Visual tool for teaching synchronization problems in operating systems

Abstract

During the last several years, many attempts were made to prove that information technology (IT) holds great promise for education. For that purpose all over world, research has been carried out on the instructional use of IT in education. The results of the research activity have repeatedly proven that computers can be powerful educational tools. Information technology, when properly used, can improve learning, motivate students, and help them gain higher-level cognitive skills critical to lifelong learning. Yet, despite the proven success of instructional computing, it has not yet been fully adopted in meaningful way into computer science education at university level. The paper is about an attempt to use information technology to teach basic concepts in one of the core computer science courses---operating systems---in a modest computing environment.