October is mainly known for the Halloween season, but it also represents quite a few other holidays and observations. One observation celebrated during October is Computer Learning Month. No, this isn’t a month dedicated to Skynet (the artificial neural network from the Terminator franchise).

In fact, this observation month isn’t dedicated to machine learning at all, not in the way that most people think of it, anyway. Instead, it’s dedicated to people using computers in education. They are wonderful tools that can be used to help connect students directly with information and even understand complex problems more easily.

And since our modern culture now revolves around computer technology in its many forms, perhaps it’s time that we help people who have difficulty using computers become more at ease with them. This month is a good time of the year to do just that.

The History of Computer Learning Month

During the 19th century, primitive computer designs were invented. These were mechanical calculating machines such as Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine and Per Georg Scheutz’s Printing Calculator.

Over the decades, a variety of different scientists and engineers expanded on the concept of a computer, and each of their ideas placed us closer to the computers that we know today. In 1941, the first digital electronic computer in the U.S. was invented and it was called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC).

This was the first computer to store information in its main memory and also the first computer to perform an operation every 15 seconds. In 1946, the first commercial computer for government and business applications was invented and named UNIVAC. The following year, Bell Laboratories invented the first transistor.

Computer technology continued to advance over the next 30 years. Then in the 1970s, several significant improvements to the computer were created. These included the invention of the first Dynamic Access Memory Chip (DRAM) in 1970, and the invention of the floppy disk in 1971.

In 1972, the first commercially successful video game would be invented. This game was none other than Pong. Although we don’t have the space here to go into a complete history of the modern computer, let’s just say that technology has grown by leaps and bounds over the decades.

That is why, in the first decade of the 21st century, Computer Learning Month was created. A month to help people learn more about the computers that now seemingly run our modern lives.

Observing Computer Learning Month

This holiday is best observed by learning more about computers and by teaching the next generation about them. This can easily be done through in-person or online courses, depending on a person’s preferences.

People are also encouraged to spread the news about this holiday to others who might need to know about it, using the hashtag #ComputerLearningMonth on social media.