The Rise of Instructional Networks
Plato and Novanet on the college campus

The Rise
of
Instructional
Networks "PLATO originated in the early 1960's at the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois. Professor Don Bitzer became interested in using computers for teaching, and with some colleagues founded the Computer-based Education Research Laboratory (CERL). Bitzer, an electrical engineer, collaborated with a few other engineers to design the PLATO hardware. Together they built a system that was at least a decade ahead of its time in many ways.
Both courseware authors and their students use the same high-resolution graphics display terminals, which are connected to a central mainframe. A special-purpose programming language called TUTOR is used to write educational software.
Throughout the 1960's, PLATO remained a small system, supporting only a single classroom of terminals. About 1972, PLATO began a transition to a new generation of mainframes that would eventually support up to one thousand users simultaneously.
At the University of Illinois, where it all began, PLATO has been renamed NovaNET. The U of I system racks up about 1.5 million hours of use per year, and is now operated by a private company, University Communications, Inc., of Tucson, Arizona" (Woolley 1994).

The Evolution of the Virtual Classroom
Commucation and Collaboration outside the Classroom

Developments
in
Conferencing
Software PacerForum and FirstClass were the first conferencing applications to be used in University of Illinois courses on a large scale. These network conferencing tools allowed both students and instructors to post questions, comments and announcements to either individual or all course members. Users could login at any hour and from anywhere.

Several key outcomes, as proposed by SCALE, were:

1) to create efficiencies in the educational process

2) to increase student retention

3) and to decrease time-to-degree

Course Pages on the WWW
The Development of Online Course Materials
Development
of the
WWW
Course Page Course "homepages," accessible on the Internet, are becoming an integral part of the teaching process at the University of Illinois. Students may access these page day or night from any networked computer. Course information, from syllabus to assignments, are accessed with ease.
In addition to text-based information, full-color graphics, Quicktime movies and software programs can be sent over the network via the class homepage. With the advance of Netscape Navigator plugins, a wide array of media and communication options are available. As Internet technology expands, the opportunities for designing online learning environments increase.

The Fusion of Networking Tools
Collaboration, Communication and Information on the Web
The
Fusion
of
Networking
Tools The current movement is to merge the networking benefits of E-mail, Conferencing (both synchronous and asynchronous), and traditional "web surfing" within the functionality of the web browser. Rather than transfer between and learn three or four networking programs, the student can perform all networking tasks from one program, the web browser.
Many online course projects are implementing virtual "chat spaces." Chat spaces are specialized web pages with the online course where students and instructors can discuss class issues, complete short writing assignments or ask questions.

The Potential High Cost of Web Development
How the VCI aids in online course creation and management
The
Automation
of
Online Course
Management As recently as Spring semester 1996, the development of online course materials required the instructor to gather and fund a small, yet specialized, group of internet page designers and graphic artists. Numerous software programs including ftp, graphics programs were necessary for the construction of these online materials. Lastly, often complex knowledge was required on the part of the instructor and the development team to make the project a reality.
The Virtual Classroom Interface, announced in beta release in Summer 1996, allows the lone instructor to create and maintain a Virtual Classroom with ease. The VCI permits the instructor to enter the class content into eight course sections including syllabus, assignments and lecture notes. Text content can be entered onto the web page by either a cut-and-paste method or by direct typing. The VCI can update the course material on the server with a simple click of the mouse.
The VCI is easy to access and use. It does not require knowledge of html codes or server structures. Specialized graphics and advanced programming may always require specialists, but the VCI enables the bulk of the online course to be managed by one individual, the course instructor.

Page produced by:
SCALE
AIM Lab, University of Illinois RSW -- 7.21.96


	The Rise of Instructional Networks Plato and Novanet on the college campus
The Rise of Instructional Networks	"PLATO originated in the early 1960's at the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois. Professor Don Bitzer became interested in using computers for teaching, and with some colleagues founded the Computer-based Education Research Laboratory (CERL). Bitzer, an electrical engineer, collaborated with a few other engineers to design the PLATO hardware. Together they built a system that was at least a decade ahead of its time in many ways. Both courseware authors and their students use the same high-resolution graphics display terminals, which are connected to a central mainframe. A special-purpose programming language called TUTOR is used to write educational software. Throughout the 1960's, PLATO remained a small system, supporting only a single classroom of terminals. About 1972, PLATO began a transition to a new generation of mainframes that would eventually support up to one thousand users simultaneously. At the University of Illinois, where it all began, PLATO has been renamed NovaNET. The U of I system racks up about 1.5 million hours of use per year, and is now operated by a private company, University Communications, Inc., of Tucson, Arizona" (Woolley 1994).

	The Evolution of the Virtual Classroom Commucation and Collaboration outside the Classroom
Developments in Conferencing Software	PacerForum and FirstClass were the first conferencing applications to be used in University of Illinois courses on a large scale. These network conferencing tools allowed both students and instructors to post questions, comments and announcements to either individual or all course members. Users could login at any hour and from anywhere. Several key outcomes, as proposed by SCALE, were: 1) to create efficiencies in the educational process 2) to increase student retention 3) and to decrease time-to-degree

	Course Pages on the WWW The Development of Online Course Materials
Development of the WWW Course Page	Course "homepages," accessible on the Internet, are becoming an integral part of the teaching process at the University of Illinois. Students may access these page day or night from any networked computer. Course information, from syllabus to assignments, are accessed with ease. In addition to text-based information, full-color graphics, Quicktime movies and software programs can be sent over the network via the class homepage. With the advance of Netscape Navigator plugins, a wide array of media and communication options are available. As Internet technology expands, the opportunities for designing online learning environments increase.

	The Fusion of Networking Tools Collaboration, Communication and Information on the Web
The Fusion of Networking Tools	The current movement is to merge the networking benefits of E-mail, Conferencing (both synchronous and asynchronous), and traditional "web surfing" within the functionality of the web browser. Rather than transfer between and learn three or four networking programs, the student can perform all networking tasks from one program, the web browser. Many online course projects are implementing virtual "chat spaces." Chat spaces are specialized web pages with the online course where students and instructors can discuss class issues, complete short writing assignments or ask questions.

	The Potential High Cost of Web Development How the VCI aids in online course creation and management
The Automation of Online Course Management	As recently as Spring semester 1996, the development of online course materials required the instructor to gather and fund a small, yet specialized, group of internet page designers and graphic artists. Numerous software programs including ftp, graphics programs were necessary for the construction of these online materials. Lastly, often complex knowledge was required on the part of the instructor and the development team to make the project a reality. The Virtual Classroom Interface, announced in beta release in Summer 1996, allows the lone instructor to create and maintain a Virtual Classroom with ease. The VCI permits the instructor to enter the class content into eight course sections including syllabus, assignments and lecture notes. Text content can be entered onto the web page by either a cut-and-paste method or by direct typing. The VCI can update the course material on the server with a simple click of the mouse. The VCI is easy to access and use. It does not require knowledge of html codes or server structures. Specialized graphics and advanced programming may always require specialists, but the VCI enables the bulk of the online course to be managed by one individual, the course instructor.

Page produced by:
SCALE
AIM Lab, University of Illinois	RSW -- 7.21.96