PLATO

PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations), a computer-based training ( CBT ) network developed in the 1960s, is often credited as the earliest example of a virtual community . Preceding both the Internet and the bulletin board system ( BBS ), PLATO was created by Professor Don Bitzer at the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois and was further developed by other university faculty and students.

PLATO grew beyond the boundaries of its educational purposes: the system eventually featured the first versions of many now-common applications, including e-mail, groupware, instant messaging (IM), chat rooms, multimedia, and gaming programs. In the mid-1970s, Control Data Corporation (CDC) began to market PLATO commercially. The current software-based version of the system is available from PLATO Learning.

Read more about it at: > PLATO People: A History Book Project provides more information. > PLATO Learning has a home page. > Free-Net maintains a PLATO online discussion. > Thinkofit has a tutorial called "PLATO: The Emergence of Online Community."

This word suggested by: Pascal Lombart

Last updated on: Sep 21, 2005

Are you a Know-IT-All? What do you call the nucleus of a computer operating system? Answer WORD OF THE DAY... iTunes U LEARN MORE ABOUT... Web 2.0 applications for the enterprise Most popular and handy Every TechTarget website WhatIs.com RSS Feeds