Little Professor

The Little Professor is a backwards calculator designed for children ages 5 to 9. Instead of providing the answer to a mathematical expression entered by the user, it generates unsolved expressions and prompts the user for the answer.[1]

Usage

When the user turns the Little Professor on and selects a difficulty level, an incomplete equation such as "3 x 6 =" appears on the LED screen. The user has three chances to enter the correct number. If the answer is incorrect, the screen displays "EEE". After the third wrong answer, the correct answer is displayed. If the answer supplied is correct, the Little Professor goes to the next equation.[2] The Little Professor displays the number of correct first answers after each set of 10 problems. [3]

History

The Little Professor was first released by Texas Instruments on June 13, 1976.[4] As the first electronic educational toy,[5] [6] the Little Professor is a common item on calculator collectors' lists.[7]

In 1976, the Little Professor cost less than $20. More than 1 million units sold in 1977.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Texas Instruments Little Professor". Handheldmuseum.com. http://www.handheldmuseum.com/TI/LittleProfessor.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  2. ^ http://kotaku.com/167867/my-first-portable
  3. ^ "Fun With Math Facts, 18 Learning Games and Activities Using the Little Professor" Texas Instruments Incorporated, Texas Instruments Learning Center, Dallas, Texas, 1976. can be downloaded from http://www.datamath.net/Manuals/LittleProf76_US.pdf
  4. ^ "Datamath". Datamath. http://www.datamath.org/Edu/Professor-76.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  5. ^ "Texas Instruments - Low Bandwidth Timeline - Education Technology". Ti.com. http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/history/lowbandwidthtimelineeducational.shtml. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  6. ^ "Instructional Calculator" US Patent 4225932, Hirano, Mochizuki, Yasui, Shimazu. September 30, 1980. Can be viewed at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/31237836/Instructional-Calculator---Patent-4225932
  7. ^ "Texas Instruments Calculators". Vintagecalculators.com. http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/texas_instruments_calculators.html. Retrieved 2011-05-28. 
  8. ^ "Texas Instruments - 1976 TI Little Professor™ introduced". Ti.com. http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/history/timeline/eps/1970/docs/76-little_professor.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-28.