Editing PLATO (computer system) (section)

{{Short description|Mainframe computer system}}
{{other uses|Plato (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = PLATO
| title                  = 
| logo                   = 
| screenshot             = PLATO chem exp.jpg
| caption                = PLATO running a simulation of [[fractional distillation]]
| developer              = [[University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign|University of Illinois]]
| released               = {{Start date and age|1960}}<!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| discontinued           = yes
| latest release version = PLATO IV
| latest release date    = {{Start date and age|1972}}
| repo                   = 
| programming language   = 
| operating system       = [[NOS (operating system)|NOS]]
| platform               = [[ILLIAC I]] (PLATO I, II), [[CDC 1604]] (PLATO III), [[CDC 6000 series]] (PLATO IV)
| size                   = 
| language               = English
| language count         = <!-- DO NOT include this parameter unless you know what it does -->
| language footnote      = 
| genre                  = [[Computer-assisted instruction]] system
| license                = 
| website                = 
}}
[[File:Living Computer Museum Seattle Visit 2018 (43693562294).jpg|thumb|A working PLATO V terminal at the [[Living Computers: Museum + Labs]] in 2018]]
'''PLATO''' ('''Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations'''),<ref>{{Citation |title=Email |first=Don |last=Bitzer |author-mask=Don Bitzer}}.</ref><ref>{{cite report |title=CSL Quarterly Report for June, July, August 1960 |publisher=Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of Illinois |date=September 1960}}</ref> also known as '''Project Plato<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Hosch |first1=William L. |last2=Tikkanen |first2=Amy |last3=Lowood |first3=Henry E. |date=2023-05-09 |title=Virtual reality - Living in virtual worlds |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/virtual-reality/Living-in-virtual-worlds |access-date=2023-05-19 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref>''' and '''Project PLATO''', was the first generalized [[computer-assisted instruction]] system. Starting in 1960, it ran on the [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign|University of Illinois]]'s [[ILLIAC I]] computer. By the late 1970s, it supported several thousand [[graphics terminal]]s distributed worldwide, running on nearly a dozen different networked [[mainframe computer]]s. Many modern concepts in multi-user computing were first developed on PLATO, including forums, message boards, online testing, [[email]], chat rooms, [[picture language]]s, [[instant messaging]], remote [[screen sharing]], and [[multiplayer video game]]s.

PLATO was designed and built by the [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign|University of Illinois]] and functioned for four decades, offering coursework (elementary through university) to UIUC students, local schools, prison inmates, and other universities. Courses were taught in a range of subjects, including Latin, chemistry, education, music, Esperanto, and primary mathematics. The system included a number of features useful for pedagogy, including text overlaying graphics, contextual assessment of free-text answers, depending on the inclusion of keywords, and feedback designed to respond to alternative answers.

Rights to market PLATO as a commercial product were licensed by [[Control Data Corporation]] (CDC), the manufacturer on whose mainframe computers the PLATO IV system was built. CDC President [[William Norris (CEO)|William Norris]] planned to make PLATO a force in the computer world, but found that marketing the system was not as easy as hoped. PLATO nevertheless built a strong following in certain markets, and the last production PLATO system was in use until 2006.