| SOFTWARE REVIEWS |
Hot Potatoes Hot Potatoes is a freeware program for creating Web-based exercises and tests which was developed at the University of Victoria Language Centre. The suite includes six applications for authoring, interactive multiple-choice, jumbled-sentence, short-answer, crossword, matching-ordering and gap-fill exercises. The authoring tools will accept accented characters, so exercises can be created in any language that is based on Roman characters, although the tutorial is currently only available in English, French and Spanish. Hot Potatoes is so easy to use that even those who know next-to-nothing about Web design can create material with it, and it will support graphics and links. The instructor merely enters the information and clicks on the appropriate button and the program creates the Web pages automatically. It is a great program for adding educational materials for Web-based instruction, and learners receive immediate feedback on their answers, and can access hints and clues. The program can be downloaded from the HalfBaked Software site as a zip file and is easily set up for use. It is available in Mac and Windows format, and comes with a comprehensive and easy-to-follow online tutorial and a context-sensitive "Help" file. The program was developed by Stewart Arnell, Martin Holmes and Hilary Street at the University of Victoria Computer Aided Learning Language Laboratory, and is free for individuals or non-profit educational institutions. It is necessary to have an email address to download the program, as you will be sent a registration and user number which are required to complete the setup. All of the exercises use JavaScript and HTML and will work with MS Internet Explorer versions 3.01 and above or Netscape Navigator versions 3 and above. The user does not need to know JavaScript or HTML, but the program is designed so that almost every aspect of it can be customized for those who do have Java or HTML experience. There is also a more comprehensive version available for $60 Cdn. To find out more information or to download Hot Potatoes, visit: http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/halfbaked Start Write Start Write is a useful resource for teaching beginners how to write. While it sounds odd to have a computer program which develops handwriting skills, Start Write lets instructors create customized practice sheets with guidelines which students can trace. It comes with several different sizes and styles of fonts, clip art and a spell checker, as well as all the standard features of a word processor. Instructors can add arrows to show the direction of hand movement, type in dots, dashes or solid letters, and control the shading of the printed text. |