What is 'PLATO,' the ancestor of educational computer systems that appeared in the 1960s?
by University of Illinois Archives
In the 1960s and 1970s,
PLATO: How an educational computer system from the '60s shaped the future - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/03/plato-how-an-educational-computer-system-from-the-60s-shaped-the-future/
In the late 1950s, science and technology became a priority issue in the United States, due to the anxiety of having fallen behind the Soviet Union in space development after the launch of Sputnik 1.・Alpert held numerous meetings with educators and engineers to try to realize the concept of 'automated teaching' using computers, but the educators at the time were unable to understand such technology and were instead They were unable to understand what the educational field needed.
Just when Alpert was about to give up, Don Bitzer, a PhD student in electrical engineering, suggested using old military radar as a computer-based instructional interface.
Given two weeks' time and a budget by Alpert, Bitzer used the software he had developed with programmer Peter Braunfeld and the university's Illinois Automatic Computer (ILLIAC) , as well as the U.S. military's They completed a prototype using a display adapted from a Naval Tactical Defense System used by the US Navy.
This is PLATO, or 'Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations.'
by The Wide World of Computer-Based Education (Bitzer, 1976)
The first PLATO, which appeared in the 1960s, displayed diagrams and text on a screen that Bitzer and Braunfeld called an 'electronic whiteboard,' laying the foundation for two-way, interactive 'automated education.'
The next year, in 1961, a successor to the PLATO II was developed. The PLATO II retained the alphanumeric keyboard from its predecessor, as well as special features such as the 'AHA' key, which students could use to quickly respond to questions during class. The ILLIAC had a key system, but its biggest advance was the time-sharing system, which allowed multiple students to study at the same time. However, due to the memory capacity of the ILLIAC, only two users at a time could use it. It was limited and had limited interactivity.
by A Little History of e-Learning (preprint, Cope & Kalantzis, 2021)
PLATO III, developed over six years from 1963, was powered by the CDC 1604 donated by the computer company Control Data Corporation, rather than ILLIAC, and was able to teach up to 20 people at the same time. .
In particular, the programming language 'TUTOR' is revolutionary in that it allows even non-professional educators to develop teaching materials. The editing function, called 'author mode,' allows teachers to enter programs and students to You can also save your learning progress at any time.
It was this generation that students tired of studying began to find a break by playing games like the competitive game '
by X-4 Tutor Manual (Avner & Tenczar, 1969)
The PLATO IV, released in 1972, featured a 512 x 512 pixel gas plasma display rather than a cathode ray tube for crisp graphics, and a 16 x 16 pixel infrared touch panel that allowed students to interact with the computer by touching it directly. It has become.
It also supported learning functions with audio commentary by playing up to 17 minutes of audio stored on a magnetic disk, networking functions via NTSC cables, and a bulletin board system, 'PLATO Notes,' and the first multiplayer game. Features such as the fully-featured 3D flight simulator Air Race position PLATO IV as a precursor to modern online systems.
by The PLATO CAI System: Where Is It Now? Where Can It Go? (Eastwood & Ballard, 1975)
Up until PLATO IV, servers handled all important processing, but the terminals were upgraded with Intel 8080 CPUs and 8K ROM and could operate standalone.
The standalone version of PLATO IV, which was already technically a microcomputer, was called 'PLATO V' by fans, and was different from mainframe-based systems in that it supported offline lessons via a floppy disk drive. It has become a bridge to standalone educational platforms.
by Computer-Aided Instruction with Microcomputers (Moore et al., 1979)
Ars Technica commented on the impact of PLATO: 'It is difficult to overstate the contributions that PLATO made to computer-aided instruction (CAI). PLATO's graphic displays, networking, and user interfaces have influenced many technical fields. It also brought important innovations to the world of mobile phones, including breakthrough learning content, blockbuster games, and pioneering messaging features that were conceptual precursors to the applications we use today, and helped shape the ubiquitous, networked world we live in today. It is a catalyst for moving the cultural foundations of the world.'
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in Hardware, Posted by log1l_ks