An Electronic Laboratory for Operating Systems and Computer Networks

计算机能力的几何增长和网络连接的无处不在正在彻底改变计算。基于旧的教学技术的计算机科学课程对现代学生来说可能显得枯燥乏味。大学课程的教学大部分没有积极利用新技术。讲师在讲座期间进行多媒体演示被认为是对技术的被动使用。相比之下，能够控制多媒体可视化的学生正在积极利用这种技术。 被动和主动使用技术之间的区别类似于观看实验室演示和自己进行实验之间的区别。除了使学习体验更有趣，一个精心设计的实验可以挑战学生，鼓励创造力。一个设计良好的用户控制动画可以有类似的效果，并为学生提供一个虚拟的实验室环境。 本科操作系统课程的一半课程已经通过构建一系列编程项目进行了重新设计，这些项目使学生能够进行并发和通信实验。 虽然在传统的操作系统课程的其余部分并不容易借给自己的探索使用编程项目，可以由学生在短时间内完成，这个项目设计的操作系统的第二部分和计算机网络的课程是基于让学生在虚拟实验室设置中进行实验。实验室实验使用Java语言编写的动画模拟，允许它们在几乎任何连接到互联网的计算机上运行。建立了一个动态动画的开发框架，使这些动画可以有效地产生。 *

The geometric increase in computer power and the ubiquitous availability of network connectivity are revolutionizing computing. A computer science curriculum that is based on old teaching techniques may seem dull and irrelevant to the modern student. Instruction in the undergraduate curriculum for the most part does not make active use of new technology. A multimedia presentation during a lecture by an instructor is considered to be a passive use of technology. In contrast, a student who can control a multimedia visualization is making active use of such technology. The difference between passive and active use of technology is similar to the difference between watching a laboratory demonstration and performing an experiment yourself. Aside from making the learning experience more interesting, a well designed experiment can challenge the student and encourage creativity. A well designed user-controlled animation can have a similar effect and provide the student with a virtual laboratory environment. Half of the curriculum for an undergraduate operating systems course has been redesigned by constructing a series of programming projects that enable students to experiment with concurrency and communication. Although the remainder of the curriculum in a traditional operating systems course does not easily lend itself to exploration using programming projects that can be completed by a student in a short period of time, this project designs a curriculum for this second part of operating systems and for computer networks that is based on having the students perform experiments in a virtual laboratory setting. The laboratory experiments use animated simulations written in the Java language, allowing them to be run on virtually any computer connected to the Internet. A framework for developing active animations is set up so that these animations can be efficiently produced. *