By the 1960s, the use of films in the classroom was growing. Series of films were becoming available for specific disciplines and both universities and schools had a 16mm film projector available. The major problems were the cost of equipment and films, the films were inflexible forcing the teaching to follow the path that the film expected. The major advantage was adding material that would be too expensive to be created locally.
A 1966 paper by William Huggins of John Hopkins University, Computer Pantomimes discusses the effects that computer animation might have on teaching. It might remove the tyrannical crutch of words and force us to rethink the meaning and implication of concepts in visual terms.
A 1966 New Scientist paper by Ed Zajac Film Animation by Computer says I can write a program today and obtain 16mm film, ready for viewing, within three or four hours.
By 1969, Bill Huggins and Doris Entwhistle's paper Computer Animation for the Academic Community discusses the use of computer animation in education in an era where students have watched over 10,000 hours of TV by the time they leave school and are extremely literate visually and more responsive to moving images rather than the usual talk and chalk teaching.
In 1971, Don Weiner's paper Computer Animation - An Exciting New Tool for Educators gives a comprehensive tutorial paper on the state of computer animation with regard to education.
Dan Deily gave an overview in his thesis of what was needed early on to produce a colour film just to make sure people realise this was a serious amount of work and could not be taken too lightly.
