My Schmooze and Hot Potatoes experiences

Schmooze is an interesting and complicated leaning tool. It’s just like playing a computer game, well, it is a game! In Schmooze I had to be careful with instructions or I could not go anywhere. I went to Cafeteria and ordered something. At first, I said “Give me a pizza, please.” But the computer could not understand that. I thought maybe I was not polite enough, so I said “Would you give me a pizza, please.” But it also did not work out. After reading the instruction, I realized how to order things and how to eat them in that cafeteria. It will be more efficient if users read the instructions before. Then I went to the library and it was amazing that there were many kinds of books. Like a real library, if a book was borrowed by someone else, I could not borrow it until it was back to the bookcase. I also left a poem in the public book which was a special experience. When I thought that my poem could be read by users of schmooze from different countries, I felt so excited. But it is pity that there is no interactive function in the public book, therefore, I can not know other people’s reflections on my poem. Another interesting place is Tunnel Maze which is designed as a labyrinth. I was asked to answer grammar questions so that I could get out the tunnel. I appreciate that the vivid description of the scene which is very helpful to users. Besides, those grammar questions are not difficult for ESL learners. It is a good way to examine whether you have basic concepts of grammar. The last place I went was MOOrrey’s bar. I asked someone to dance with me and read the DJ’s song list. I was glad that there were some songs that I had heard before. Using hot potatoes is another special experience for me. It is not as interesting as Schmooze but it is useful especially for teachers. My partner and I designed some question about a news story. We used JCloze and JQuiz since they were suitable for our questions. We tried to design some short questions but it was annoying that we were asked to provide correct answers when there was no one!