Editing PLATO (computer system) (section)

===Impetus ===
Before the 1944 [[G.I. Bill]] that provided free college education to [[World War II]] veterans, higher education was limited to a minority of the US population, though only 9% of the population was in the military. The trend towards greater enrollment was notable by the early 1950s, and the problem of providing instruction for the many new students was a serious concern to university administrators. To wit, if computerized [[automation]] increased factory production, it could do the same for academic instruction.

The USSR's 1957 launching of the [[Sputnik I]] artificial satellite energized the United States' government into spending more on science and engineering education. In 1958, the [[Air Force Research Laboratory|U.S. Air Force's Office of Scientific Research]] had a conference about the topic of computer instruction at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]; interested parties, notably [[IBM]], presented studies.