THE SCHOOL COMPUTER

"Why can't we have an Apple or a Pet?" "Does the New Brain have BASIC in ROM?" "Will you teach me how to handle strings?" or even, "May I play your space invaders game?". These are some of the questions that you might have overheard if you had visited the computer room during this last term, and they give just a tiny example of the vast amount of jargon that surrounds the computer world of the 1980's, baffling to the outsider and frightening to the newcomer. At King's we have three micro-computers, the most popular of which undoubtedly is the Research Machines 380Z with its great versatility and attractive graphic display. The other two machines, both somewhat older, are SWTPC 6800s which have (or should have) an important role in introducing computing to newcomers.

At the moment the main official use of the computers is in the teaching of Computer Studies-a minority subject for those in the Sixth Form. The 'AO' level demands a computer programming project, and these have proved most popular amongst those involved in the course. They have ranged from games (Othello, Backgammon and the inevitable Space Invaders) to simulations of payroll accounting and a guide to the London Underground. It is intended in the future to expand the amount of computing done in lesson time, by giving each class of new boys a short compulsory course in writing programs. This, of course, will mean an expansion in the amount of hardware available, so that each member of the class can have 'hands-on' experience of using a machine, but it is not yet quite clear how this will be achieved.

Even though the computer is used quite extensively during lesson time, by far its greatest use takes place in the afternoons and evenings. To cater for this a computer club with about 15 to 20 members has been formed in order to share out the use of computer time in the fairest possible way. Interestingly, this hard-core of computer 'freaks' is entirely male; it will be good to welcome some girls into this society, but there is no sign of it at present.

For some time, I have sensed that colleagues have been wondering what this machine is and what it can do; in particular, what it can do for them. So I was delighted this term when it was possible to show off the machine's versatility when it was given the task of handling the data in volved with the G.C.E. '0' and 'A' level entries. Housemasters and heads of department found themselves handling slips of paper all produced by the Anadex 8000 printer which is linked to two of the computers.

There have, of course, been problems with setting up a computer room and installing sophisticated equipment. For instance, the peripheral equipment (printers, etc.) had to be interfaced to the computers before it could be used. For this we have been most fortunate that Sam Griffiths (Marlowe) has made himself into a self-taught expert in the art of computer software writing. More serious problems than these have been encountered (but not yet solved) with the SWTPC 6800 machines-technical problems which have dogged us for two years now and do not seem to have a solution in sight yet.

 But for all involved in setting up the computer room, boys and masters alike, it has been an exciting and rewarding experience, opening up new horizons that were undreamt of even 10 years ago.

 J.M.C.

This article was published in the 1981 issue of the Cantuarian. You can browse our online Cantuarian archive here. (Log in required)