Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bbn!rochester!rutgers!meccts!ems!jmo
From: jmo@ems.Ems.MN.ORG (John M. O'Shaughnessy)
Newsgroups: comp.ivideodisc
Subject: Re: Authoring systems and You
Message-ID: <3174@ems.Ems.MN.ORG>
Date: 10 Jan 88 19:23:13 GMT
References: <7824@eddie.MIT.EDU>
Reply-To: jmo@ems.Ems.MN.ORG (John M. O'Shaughnessy)
Organization: EMS/McGraw-Hill, Eden Pairie, MN
Lines: 29
Keywords: soon, soon


	I can add to whatever Mikki enters regarding the Authoring
	Systems provided by Control Data (PCD1, PCD2, PCD3, TUTOR, MicroTUTOR).

	To further elaborate, PLATO is a complete environment running on a
	CDC Cyber mainframe.  The authoring language provided with the PLATO
	System is called TUTOR.  Now, in the days of off-line development and
	delivery, CDC has a product called micro-TUTOR (sometimes referred to
	as Micro-PLATO) which has most features of the Central System TUTOR
	language.

	TUTOR and micro-TUTOR are both interpreted languages which allow for
	very complex simulations to be produced.  The language has a very rich
	set of graphics and answer judging facilities to allow users to 
	progress through a lesson in many different ways, depending on how 
	they respond to questions. 

	PCD1 products were the "first generation" off-line "programmerless"
	authoring tools developed by CDC.  PCD2 came along about the same
	time, but is better left unmentioned.  Our current authoring product
	is known as PCD3, and uses a window based system to create 
	courseware where content can be separated from strategy to allow for
	easy course modifications by non-programmers.



-- 
John M. O'Shaughnessy                jmo@ems.mn.org		+1 612 921 6889 
EMS/McGraw-Hill -guest               ihnp4!meccts!ems!jmo