Handout
Other

Chronology of Personal Computers

For Students 9th - 10th
This site has a month-by-month outline of the essential happenings that shaped the personal computer industry from 1947 to the present.
Handout
Computer History Museum

Computer History Museum: Charles Babbage

For Students 9th - 10th
Considered by some to be the "father of the computer", Charles Babbage was a 'gentleman scientist'. Learn interesting facts about his personal life and his career.
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Personal Computer

For Students 9th - 10th
This site contains a Wikipedia description of personal computers.
Website
Computer History Museum

Computer History Museum: Early Apple Business Documents

For Students 9th - 10th
Apple, Inc. has played a major role in the personal computer and digital device market. This site presents some of the early documents in the company's history such as the Preliminary Confidential Offering Memorandum and the Preliminary...
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Information Age

For Students 9th - 10th
This exhibition surveys the history of information technology and its relation to society from the origin of the telegraph to the present. Its emphasis is as much on social as technical change. This support page contains background...
Handout
Other

Timelines of History

For Students 9th - 10th
Here, you can see timelines of various eras and events in history. View a chronology of World War II as well as chronologies of video game systems and personal computers. This website provides good examples of simple, yet informative,...
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: History of Computing

For Students 9th - 10th
This narrative from the Wikipedia encyclopedia presents the major developments in the history of computing. It discusses the earliest devices used to perform calculations, the era of modern computing that began during World War II,...
Graphic
Other

E Cycle Best: A Concise History and Evolution of Tablet P Cs (Infographics)

For Students 9th - 10th
Check out the illustration of the progress of personal computing tablets. Could it be true that they actually began in the nineteenth century?
Website
PBS

Pbs: Triumph of the Nerds

For Students 9th - 10th
This page is the companion website to the PBS television special, Triumph of the Nerds. Coverage includes a history of the computer, a who's who, and a television transcript.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Living in the Information Age

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the technological advances that brought on the information age at the beginning of the 21st century. The internet, e-mail, and the spread of fiber-optic cables revolutionized the amount of information available to the ordinary...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: Life in the 1980s

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the advent of cable television in the 1980s and the many stations that spawned. It was also the time of drug wars, the idea that greed was good, and the beginning of the scourge of AIDS.
Article
History of Computing Science

History of Computing Science: P Cs Today

For Students 9th - 10th
The personal computer (PC) has become a common fixture in virtually every home, business and classroom. This lecture series describes the history of the personal computer.
Article
History of Computing Science

History of Computing Science: The Altair

For Students 9th - 10th
The Altair 8800 was the first personal computer. This lecture series gives a brief description of the Altair 8800 and the impact it had on the computer industry.
Handout
Yale University

Yale: The Ada Project: Grace Murray Hopper

For Students 9th - 10th
A concise biography that includes personal as well as professional information.
Website
Other

The Apple Museum

For Students 9th - 10th
The Apple Museum provides in depth information on the history of the Apple company and its products. Contributing to this information are articles written in reference to the company and/or its products. Code names, video clips, specs...
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Altair 8800

For Students 9th - 10th
This extensive encyclopedia article on the Altair 8800 from Wikipedia discusses how Ed Roberts came up with the idea to create a microcomputer design. Also discusses how, first, it was supposed to be a kit for hobbyists and turned into...
Website
Other

American Computer Museum

For Students 9th - 10th
This site presents a pictorial timeline of technology developments.
Handout
Great Idea Finder

The Great Idea Finder: Steve Jobs

For Students 9th - 10th
A biography of the Apple founder, with suggested reading and links to relevant sites.
Website
Other

Thocp: Marc Andreesen

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource, a thorough biography of Marc Andreessen, discusses his childhood love of computers and programming, his creation of the Mosaic Internet Browser while in college, his partnership with Jim Clark in the establishment of...
Article
Other

Technofile: Gary Kildall and the Origins of the Pc

For Students 9th - 10th
An article of how Gary Kildall invented the world's first DOS and Kildall's introduction of DR DOS.
Unit Plan
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Magnet Academy: Claude Shannon

For Students 9th - 10th
Claude Shannon was a mathematician and electrical engineer whose work underlies modern information theory and helped instigate the digital revolution. He was the first person to recognize how Boolean algebra could be used to great...