Games in the Classroom - The Multiplayer Classroom: Designing Coursework as a Game - page 15

University of Illinois, and the last PLATO terminal was still in operation until
2006. The PLATO IV system boasted a number of features that would become
common on home computers just a few years later. These included rudimentary
graphics, sound, and even touchscreens.

Up until 1975, educational software systems ran on university- and government-
owned mainframes, accessed by terminals. They were very expensive, but in that
year, the first personal computer

was produced, which would
change that forever. Just as the arrival of inexpensive computers from Commo-
dore, Apple, and IBM led to a viable commercial game industry, they opened the
door for a profitable educational software industry (see Figure 2.2).

— the Altair 8800 —

At first, the emphasis in these products was far more on education than
entertainment. They were little more than electronic versions of coursework
with furry critters as teachers. In most cases, they were meant to supplement, not
supplant, classroom curricula. But soon a new type of software appeared on the
scene. It was called edutainment software.

Edutainment

Edutainment is a marriage of education and gameplay that can be experienced without super-
vision.

Figure 2.2
Math Blaster.