Hur fungerar datorer? : En fallstudie av att utveckla pedagogisk multimedia för ett datorhistoriskt museum.

by Ahl, Linda

Abstract Few people know how computers work, which components they are build of and how these components cooperate. Within this master thesis a prototype for a multimedia presentation has been developed. The presentation will be placed at a museum of computer history with the purpose to help people understand how computers work. The prototype is created of pictures and simple animations that explain the cooperation and function of the different computer components, for example by showing scenarios that many people will recognise from their everyday life. The aim has been to obtain knowledge about how multimedia can be used to illustrate technical processes, and how multimedia presentations should be developed. A method for system development, adjusted to this kind of systems, has therefore been developed and used to create the prototype. The method is iterative, since it has shown that an iterative way of working is preferable to a linear way, when multimedia is being created. This conclusion derives from the fact that it in this type of development, when it is uncertain in the beginning what the demands are on the resulting product, is difficult to proceed in one direction through the developing process, e g to finish one step before the next one is started. This thesis has shown that multimedia, with advantage, can be used to demonstrate and explain technical processes and that it appears to be a useful tool within education and the museum industry.