Make your first exercise

Start the JMix program, then 4

1. Enter a title. 2. Enter a sentence. 3. Break your sentence into segments, by putting each segment on a separate line. 4. Click on the Save icon. 5. Name your exercise (program .jmx) file. 6. Save it to your Web folder. 7. Now click the Web 6 button, or choose "Export to Web" from the File menu. 8. Choose a name for your Web (HTML) page (same as 5 if you like). 9. Answer "Yes" to view the exercise in your browser. 10. When you've finished, go back to the tutorial presentation and continue.

Uploading a Hot Potatoes HTML file to your web site.

You have made an exercise, saved it and exported the exercise as an HTML file. This means you have two files based on the exercise: 5

1. the version with a program name (e.g. exercise.jmx) 2. the HTML version (e.g. "exercise.htm") You can upload the HTML file 2 - to your web site. The program name version 1 - is the one you will need to edit the exercise later (if you need to). There are 2 stages to getting the exercise available in your web site: b) Link to your HTML exercise from your web page: 1. Open your source web page: the one that you want to link to the html exercise page from. 2. Make a link source (e.g. Type "Exercise 1") in your web page Create a link in the usual way: 3. Locate the Hot Potatoes exercise in your file storage ("My files", "Choose") 4. Select the previously uploaded exercise from your stored files (e.g. "exercise.htm) 5. Click "OK" 6. Save and view your page; try out your link and exercise. a) Upload the HTML file to your file storage space. 1. Open your GeoCities File Manager 2. Click "Upload" 3. Click Browse to locate your Hot Potatoes exercise (HTML page) on your PC 4. Click to place the file name in the "upload box" 5. Click "Upload" and "OK"

NB: If you edit the exercise in Hot Potatoes. You will need to upload the changed html version again using the same process.