[Idle-dev] Remote consulting

[Bruce Sherwood]

Concerning the suggestion of making it possible for a teacher of Python to
look over the shoulder of a student at a distance, I know of an example of
this that worked well.

The PLATO IV computer-based education system implemented at the University
of Illinois in the early 1970's had a "consult" feature of this kind. A
remote teacher who was writing courseware in the TUTOR language could page
an individual (or anyone on the consultant list at that moment) and offer
the consultant their screen. The two people could then carry on a (typed)
dialog in a separate window. Both source and execution windows could be
viewed by the consultant. The consultant couldn't change anything but
merely suggested things to change or do. This was a valuable, heavily used
feature.

Bruce Sherwood