Introduction to Computers
An eye-opening and entertaining lesson from the dawn of the computer age
This educational video probably won't win any awards for slick presentation, and its educational value is more than half a century past its sell-by date. But surprisingly, perhaps, it makes fascinating viewing today: as a pioneering example of technology-enabled remote learning in higher education and as a record from the dawn of the IT age, not to mention an entertaining, sometimes comic artefact of a very different time.
The first part of an Introduction to Computers course made by the University of London Television Centre and disseminated to students on video, it's essentially a recorded lecture supported by some pretty basic visual aids and a few short video inserts, produced in a style that might feel familiar to anyone who's ever watched an Open University broadcast from the 1970s or 80s.
With his sensible cropped haircut, sharp glasses, skinny tie and earnest stiffness, presenter Dr Robert Day bears a more than passing resemblance to Talking Heads' David Byrne (circa Once in a Lifetime). But he makes a fluent guide to what must have seemed a bewilderingly alien world to many of his unseen students - and probably will to many watching today. These computers are not desktop-sized, but vast cabinets, storing their data on cumbersome magnetic reels or discs.
Though it's billed as an introduction to the programming language Fortran, this opening class doesn't get further than an explanation of some basic computational concepts. Much of the video is given up to a helpful, thorough (if perhaps slightly laboured) explanation of binary for beginners, which uses a car milometer to convey the challenge of rendering negative integers and decimal fractions in strings of 1s and 0s.
21st-century coders can count themselves lucky they don't have to put up with such headaches - or to compete for a slot to program a solitary shared computer with punchcards...
University of London instructional film aimed at students about the basics of computer programming.
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How We Learned
From classroom to lecture hall to living room: a look at the many ways TV and video shaped our learning experiences over the years.
For most of us, the screen has been as much a part of our education as the blackboard or whiteboard. Early 20th century educators quickly saw that moving images could be a valuable teaching aid, and by the 1920s and 30s a thriving industry was delivering thousands of films for classroom use. By the 1960s, the small screen had largely taken over, and schoolkids would thrill at the sight of the teacher wheeling out a television set.
In the meantime, education was transforming, too, with grammar schools, secondary moderns and technical schools giving way to comprehensives, which in turn made room for academies and faith schools. Higher education swelled with new universities and polytechnics, while the Open University, launched in 1969, used video and television to reach students in their homes. Through television, informal learning has also helped those who missed out on traditional schooling, or who just want to expand their minds. Whether we spoke our first words along with onscreen puppets, studied along with Open University broadcasts or followed educational debates in current affairs programmes, television and video have always had a lot to teach us.
22 videos in this collection
1
2
Make It Count [22/01/78]
3
Elton Well Dressing
4
Bill Has Trouble with the Magic Box
5
Don't Ask Me [10/08/77]
6
School
7
School Leaver
8
Chalkface [04/07/82]
9
Adult Basic Skills: Entrance
10
Think Tank [18/08/81]
11
A New Choice of School
12
Children Talking 1 Assessing Spoken Language at Eleven
13
Teaching Science: Object Lessons
14
Able Children
15
Brighton Polytechnic Promo 2
16
Painting by Numbers
17
Multi-cultural Education
18
One Week in July
19
Introduction to Computers
20
Christmas Special
21
Dulwich College and Village
22