Jamie Fowler
Mathematics Teacher
Cascade High School
jfowler@mccsc.k12.in.us
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What is hot potato?
Getting Started
JCloze
JMatch
JQuiz
JCross
JMix
The Masher
Changing Settings
Helpful Tips
Math Symbols
Inserting Images
Adding Hot Potatoes to Moodle as a Hot Potato
Combining Different Hot Potatoes on Moodle
 Hot potatoes is a free program that allows you to create
quizzes or tests.
 Additionally Moodle can upload these quizzes and will
add the grades to the Moodle grade book for you (not
Integrade).
 There are five choices in Hot Potato
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JCloze
JMatch
JQuiz
JCross
JMix
 You will first need to download and install the Hot Potatoes program
on your computer. Go to the following link to download.
http://hotpot.uvic.ca/index.php#downloads
 Once installed, open the
program and you should
see this window. From
here you can choose
which type of quiz you
want to make.
 Note: The Masher allows you to
combine different types of
quizzes that you have already
created.
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 All Hot Potatoes have the same basic buttons on the tool
bar as seen here
Inserts a
web page
directly
into your
Hot Potato
Create
your
own title
to the
activity
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Turn your
Hot Potato
into a web
page
Insert
picture
found
on the
web
Change settings
like directions,
student feedback,
and appearance
Insert
Picture
from
file**
Insert
a web
link
Insert a link to a
file – ex: might
have a document
you want students
to read
**Be sure image file is saved in same
folder as the Hot Potato you are
making.
 Create open response
questions with one or
many specific answers.
This is essentially a “fill
in the blank” quiz.
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 When you select
JCloze you will
see the following
screen
 Create your title
 In the main space
add your quiz by
typing text,
inserting images,
and adding web
links
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 Suppose you want to make
a quiz for students to solve
an equation.
 First type in the equation.
You can insert equations as
an image or use codes for
special characters. (See
section on Inserting Math
Symbols.)
 Notice that the answers are
typed in.
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 Then, to make a blank
where the students will
enter the response,
highlight the text you want
removed and click on the
Gap button at the bottom.
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 You will then be able to
add more correct
responses. Try to think of
the different ways a
student may type in the
answer or that they may
switch the order of the
answers.
 Once you click “OK” the
gap text will be red and
under lined
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 Continue to enter your
questions and answers
until you are finished.
 (See adding hot potatoes to
Moodle to finish)
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 create a matching
response test.
 With Hot Potatoes the
students are able to
either
 Select the answer
from a drop down
menu
 use the mouse to drag
the answer over to the
vocabulary word or
image.
 OR you can make this
into a flash card
option (not graded)
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 When you select JMatch
you will see the
following screen
 Create your title
 In the main space add
your vocabulary words
(or pictures) on the right
and the answer you want
it to match with on the
left.
 When the quiz is
published it will
automatically jumble
the right hand items.
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 Save your images that
you want to use in the
same folder as your Hot
Potato JMatch
 Create your title
 To add an image, be sure
you have put your curser
in the correct box and
then click on the insert
image button
 Note: It is best to add
the image as a Web
URL. (See inserting
images)
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 Continue to add items
to the left and the
answer on the right.
Hot Potato will
automatically jumble
the answer responses.
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 With Hot Potatoes
you can publish the
quiz so that students
are able to
 Select the answer
from a drop down
menu
 use the mouse to
drag the answer
over to the
vocabulary word or
image.
 OR you can make
this into a flash card
option (not graded)
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 Create different types of
questions
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Multiple choice
Short Answer
Hybrid
Multi select
 The hybrid is a unique option
where students are able to type
in a response and then after a
certain number of attempts, the
question will transform into a
multiple choice question. (this
option will not be presented in
this tutorial)
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 When you select JQuiz
you will see the
following screen
 Create your title
 Select the type of
question you would like
from the drop down
menu
 Also, for all types, if
you need more than 4
choices, click on the up
arrow next to the
answer column
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 Multiple choice
 Enter your question in
the space next to the
“Q”. You can insert
images into this space
as well.
 Then, enter the answer
choices and check the
box next to the correct
answer
 If you want you can
enter in specific
feedback for each
response (this is
optional)
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 To add another
question, click on the
up arrow next to the
“Q”
 The title will be the
same and the question
type will be the same
as the last question
 You can have
different types of
questions within a
single JQuiz
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 Short answer
 Hot Potato will try to
find the nearest match
among the specified
correct answers, and
signal to the student
which parts of their
answer are right and
which parts are wrong.
