During my time as a teacher of maths and physics at Rheindahlen high school (see short CV) in the mid-1980s, I noticed two problems when using the Leybold SIMULOG to work with logic circuits.
One was of a technical nature. The components (gates, flip-flops, half adders, full adders, clock generators) that could be plugged onto a base plate with power supply contacts were assembled using discrete circuit technology (diodes, transistors, etc.) and the switching status was displayed with light bulbs. Loose contacts, defective components and cold solder joints often led to malfunctions. The clock generator was particularly susceptible to faults.
The other – more serious – problem was the fact that only individual students or mini-groups were able to plug in and test their circuit designs, while the others had to wait for the SIMULOG to be released. This meant that concentrated, independent, self-directed learning was hardly possible.
The school’s good computer facilities gave me the idea of developing a CAD (computer-aided design) solution for logic circuits (-> programme name LOCAD).
The first version was a DOS version realised with Turbo Pascal. With Windows and Delphi, the system could be made more user-friendly and comprehensive. Finally, versions for iPad and Mac were also developed using Xcode and Objective C.
During my time at the evening high school of the district of Viersen, I programmed a computer-aided learning card index (CompLeKa) based on Sebastian Leitner’s 5-compartment principle to support learners. This was later supplemented by the more comprehensive and easier-to-use iOS and macOS version Card2Memory.
The Twist.It marble run game is designed to provide distraction during learning breaks and to promote concentration and logical thinking.