Bill writes:
>> I can't assign a variable to the "add a parameter" feature available
>> through the scripts menu in etoys. The parameter type is displayed
>> and the type can be altered but it doesn't go green when I try to
>> replace it with a variable of the right type. I can drag off a tile
>> for the parameter type but that doesn't seem to help.
I had a different but similar tile problem last weekend. I had successfully
dragged the tile var1 onto move forward 5 to turn it into move forward var1.
I then looked for a way to turn it back to move forward 5. I guessed I was
looking for a "constant" tile but couldn't find or create one.
My concern is less about what the solution to my problem is but rather why
finding the solution was not intuitive. I have taught kids aged 10-14 with
another drag&drop programming language, Game Maker, and they only need 1/2
hour of instruction and they are teaching themselves the programming
environment and have made a Pacman style game in 2 hours. This was my third
attempt with Etoys, two previous 1 hour sessions had been unproductive, my
most recent session was three hours and at the end I still hadn't been able
to drive and steer my car with the cursor keys. I had been able to make it
move on any key and could steer and move by clicking on other rectangles,
but 5 hours in and I still can't make a rudimentary game.
I could not find a help system. The context sensitive bubbles are good for
identifying what a feature does but are no use in the reverse direction,
when you know what you want to do and are looking for the thing that does
it. Nevertheless a help system is not much use to 10-14 year olds, they
almost never read the help, it would have helped me though!
My question is, why aren't the solutions to my and Bill's questions
intuitive enough for a 10-14 year old to solve if they can be made intuitive
in other drag&drop environments?
Tony
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