A virtual museum of computing history: an educational resource bringing the relationship between people and computers to life
Geoff Berry, Judy Sheard, Marian Quartly · Australasian Computing Education Conference · 2011
Teaching computing history is widely accepted as an important way of helping IT students to better understand their field, especially in its context as an integral part of modern culture. While physical museums have proven constructive in this, the Monash Museum of Computing History (MMoCH) is developing a Virtual Museum Project (VMP), bringing its physical exhibits to life with computer-generated animation. The viewer's human relationship with computers is placed in the context of current developments by way of a short journey into space exploration. The 'virtual tour' takes in the Ferranti Sirius, the PDP-9, and the hand-held HP-65, before concluding back on earth, in the very computer screen before the viewers, who are thus encouraged to recognise their relationship with computing in the dynamic (ongoing) history of IT.