Editing ICON (microcomputer) (section)

==== Origin ====

In 1981, four years after the first [[microcomputer]]s for mainstream consumers appeared, the [[Ministry of Education (Ontario)|Ontario Ministry of Education]] sensed that microcomputers could be an important component of education. In June the [[Ministry of Education (Ontario)|Minister of Education]], [[Bette Stephenson]], announced the need for computer literacy for all students and formed the Advisory Committee on Computers in Education to guide their efforts.<ref name=m266>Mangan 1994, pg. 266</ref> She stated that:

<blockquote>It is now clear that one of the major goals that education must add to its list of purposes, is computer literacy. The world of the very near future requires that all of us have some understanding of the processes and uses of computers.<ref name=m267>Mangan 1994, pg. 267</ref></blockquote>

According to several contemporary sources, Stephenson was the driving force behind the project; "whenever there was a problem she appears to have 'moved heaven and earth' to get it back on the tracks."<ref name=m266/>

The Ministry recognized that a small proportion of teachers and other school personnel were already quite involved with microcomputers and that some schools were acquiring first-generation machines. These acquisitions were uneven, varying in brand and model not just between school boards, but among schools within boards and even classroom to classroom.<ref name= McLean>McLean 1988</ref> Among the most popular were the [[Commodore PET]] which had a strong following in the new [[computer programming]] classes due to its tough all-in-one construction and built-in support for [[Microsoft BASIC]], and the [[Apple II]] which had a wide variety of educational software, mostly aimed at early education.

The Ministry wanted to encourage uses of microcomputers that supported its curriculum guidelines and was willing to underwrite the development of software for that purpose. However, the wide variety of machines being used meant that development costs had to be spread over several platforms. Additionally, many of the curriculum topics they wanted to cover required more storage or graphics capability than at least some of the machines then in use, if not all of them. Educational software was in its infancy, and many hardware acquisitions were made without a clear provision for educational software or a plan for use.<ref name= McLean/>

A series of Policy Memos followed outlining the Committee's views. Policy Memo 47 stated that computers are to be used creatively, and for information retrieval; at the time most systems were used solely for programming. They also announced funding for the development of educational software on an estimated 6000 machines. The Ministry decided that standardizing the computers would reduce maintenance costs, and allow for the development of consistent educational software.<ref name="exclusive">{{Cite news |last=Buckler |first=Grant |date=October 15, 1983 |title=School's 'Bionic Beaver' may be too exclusive |pages=I-6 |work=Montreal Gazette |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19831015&id=XhUyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SKUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1460,2629977}}</ref> The Ministry contracted the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) to help develop specifications for the new system.