PLATO: the history of the world's first e-learning system
At the time when Steve Jobs was traveling in India, and Mark Zuckerberg was not yet born , the PLATO e-learning system existed. She anticipated how people would interact with computers for many years to come. Engineers developed the world's first plasma displays , and programmers created chat rooms, multiplayer games, and emoticons.
This year, entrepreneur Brian Dear published the book The Friendly Orange Glow , in which he told how PLATO influenced the development of technology. Dir writes that the appearance of this system can be compared with the invention of the aircraft for decades before the Wright brothers: when the future creators of the Internet giants were still enjoying their youth, the online community already existed at the University of Illinois.
Teachers and students, developers and engineers corresponded in chat rooms, played online and read the world's first online newspaper. A unique PLATO culture reigned at the university and on campus. On the history of this revolutionary electronic system will discuss below.
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/ Flickr / marcin wichary / CC
Project leader Donald Bitzer ( Donald Bitzer ) developed PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations) when he was 26 years old - in 1960. Initially, the goal of the project was to create a computer that could train students.
Pupils interacted with PLATO through terminals connected to a common network and connected to a mainframe. Students answered questions and immediately received feedback from the system. A television was used as a display , a special keyboard was offered for navigation.
There were only 16 keys on the PLATO keyboard. For example, the Next button changes information on the screen. The Help key called an assistant to solve various problems, and Aha closed it. But in order to provide students with several different training courses, 16 keys were not enough. Therefore, the keyboard system is highlighted in two colors: white and purple. Depending on the active color, the buttons changed functions.
It took ten years for PLATO to reach its potential. Some of the components of the system were developed from scratch, and all that the team had was the idea, the passion and the ILLIAC I computer, which carried out arithmetic operations, analyzed, stored and transmitted information. With the help of ILLIAC I, the University also conducted simulations of atomic explosions, calculated the load on materials for the construction of road bridges, and even wrote music.
In 1961, PLATO II was developed, which made it possible for two users to work simultaneously, but the developers understood that the power of ILLIAC I was not enough to support the system. Therefore, the university laboratory decided to purchase its own computer. Buying a car was discussed with IBM, NCR Corporation and Control Data Corporation (CDC). Thanks to the efforts of the CDC sales representative computer 1604-C , which was developed by Seymour Cray, became the basis of the new version - PLATO III.
All the “applications” for PLATO were sharpened under ILLIAC, so the developers had to write SIMILLIAC, an emulator program, to run them on the 1604-C. The system worked with 20 common ports distributed over 72 terminals. By that time, PLATO III students had at their disposal thirty courses from different fields of knowledge and 5 thousand hours of teaching material. The version of PLATO III was so successful that it was continued to be used even after the release of PLATO IV.
PLATO IV was released in 1972. Among the updates, the Bitzer orange plasma panel was particularly notable. She was able to quickly draw vector lines and work with raster graphics. Also, there was a touch panel, with which students could answer questions, pointing out the correct version with a finger, and auxiliary peripherals. For example, a Gooch Synthetic Woodwind device capable of synthesizing 4 voices. She helped to develop pupils' hearing and evaluate their success with the help of musical dictations.
Later, a new version of the synthesizer was developed, which processed 16 voices, connecting and separating them to form complex sounds. A curriculum that uses PLATO audio capabilities was used as part of the PLATO Music project at the University of Illinois College of Music.
In the 1970s, Control Data Corporation entered into a series of agreements with the University of Illinois to market PLATO. As a result, the system has spread throughout the world.
In 1973, Bitzer invited high school students from several local schools to work on the project. It was unusual for that time: the laboratories were locked up, and only scientists got access there.
Versions of system from III to V worked in a special programming language TUTOR . Its flexibility combined with the power of PLATO allowed writing entertainment programs: card games, simulators, and so on.
Over the year, schoolchildren added to the system everything they could imagine: chat rooms, instant messengers, forums, games, and e-mail. So the system began to be used not only for education, but also for communication and dating. Brian Deer, for example, “met” his wife in a PLATO chat.
/ Flickr / kevin / CC
In 1976, the PLATO IV system supported work with 950 terminals and provided access to 12 thousand hours of training materials.
Later, a new version of the PLATO V system appeared. Bitzer notes that for the most part it was a PLATO IV on more powerful hardware. However, there was an innovation - the system reminded users of holidays and important events. Long before they started doing this on Google on the start page.
In 1989, CDC sold the PLATO trademark and part of the marketing rights to the new organization The Roach Organization (TRO). Perhaps, if the CDC did not “ fixate ” on the educational focus of the project, PLATO would have a different fate. In 2000, TRO changed its name to PLATO Learning and began selling courses for PCs.
In August 2004, a free software CDC emulator called Desktop Cyber ​​became available on the Cyber1 website. On the site you can get acquainted with the original lessons of PLATO and play the legendary games Avatar and Empire . Learn more about PLATO games here and here .
Since 2012, PLATO Learning has launched Edmentum learning solutions . But after 50 years, the legacy of PLATO still lives in many systems we are used to: MOOC, social networks, chat rooms and emoticons .
