Discover the BASICA Educator Tool Suite '87, originally crafted by Mike Knox in the 1980s. This collection of utility programs simplifies classroom management tasks from grading tests to seating arrangements, all designed to save educators time. Experience retro programming with a modern twist, and let technology handle the monotony so you can focus on what truly matters in education.
This project features the Educator Tool Suite '87, a collection of utility programs designed specifically for classroom management. Originally developed by Mike Knox in the late 1980s, these BASIC programs streamlined tedious clerical tasks typically associated with teaching 8th grade science.
These powerful utilities automate processes such as:
- Grading tests
- Generating random student seating arrangements
- Managing attendance
- Grading on a curve
Back in the day, these tasks were performed manually, making this suite a significant advancement for educators. Additionally, it includes a fun routine for creating labels for cassette tapes 📼, making it not just practical but nostalgic.
The suite consists of tokenized binary source code, which can be difficult to open with modern editors. To address this, all executables have been converted to modern UTF-8 format, enabling users to read and modify them easily.
If you're a BASIC enthusiast, a programmer with an interest in retro computing, or an educator looking to simplify your workload, this repository is an invaluable resource worth forking and exploring. This software exemplifies how code can automate mundane tasks, allowing educators to focus on what truly matters: teaching and inspiring students 🎓 📖 🧠 🧪!
Getting Started
Due to the age of these programs, accessing them directly on modern systems can be challenging. Luckily, this suite includes an emulation option. Start the emulator using:
docker build . -t educator-87 && \
docker run -it --rm educator-87
Once the emulator is running, you can load and execute any utility program with the .BAS file extension. For example, to try out the Cassette Tape Maker, use the following commands after loading the emulator:
LOAD "TAPEMAKE"
RUN
Future Enhancements
Future plans for this project include:
- Enhancing the readability of
.BASfiles by updating the encoding from CP437 to UTF-8. - Improving the functionality in the container environment.
- Implementing basic tests to ensure the suite works as expected, with CI integration for ongoing assessment.
- Comprehensive documentation for users to get the most out of the available utilities.
Note: Users may encounter fault errors due to the emulator's attempts to access a non-existent floppy disk drive. Getting everything operational may require some innovative solutions to mount local paths as the ‘F’ drive within the emulator.