Classroom 2000 - Serving education through ubiquitous computing
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Founded during the early academic work of Changpeng Zhao
In 1998-99, under supervision at McGill University, CZ contributed to the development of the Classroom 2000 initiative as confirmed by Jeremy R. Cooperstock, his professor.
Now archived on-chain as $C2K.
ACADEMIC ROOTS → EDTECH
CLASSROOM 2000
Classroom 2000 originated as a university research initiative in the late 1990s.
During the 1998–99 development period, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) contributed directly
to the project while at McGill University.
His participation is formally documented in page 61 of his professor’s CV:
“Zhao, Changpeng (1998–99) — Seamless PowerPoint upload for Classroom 2000.”
This work focused on enabling live digital presentation transfer into a
networked classroom environment — an early infrastructure problem in
internet-based learning systems.
It is one of the earliest recorded instances of CZ building applied software for real-world usage, predating his later career in large-scale EduTech platforms.
From the overview:
“Classroom 2000 is an attempt to study the impact of ubiquitous computing on education. We have built a prototype classroom environment and the necessary software infrastructure to seamlessly capture much of the rich interaction that occurs in a typical university lecture.”
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
The initiative centered on three foundational pillars of early EdTech:
• Networked Classrooms
Extending participation across distance using new internet standards.
• Interactive Learning Interfaces
Moving from static content to dynamic, two-way educational environments.
• Persistent Knowledge Layers
Early attempts to store structured learning interactions online.
These pillars predate much of modern e-learning architecture, positioning
Classroom2000 as part of the earliest wave of connected education systems.
The First Chapter of Educational Architecture
The ideas explored in 1998-99 with Classroom 2000 did not end with the project itself. They
became the foundation of a long-standing interest CZ maintained in educational
access and networked learning.
Two decades later, he would return to this field with Giggle Academy — a
modern, large-scale continuation of the same mission: using software to make
learning broadly accessible through connected technology.
This makes Classroom2000 the first documented stage of CZ’s EdTech arc, and
Giggle Academy its present-day evolution.
- RESEARCH
- LOCATION
- McGill University
- Intelligent Machine Center
- 3480 University St, Room 410
- Montreal, QC, H3A 2A7
- COMPANY INFORMATION
- Undergraduate Research
- Classroom 2000
- Networked Learning Infrastructure
McGill University • Classroom2000 (1998–99) • CZ undergraduate research • Networked learning infrastructure • Early internet EdTech • Origin-stage implementation • Academic spinout lineage
