MUSEUM OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
Donate Membership Volunteer
  • HOME
  • What We Do
    • Artifacts >
      • Artifact of the Month
      • Artifact Group and Index
    • Exhibitions >
      • Your Baby's Amazing Brain
      • A Class Action >
        • Exhibition Layout
        • Manuscript and Photographs
        • Artifacts
        • Recordings and Documentary
        • Docent Support
        • Classroom Materials
        • Suggested Events
        • Marketing Materials
        • Venues
        • What People Are Saying
        • Acknowledgements
      • Memories of Mexican Schools Listening Station
      • Two Roads, One Journey >
        • Objectives
        • Our Audience
        • The Experience
        • Exhibition Floor Plan
        • Venues
        • Creative Team
      • Past Exhibitions
    • Podcasts
    • Programs >
      • Artifact Collection
      • Artifact Group and Index
      • Learn
      • Bookshop
      • Resources
  • About Us
    • About MOTAL
    • Our History
    • Board Members
    • Behind the Scenes
    • Events
  • Contact
  • MOTAL Articles
Picture

Motal Articles

MOTAL ARTICLES

The Museum of Teaching and Learning is pleased to provide you a list with links to the posts we have sent out in the past year. It is our mission to enlighten, educate, inspire, and tell stories for all ages. All you have to do is click on the titles below. Pour yourself a cup of coffee or favorite drink, relax and enjoy.
We will be adding articles weekly so please check back often to read some more.

We need your help to share stories in new places and reach more students, teachers, and community members of all ages in 2023.
You can make a difference today! Take our survey!
CLICK HERE Don't forget to write the Article Name on the survey


RECENT ARTICLES

MORE MOTAL ARTICLES

Artifact of the Month:​Partner Museum EditionPartner Museum Artifact of the Month:The Apple II

4/15/2022

 
Picture
In the early 1970s, personal computers were mostly owned by a small number of computer and technology specialists. The first personal computers were typically sold as do-it-yourself kits like the Altair 8800 (pictured below), and were more often appealing to electronics enthusiasts than to everyday people. However, innovators committed to making computers accessible created increasingly efficient and intuitive technology. Simultaneously, computers became less expensive to mass-produce which encouraged technology companies to focus on the mass marketability of personal computers. The introduction of easy-to-use, affordable personal computers ensured the commercial success of these machines.
Picture
As more people bought personal computers, more technology companies built machines that could perform a variety of tasks. Increasing flexibility and customizability was important in showing the ways in which computers could change people’s lives. In 1977, Apple released the Apple II—the first computer with color graphics—and transformed people’s perception of the possibilities for computers. Users of personal computers liked color displays and high-quality sound because these features allowed them to tailor the computer to their needs. Teachers in the late 1970s, like MOTAL’s own Greta Nagel, were thrilled to have access to these remarkably learner-friendly machines in their classroom. Greta recalls:
 
“I ran a reading lab as a specialist in a Title I school when the Apple II came out, and we had four computers to use as a learning center. The computer was friendly and forgiving. It was patient and gave immediate feedback. If the student got something wrong, there was an instant opportunity to try again and get it right.”


Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the Apple II was that it was the first personal computer with color graphics, which the company advertised with a redesigned color logo (pictured below). This computer was also notable because it was easily customizable depending on the user’s needs. In particular, the software that came with the computer made it useful for business people, reaffirming the potential that personal computers had for transforming the workplace. Color graphics also cemented Apple’s reputation as the preferred computer for graphic artists.
Picture
In 1979 Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston introduced VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet, for the Apple II. The application was hugely popular and exponentially increased sales of the Apple II. The VisiCalc was a true game-changer in the industry and paved the way for today’s electronic spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel.
Last year, the Paul Gray Personal Computing Museum hosted the inventor of VisiCalc, Dan Bricklin, as part of our speaker series Decoding the Past: Conversations with PC Innovators.
You can watch this Ted.com talk here by
clicking on the photo below.
Picture
Submitted by
Alison Koehler
Executive Director
CGU'S Paul Gray Personal Computing Museum
Former MOTAL Intern and Doll Scholar ​
First Last

Comments are closed.
    Funded Project Announcement Video:

    ​Your Baby's Amazing Brain
    Picture
    WE ARE LOOKING FOR DONORS
    The high-tech mobile museum
    Your Baby's Amazing Brain
    Picture
    CLICK HERE FOR NEXT VENUE
    MOTAL Creates Traveling
    Exhibitions

    that are leased by institutions
    such as

    museums, libraries, schools,
    and universities.
    If you would like more
    information
    Email HERE
    A Class Action:
    The Grassroots Struggle
    for School Desegregation in California

    Traveling Exhibition
    CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE!
    Picture
    Hunt Branch Library Grand Reopening
    Featuring A Class Action
    Exhibition

    ​NOW on Display Until October 13, 2024
    Picture
    The Hunt Library address is:
    201 S. Basque Avenue, Fullerton, CA 92833
    which is north of Valencia Avenue,
    just around the corner from the Fullerton School District office.

    You Can Visit A Class Action Exhibition
    Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays
    10AM - 4:00PM
    Every Third Saturday
    9:00AM - 3:00PM

    The exhibition tells the story of the influential court case, Mendez et al. v Westminster School District et al. Our award-winning exhibition’s full title is A Class Action: The Grassroots Struggle for School Desegregation in California. This will be its seventeenth venue.​

    We Also Have a Hanging Version!

    Picture
    Two Roads, One Journey:
    Education in China and the U.S
    Traveling Exhibition
     
    CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE!
    Picture
    Here is a direct Link to our
    MOTAL YouTube Channel:
    MOTAL - The Museum of Teaching and Learning
    Picture
    While you are there, please click
    on the SUBCRIBE button which is FREE!

    Like, Follow, and Subscribe!

    Subscribe to receive our Articles and Newsletters CLICK HERE
Copyright © 2011– Museum of Teaching and Learning. 
​All rights reserved. Disclosures.
247 E Amerige Avenue Fullerton, CA 92832​, USA

  • HOME
  • What We Do
    • Artifacts >
      • Artifact of the Month
      • Artifact Group and Index
    • Exhibitions >
      • Your Baby's Amazing Brain
      • A Class Action >
        • Exhibition Layout
        • Manuscript and Photographs
        • Artifacts
        • Recordings and Documentary
        • Docent Support
        • Classroom Materials
        • Suggested Events
        • Marketing Materials
        • Venues
        • What People Are Saying
        • Acknowledgements
      • Memories of Mexican Schools Listening Station
      • Two Roads, One Journey >
        • Objectives
        • Our Audience
        • The Experience
        • Exhibition Floor Plan
        • Venues
        • Creative Team
      • Past Exhibitions
    • Podcasts
    • Programs >
      • Artifact Collection
      • Artifact Group and Index
      • Learn
      • Bookshop
      • Resources
  • About Us
    • About MOTAL
    • Our History
    • Board Members
    • Behind the Scenes
    • Events
  • Contact
  • MOTAL Articles