Introduction

This lesson was developed to demonstrate the power of military secrecy, and to allow students to compare historical data to a generally accepted historical fact. Students will create an informed conclusion relating to the global implications of such a policy.

This lesson is designed to understand the cause and effect for the secrecy over the construction of an early computer known as Colossus. Colossus was constructed with the sole purpose of deciphering encrypted messages of the German intelligence staff. The existence of Colossus was kept from the public for fifty-five years. During this time, the honor of being the first computer was given to the ENIAC, which was developed at the Moore School of Engineering, in Pennsylvania.

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Learners

This lesson is intended to be implemented within a 12th grade computer literacy class, but can be utilized effectively within a 12th grade history class.

Students will analyze written, visual media, and online resources as part of the WebQuest. During this time, students will associate historical fact with actual events, examining the circumstances surrounding the construction of a computing machine called Colossus. No prior knowledge is required, however, a basic understanding of events in the development of computing machines would be helpful.

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Curriculum Standards

Chronology and Cause. Students will understand the chronological order of historical events and recognize the complexity of historical cause and effect, including the interaction of forces from different spheres of human activity, the importance of ideas, and of individual choices, actions, and character.

 Historical Understanding. Students will understand the meaning, implications, and import of historical events, while recognizing the contingency and unpredictability of history how events could have taken other directions by studying past ideas as they were thought, and past events as they were lived, by people of the time.

 Research, Evidence, and Point of View. Students will acquire the ability to frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research; to collect, evaluate, and employ information from primary and secondary sources, and to apply it in oral and written presentations. They will understand the many kinds and uses of evidence; and by comparing competing historical narratives, they will differentiate historical fact from historical interpretation and from fiction.

 Interdisciplinary Learning: Natural Science, Mathematics, and Technology in History. Students will describe and explain major advances, discoveries, and inventions over time in natural science, mathematics, and technology; explain some of their effects and influences in the past and present on human life, thought, and health.

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Process

This lesson requires the teacher to teach a four-class lesson which will introduce students to computer history, more specifically, to the creation of the first computer and the social and moral implications surrounding its creation.

 

(Class 1) The teacher will initiate a motivating discussion asking students to identify the first computer. Following the discussion, students will then be assigned to a research group. Group One will research the ENIAC, and Group Two will research the Colossus. Students are then allowed to work on their own, examining books and readings, encyclopedias, online and off-line resources, and performing online searches using a query such as "The First Computer." Students should then find data representing the first computer, and will record specific facts on index cards.

 (Class 2) The teacher will bring the class together to allow students to summarize their findings. The teacher will moderate the class discussion and record student findings on the overhead projector. Students will then examine the raw data and rearrange each item making groups of relevant information. Students will then be prompted to formulate a classification and name for each group. This classified data will then be neatly typed and reproduced for the following day.

 (Class 3) Students within each group will summarize their findings, and formulate and present a statement with facts to support the historical statement that either the ENIAC or Colossus was truly the first computer. Evidence will support the Colossus as being the first computer.

The teacher will then ask the members of the Colossus group to explain the reasons surrounding the lack of historical records surrounding the existence of the Colossus. Students will discuss the complexity of preventing the dissemination of classified information during war.

 (Class 4) Students will be asked to write an essay that explores the social and moral implications for:

• Keeping the existence of Colossus a secret for over fifty years.
• Being required to choose what intercepted German messages can or cannot be acted upon.
• Sending soldiers into a battle situation with prior knowledge of enemy intentions.

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Variations

This lesson could also be carried out with the entire class researching the ENIAC one day, and the Colossus the next day.
 
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Resources Needed
 

Online Resources (Colossus):

"Colossal Code of Silence Broken"

"WW II Codes and Ciphers"

"Bletchley Park"

Online Resources (ENIAC):

"ENIAC: The Army Sponsored Revolution"

"The ENIAC Story"

"The ENIAC"

  Offline Resources:

Article: "ENIAC: The Army Sponsored Revolution"

Article: "Colossal Code of Silence Broken"

Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia CD-ROM

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia CD-ROM
Grolier's Encyclopedia CD-ROM

School Library
Town Library
Computer Teacher

 

Media Resources - Enrichment:

Video: "Modern Marvels - The Computer"

Video Series: "The Machine That Changed The World"

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Evaluation

The effectiveness of this lesson will be measured using the following criteria:

• Student participation during research.
• Effectiveness of student research.
• Student participation during class discussions.
• Depth of student and class discussions.
• Ability of students to identify the Colossus as the true first computer.
• The student’s explanation of the social and moral implications in a written essay.
• Overall student enthusiasm during the lesson.
• Student feedback.

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Conclusion

I believe this lesson is an extremely valuable learning experience because it involves the student in both online and off-line research on a specific historical topic. Students will research and understand important events in the development of the computer, and their impact on society.

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Credits and References

 

Moye, W. T. (1996). ENIAC: The Army Sponsored Revolution. Ordnance Ballistic
Research Laboratories.

 

Weik, M. H. (1961). The ENIAC Story. The Journal of the Americal Ordnance Association.
 
 

Richey, K. (1997). The ENIAC. Virginia Tech, VA.
 
 

Highfield, R. (2000). Colossal Code of Silence Broken. Telegraph Group Limited, UK.

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