Focalpoint

This issue of the Focalpoint newsletter features various educational computing initiatives using Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) hardware. Key highlights include:

• BASIC-8: A low-cost instructional system utilizing PDP-8/I or PDP-8/L computers, an optical mark sense card reader, and disk storage to help high school students learn programming.
• Computer Lab: A compact training device for teaching digital logic and binary concepts, widely used in secondary schools and industry.
• Case Studies: Accounts of how different schools, such as the Northeast Rhode Island Computer Project, St. Mark's School, Don Bosco Technical High School, and White Mountains Regional High School, have implemented DEC hardware (including PDP-8/L and PDP-8/S systems) and software (FOCAL) to provide computer training.
• Programming Education: Profiles of young students demonstrating aptitude for programming in octal or machine language, and descriptions of how FOCAL simplified computer literacy for teachers and students.