Comment Re:All thats wrong with the world? (Score 2) 53
Agreed. And today's technology could be used so much more effectively to teach than it is. MECC was an example of government investment that worked. How come we don't see the private sector doing something similar now? Maybe there is and I just haven't seen it.
FWIW, I worked at MECC from '90 to '96. I started out writing BASIC and 6502 assembly for Apple II games and ended as a Mac/Win programmer. I left just after SoftKey purchased MECC, and thus avoided the downward spiral to come.
I really liked working there. The focus was on writing excellent educational software most of the time I was there and it was unlike any tech job I've done since. We wrote games and tested them at local schools, very unlike the corporate world I'm in now. Of course, not all of it was fun and games programming. There was a lot of extra effort put into MECC's products for school use. Things like grade level settings that affected the content chosen, tracking results so teachers could easily see where kids struggled, and manuals that included lesson plans and copyable handouts and worksheets. I just did a quick search and didn't see any comparable products out there. Maybe this is an opportunity for someone, especially with tablets starting to arrive in schools. Of course, with school funding dropping everywhere it may also be a struggle to survive.
Oh, and my Oregon Trail contribution: I did the hunting in Oregon Trail II.
FWIW, I worked at MECC from '90 to '96. I started out writing BASIC and 6502 assembly for Apple II games and ended as a Mac/Win programmer. I left just after SoftKey purchased MECC, and thus avoided the downward spiral to come.
I really liked working there. The focus was on writing excellent educational software most of the time I was there and it was unlike any tech job I've done since. We wrote games and tested them at local schools, very unlike the corporate world I'm in now. Of course, not all of it was fun and games programming. There was a lot of extra effort put into MECC's products for school use. Things like grade level settings that affected the content chosen, tracking results so teachers could easily see where kids struggled, and manuals that included lesson plans and copyable handouts and worksheets. I just did a quick search and didn't see any comparable products out there. Maybe this is an opportunity for someone, especially with tablets starting to arrive in schools. Of course, with school funding dropping everywhere it may also be a struggle to survive.
Oh, and my Oregon Trail contribution: I did the hunting in Oregon Trail II.