 The score for each
question is based on
the number of attempts
the student makes
before getting a correct
answer
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 Multi select
 After entering your
question, enter the
answer choices and
place a check in the
boxes next to the
correct answers
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 Create a cross word puzzle
using the words and the
clues you want
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 When you select JCross
you will see the
following screen
 Create your title
 You will then need to
have a list of words and
clues prepared that you
wish to enter
 Note: It is helpful to
have a word document
or web page with your
vocabulary list so you
can copy and paste the
clue text
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 First add a words in
the grid
 You can enter the
words into the grid
manually
 OR you can enter
your list of words
and let the computer
fill the grid
 To have the computer
do the work, Click on
“Manage Grid” and
then “Automatic Grid
Maker”
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 The automatic grid
maker allows you to
enter a list of words
 Once you have
entered your words,
click on “Make the
Grid” Button.
 If you don’t like
where a word is
placed you can try
the auto grid maker
again or manually
change it.
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 Once your words
are in the grid,
click on the Add
clues button to
enter the clue text
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 You will see the
following screen to
enter your clues
 Notice that ACROSS
words are on top and
DOWN words are on
the bottom
 Highlight a word and
then type or copy and
paste your clue into the
box below your word
 Click “Ok” to save
your clue
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 Create a jumbled
sentence or set of
events that need to
be reordered. With
JMix you can either
 Click on the
words to put them
in order
 use the mouse to
drag the words in
order
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 Create a title
 Add the words of your
sentence into the box
titled “Main Sentence”
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 Then add alternate
sentences that can also
be made from your
main sentence.
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 With Hot Potatoes
you can publish the
quiz so that
students are able to
either
 Click on the
words to put them
in order
 use the mouse to
drag the words in
order
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 Once you have created
different Hot Potato
quizzes, you can “Mash”
them together into one big
quiz.
 Note: Moodle does not
know what the masher is
and so you will need to
use the quiz maker to
combine different Hot
Potatoes. (See Combining
Different Hot Potatoes to
Moodle)
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 This is the screen you will
see for the Masher.
 You MUST have created
the quizzes you wish to
mash first.
 Be sure the Output folder
at the bottom is where you
have saved all your
quizzes for mashing
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 Click on the “Add Files” button
and you will be able to choose
the files you wish to add.
 Most Hot Potatoes have one
form but the ones that have
different options, you will be
able to select that format here.
 JMatch
 Standard
 Drag and Drop
 Flash cards
 JMix
 Standard
 Drag and Drop
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 Once you have added
all your quizzes, click
on “Build Unit” button
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 There are
different settings
you can change
using the
configuration
button. All Hot
Potatoes have
essentially the
same options.
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 Here you can
change the sub
title and
instructions if
you need to
create more
content specific
instructions or a
clearer
explanation of
how to complete
the activity.
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 You can change
how to program
responds to a
students answer.
This response
should be generic
for the Hot Potato
and not specific
to any one
question. For
certain Hot
Potatoes you can
specify the
computer’s
response.
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 You can include
or exclude certain
buttons that
normally appear.
For example, you
many not want
students to get
“hints” and here
is where you turn
that option off by
Unchecking the
box next to
“Hint”.
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 You can change
the colors for
background as
well as the font
style.
 Note: It is easier
to change the
font by going to
the “Options”
menu and then
click on “Font”
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 If you would
like for there to
be a time limit
on the quiz you
can set that
here.
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 These settings
change for each
Hot Potato and
allows you to
set more
specific options.
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 The “Other” settings
change for each Hot
Potato and allows you to
set more specific options.
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 Custom and CGI you will
not to do anything with
because Moodle will allow
you to report grading
without making any
changes here.
 Images
 It is best to insert your image from a web URL. (See
Inserting Images)
 Don’t put spaces in the file name – the internet doesn’t
always like spaces.
 Save your images in the same folder as your Hot Potato
 When working in Hot Potato, you will not see the image
appear but rather a long line of text which is HTML code.
Don’t erase any of this code or the image won’t appear
correctly
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 File Names
 Don’t put spaces in your Hot Potato file names – the internet
doesn’t always like it.
 Use a short name that is also descriptive.
 Example: Instead of “picture1.jpg” use “MonaLisa.jpg”
 Special Characters
 Quotation marks need to always be a double quote
 Using the “<“ at the beginning of a line will confuse the
program. Hot Potatoes uses HTML (website code) and that
symbol is used in HTML to begin what is called a tag. You
can use tags within Hot Potato and this is often necessary
with typing math equations. (See inserting Math Symbols)
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 There are two ways to
insert images
 As a file from your
computer
 As a Web URL
 The easiest way to
insert your picture is to
start by inserting it as a
file from your computer
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 You will be able to choose
the file name from your
computer.
