Little Professor

The Little Professor is a backwards-functioning calculator designed for children ages 5 to 9. Instead of providing the answer to a mathematical expression entered by the user, it generates unsolved expressions and prompts the user for the answer.[1]

Little Professor with accompanying booklet

Usage

When the user turns the Little Professor on and selects a difficulty level, an incomplete equation such as "3 x 6 =" appears on the LED screen. The user has three chances to enter the correct number. If the answer is incorrect, the screen displays "EEE". After the third wrong answer, the correct answer is displayed. If the answer supplied is correct, the Little Professor goes to the next equation.[2] The Little Professor displays the number of correct first answers after each set of 10 problems.[3] The device is powered by a 9-volt battery.[4]

History

The Little Professor was first released by Texas Instruments on June 13, 1976.[5] As the first electronic educational toy,[6][7] the Little Professor is a common item on calculator collectors' lists.[8]

In 1976, the Little Professor cost less than $20. More than 1 million units sold in 1977.[9]

The second generation Little Professor was designed by Mark Bailey whilst working for Raffo and Pape. In a brief interview in 2013 Bailey stated 'I've designed everything from private jets to pregnancy tests but Little Professor remains the highlight of my career.'[10]

A solar version of Little Professor was introduced during the 2000s.

An emulator of the Little Professor for Android was published in 2012.[11]

In 2015, the MESS emulator also included the original Little Professor as a sort of pack-in.

See also

References
  1. "Texas Instruments Little Professor". Handheldmuseum.com. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  2. "My First Portable". Archived from the original on January 26, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  3. "Fun With Math Facts, 18 Learning Games and Activities Using the Little Professor" Texas Instruments Learning Center, Dallas, Texas, 1976
  4. "What Texas Instruments' Little Professor Can Teach Us". IEEE Spectrum. March 31, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  5. "Datamath". Datamath. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  6. "Texas Instruments – Low Bandwidth Timeline – Education Technology". Ti.com. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  7. "Instructional Calculator" US Patent 4225932, Hirano, Mochizuki, Yasui, Shimazu. September 30, 1980. Can be viewed at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/31237836/Instructional-Calculator---Patent-4225932
  8. "Texas Instruments Calculators". Vintagecalculators.com. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  9. "Texas Instruments – 1976 TI Little Professor™ introduced". Ti.com. Retrieved May 28, 2011.
  10. "Mark - Northumbria University, Newcastle UK". Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  11. "Android Emulator at the Play Store". Retrieved November 18, 2020.
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