[Etoys] some comments

[Yoshiki Ohshima]

  Carla,

  Thank you for the comment you gave us while ago.  We are getting new
versions that try to address initial experiences and getting ready to
answer some of your questions.

> eToys, I love it. It is so powerful.
> However, for some people it can be quite intimidating to get a blank screen when they click on "Make A New Project."
> 
> The Demo is nice but it for example doesn't say "click on the right (circle) button to get the icons for manipulating
> the object"
> The Tutorial and the Gallery of Projects, children see them as games
> not as things they can make or modify.

  For the project you dive into by clicking "Make A New Project", we
now show two balloon helps for painting and supplies automatically so
that it is not going to be completely blank.  They could be more
animating, etc. but this is a start.

  In regards to modifying the examples, I can see that it is a
difficult idea for some.  (Not everybody scribbles comments on their
paper books. )  Some of the "About" flaps encourages to change
scripts, but not everybody is going to read it.  If the versioning of
Journal works better and the user understands that he can go back to
the old state easily, he might try more.

> How can we go about it so they feel curious about trying it, and keep on learning on their own or with their peers or
> their students?
> I'm thinking on how can we do it, that it doesn't need a full time person introducing it, or if so, how can it be in a
> short short time.

  As a longer term project, a visiting researcher is pondering the
idea of having virtual friends on screen who can suggest the user to
do stuff.

  Thank you!

-- Yoshiki