In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I’m joined by Marty Siegel, Professor Emeritus of Informatics and Instructional Systems Technology, and a pioneer whose career bridges early Direct Instruction, large-scale computer-based learning, human–computer interaction, and the emerging world of AI-driven instruction.
Marty began his career at the University of Illinois in the 1960s, right at the crossroads of two historic efforts: Sidney Bijou’s work in child behavioral psychology and the Bereiter–Engelmann Preschool, the foundational Direct Instruction project that demonstrated just how much young children could learn through carefully engineered teaching. Marty reflects on what it was like to experience that environment firsthand, and how it shaped his enduring belief that instruction can—and should—be designed with precision, clarity, and concern for what the learner already knows.
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A few years later came a completely different chapter: PLATO—the world’s first wide-scale computer-based learning ecosystem, and one of the boldest educational technology experiments of the 20th century. Marty discusses what it was like to enter this world of early networked computing and help shape instructional design at a time when almost no one had seen a computer used for teaching. He explains how PLATO’s capabilities, constraints, and design culture transformed his understanding of what technology could make possible for learners.
Marty shares how Direct Instruction, PLATO, and human–computer interaction all converge when you view learning as a systems-design problem—one that blends behavioral precision, cognitive insights, and technological innovation. Looking ahead, he explains why AI may finally enable the individualized, feedback-rich, responsive instruction that both Direct Instruction and PLATO envisioned decades ago.
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