8980 Cheshire Drive, Sandy, Utah  84093
Phone: 801-750-2722
| Email: RoboTutor@Comcast.net

 

Dr. Jerry DebenhamRoboTutor Software is the current d.b.a. for CAPE Associates, Inc. which was originally formed as a partnership by Dr. Jerry Debenham and Dr. Gerald Smith in the 1970's for the purpose of developing computer simulations and software to use at the University of Utah. With the emergence of PCs in the early 1980's, we developed for schools and government the Computer Assisted Performance Evaluation (CAPE) software after which the partnership was later incorporated. This performance evaluation software is still being used by government agencies around the nation.

In the late 1980's we received national recognition and an award for the I-Vote program to help citizens vote intelligently. We also developed the Computer Tutor software to teach students the conceptual facts and main ideas of university courses. The program includes essay questions that help students conceptualize the big ideas of a course. It also allows instructors to quickly develop computer courses that students can use on both home and university computers. Over 80 courses have been developed for Computer Tutor in Logic, Sociology, Criminology, Psychology, and the Great Books. These courses are being used in a number of universities around the nation. Many professors have created courses themselves for use with their classes. Prisons are also using the materials for the educational development of inmates.

In the early 1990's CAPE Associates began developing new software for the public schools. The first program was RoboTutor Math which quickly won state and regional technology awards (It is a free download from our website). Next we converted Computer Tutor for the public schools and called it RoboTutor Words. We published the article, "Computers, Schools, and Families - A Radical Vision for Public Education," in Technological Horizons in Education, August 1994.This article summarizes our view of where we think public education should be going and how their work can contribute to reaching that goal. In 1995 the Deseret News invited CAPE Associates to develop a course to teach 500 words in the Deseret News State Spelling Bee. We won the state technology award for her lessons in this area. The association with the Deseret News was very successful and has continued in 1996 and 1997. The DOS version of the 1997 words was available free to the public. Permission was also granted in 1996 to develop courses to teach all 3,300 words in the National Spelling Bee and was being used by students to prepare for the national competition. All these spelling and vocabulary courses were also being used by parents for home study.

Beginning in 1997 the focus of our company shifted sharply toward the design of Internet training and testing. We discovered a real need to interactive testing on the Internet that is both easy to use and very flexible. In consultation with Kennecott Copper Corporation, the University of Utah, and Granite School District, we spent 18 months developing RoboTutor, which we are now making available through our web site.  In 2001 we began working with Dr. Elena Bykov, who completely redesigned RoboTutor  in ASP for Access databases (Version 9). We began consulting with LACOE and Dr. Owen Hall in Los Angeles who gave us many suggestions for changes. In 2003 we completely redesigned it again (Version 10) for SQL databases and added 35 new features. We also teamed up with Dr. Donald Wright, who helped us expand use of the software into the public schools. In 2004 we began a .NET conversion of RoboTutor and added as our first .NET feature the Venture game. 

We currently spend part of our time adding new features and services to our RoboTutor software packages. We spend the rest of our time helping clients install the software and develop their own materials for implementation on their intranets and web sites.

The primary focus of CAPE Associates has been and continues to be the development of practical and inexpensive educational software that can be used on both individual computers and the Internet. We foresee a time in the very near future when most teaching will be done on computers. The response to RoboTutor has been very favorable by both corporations, universities, and K12 schools. Our primary focus over the next year will be to continue to develop and market this very promising product and associated services.