Computer assisted instruction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Computer Assisted Instruction (often abbreviated CAI) refers to a system of educational instruction performed almost entirely by computer. Such systems typically incorporate functions such as:
- Assessing student capabilities with a pre-test
- Presenting educational materials in a navigable form
- Providing repetitive drills to improve the student's command of knowledge
- Providing game-based drills to increase learning enjoyment
- Assessing student progress with a post-test
- Routing students through a series of courseware instructional programs.
- Recording student scores and progress for later inspection by a courseware instructor.
The first general-purpose system for computer-assisted instruction was the PLATO System developed at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.The Plato system evolved with the involvement of Control Data who created the first authoring software used to create learning content. The authoring software was called Plato. The Science Research Council then wrote the first CAI system of Math for K-6. Wicat Systems then created WISE as their authoring tool using Pascal and developed English and Math curriculum for K-6. The very first complete CAI classroom for K-6 students was set up at the Waterford Elementary School in Utah using the Wicat system. The first public CAI classroom with its own layout and design was implemented with the Wicat System by Baal Systems (later known as Virtual Systems) in Singapore as a joint operation between Wicat and Baal. It is from this design that all the computer learning centers globally evolved.
Some people have a conception or paradigm of educational technology that revolves around the use of CAI software products. While that model may have been accurate in the early days of classroom computing in the 1980s and 1990s, in the twenty-first century the advent of Social Software is revolutionizing the use of computer technology in classrooms.