 Be sure the file is saved in
the same location as your
Hot Potato.
 Then preview your image
and set the size you want
for your image to appear.
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 You will see the
following text appear
for your image.
 Now, to change your
image to a Web URL,
be sure you have
uploaded your picture
into Moodle
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 Click on “Files” in
the Administration
options
 Then, click on the
image file name after
it has been uploaded.
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 When you click on
the image name, a
preview of the file
will appear. You
will need to
highlight the URL
with your mouse and
then copy (hit the
Ctrl and then C keys
on keyboard)
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 Now, go back to
your Hot Potato on
your computer and
replace the image
name with the URL
you copied.
(highlight the image
name with your
mouse and then copy
(hit the Ctrl and then
V keys on keyboard)
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 The easiest way to add math symbols to a Hot Potato is by
using HTML code. I have found this web site to be
helpful
http://barzilai.org/math_sym.htm
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 Suppose we want the angle
symbol “” in our Hot
Potato.
 Using the website we can
look for our symbol
 We see that the angle has
the code
 &#8736
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 We then enter the code
into our Hot Potato where
we want it to appear.
 So in my example, I want
to have the angle symbol
and then the name of my
angle.
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 The result of entering the code looks like this.
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 Once you have created
your quiz you can
place it into Moodle.
 Select the unit or week
where you want your
quiz to appear and
click on “Add an
Activity” and then
selecting “Hot Potato
Quiz”
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 You will
need to
upload your
Hot Potato
into Moodle.
Click on the
“Choose or
upload file”
button.
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 Be sure to save
the file in the
main screen.
 Do Not create
a folder to
save your Hot
Potato into.
This can
cause
problems
when it
comes to
having
pictures
appearing
correctly.
 Choose the Hot
Potato
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 You then have some control options.
Set a time frame when the
quiz can be accessed by
your students.
Set a password so they can
only access the quiz with
the given password.
Set the number of tries the
student has to take the quiz
for a grade.
Change the maximum
points awarded that will go
into the Moodle grade
book.
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Click here when finished to see your
quiz
 Now your
quiz is ready
for students!
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 Although The Masher
 You can add a JCross but it
combines different Hot
will just show the definition
Potatoes, Moodle doesn’t
and the student will need to
recognize it. However, using
fill in the vocabulary word.
the Moodle quiz maker you can  The JMix will have the
combine your Hot Potatoes.
words listed and the student
 Not every Hot Potato will look
will need to type in their
the same in the quiz maker as it
response rather than be able
does as a Hot Potato Quiz but it
to move the words with the
is a nice way to combine
mouse.
different types if you want to
do that.
 Quiz maker works best with
JMatch, JCloze, and JQuiz.
 If you want to use JCross or
JMix, I suggest just adding
those as a Hot Potato quiz.
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 Select the unit or week
where you want your
quiz to appear and click
on “Add an Activity” and
then selecting “Quiz”
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 Name your quiz
or test
 You can also give
the test a
description or
some instructions.
 Then decide what
settings you
would like to
place on the
overall test
 Once you have
changed all your
settings click on
“Save and
Display”
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 Currently
there are no
questions in
your test.
 Click on
“Import” to
add your Hot
Potatoes
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 Check the
button next to
“Hot Potatoes
Format”
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 Click on “Choose
or upload a file
 Be sure to save
your Hot
Potato in the
main folder.
Also, be sure
you upload
your any
picture files
that you need
for your Hot
Potato.
 You only need to
select the Hot
Potato file for this
screen.
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 Click on “Choose
or upload a file
 Be sure to save
your Hot Potato
in the main
folder. Also, be
sure you upload
your any picture
files that you
need for your Hot
Potato.
 You only need to
select the Hot
Potato file for this
screen.
 Then Click on
“Import from this
File”
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 You will then
get a preview
of your Hot
Potato.
 Click on
“Continue” to
finish upload.
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 Repeat this process
for each Hot Potato
you want to have in
the same test.
 The uploaded Hot
Potatoes will all be
listed in your question
bank
 You will then need to
click on “Quiz” to add
the questions you
want and put them in
the order you want.
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 Check the
boxes next
to the
questions
you want
and then
click on
“Add to
Quiz”
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 The test
questions will
appear on the
left. You can
use the UP and
DOWN
arrows to
change the
order
 Once you are
satisfied with
the order you
can preview
the test by
clicking on
“Preview”
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 Now, if the question
still don’t look the
way you want
(especially the
pictures), or if you
want to change the
text directions you
can click on the “edit”
icon and make
changes.
 Note: If you make
changes, you will
need to refresh the
browser before you
will see your
changes.
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