PS Other posts from our corporate blog:
This year, entrepreneur Brian Dear published the book The Friendly Orange Glow , in which he told how PLATO influenced the development of technology. Dir writes that the appearance of this system can be compared with the invention of the aircraft for decades before the Wright brothers: when the future creators of the Internet giants were still enjoying their youth, the online community already existed at the University of Illinois.
Teachers and students, developers and engineers corresponded in chat rooms, played online and read the world's first online newspaper. A unique PLATO culture reigned at the university and on campus. On the history of this revolutionary electronic system will discuss below.
')
/ Flickr / marcin wichary / CC
PLATO start
Project leader Donald Bitzer ( Donald Bitzer ) developed PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations) when he was 26 years old - in 1960. Initially, the goal of the project was to create a computer that could train students.
Pupils interacted with PLATO through terminals connected to a common network and connected to a mainframe. Students answered questions and immediately received feedback from the system. A television was used as a display , a special keyboard was offered for navigation.
There were only 16 keys on the PLATO keyboard. For example, the Next button changes information on the screen. The Help key called an assistant to solve various problems, and Aha closed it. But in order to provide students with several different training courses, 16 keys were not enough. Therefore, the keyboard system is highlighted in two colors: white and purple. Depending on the active color, the buttons changed functions.
It took ten years for PLATO to reach its potential. Some of the components of the system were developed from scratch, and all that the team had was the idea, the passion and the ILLIAC I computer, which carried out arithmetic operations, analyzed, stored and transmitted information. With the help of ILLIAC I, the University also conducted simulations of atomic explosions, calculated the load on materials for the construction of road bridges, and even wrote music.
In 1961, PLATO II was developed, which made it possible for two users to work simultaneously, but the developers understood that the power of ILLIAC I was not enough to support the system. Therefore, the university laboratory decided to purchase its own computer. Buying a car was discussed with IBM, NCR Corporation and Control Data Corporation (CDC). Thanks to the efforts of the CDC sales representative computer 1604-C , which was developed by Seymour Cray, became the basis of the new version - PLATO III.
All the “applications” for PLATO were sharpened under ILLIAC, so the developers had to write SIMILLIAC, an emulator program, to run them on the 1604-C. The system worked with 20 common ports distributed over 72 terminals. By that time, PLATO III students had at their disposal thirty courses from different fields of knowledge and 5 thousand hours of teaching material. The version of PLATO III was so successful that it was continued to be used even after the release of PLATO IV.
PLATO IV was released in 1972. Among the updates, the Bitzer orange plasma panel was particularly notable. She was able to quickly draw vector lines and work with raster graphics. Also, there was a touch panel, with which students could answer questions, pointing out the correct version with a finger, and auxiliary peripherals. For example, a Gooch Synthetic Woodwind device capable of synthesizing 4 voices. She helped to develop pupils' hearing and evaluate their success with the help of musical dictations.
Later, a new version of the synthesizer was developed, which processed 16 voices, connecting and separating them to form complex sounds. A curriculum that uses PLATO audio capabilities was used as part of the PLATO Music project at the University of Illinois College of Music.
PLATO entering the market
In the 1970s, Control Data Corporation entered into a series of agreements with the University of Illinois to market PLATO. As a result, the system has spread throughout the world.
In 1973, Bitzer invited high school students from several local schools to work on the project. It was unusual for that time: the laboratories were locked up, and only scientists got access there.
Versions of system from III to V worked in a special programming language TUTOR . Its flexibility combined with the power of PLATO allowed writing entertainment programs: card games, simulators, and so on.
Over the year, schoolchildren added to the system everything they could imagine: chat rooms, instant messengers, forums, games, and e-mail. So the system began to be used not only for education, but also for communication and dating. Brian Deer, for example, “met” his wife in a PLATO chat.
/ Flickr / kevin / CC
In 1976, the PLATO IV system supported work with 950 terminals and provided access to 12 thousand hours of training materials.
Later, a new version of the PLATO V system appeared. Bitzer notes that for the most part it was a PLATO IV on more powerful hardware. However, there was an innovation - the system reminded users of holidays and important events. Long before they started doing this on Google on the start page.
In 1989, CDC sold the PLATO trademark and part of the marketing rights to the new organization The Roach Organization (TRO). Perhaps, if the CDC did not “ fixate ” on the educational focus of the project, PLATO would have a different fate. In 2000, TRO changed its name to PLATO Learning and began selling courses for PCs.
In August 2004, a free software CDC emulator called Desktop Cyber ​​became available on the Cyber1 website. On the site you can get acquainted with the original lessons of PLATO and play the legendary games Avatar and Empire . Learn more about PLATO games here and here .
Since 2012, PLATO Learning has launched Edmentum learning solutions . But after 50 years, the legacy of PLATO still lives in many systems we are used to: MOOC, social networks, chat rooms and emoticons .
PS Other posts from our corporate blog:
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/343724/
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