5 ms·

Coursera and massive online simulation on epidemics

20 points by jamiecollinson 13y ago

kartikkumar 13y ago
Looks cool! Just signed up. Completely out of my field of expertise, but something I've been fascinated by. Hoping the simulation is as cool as I expect it to be!
cdt5058 13y ago
I was privileged to take a course with David Hughes at Penn State on parasites taking over hosts, primarily ants (think zombie ants) and can say without hesitation it was one of the most interesting courses I've taken to date. http://ento.psu.edu/directory/dhughes http://ento.psu.edu/directory/dhughes
rjtavares 13y ago
> And yes, we will be talking about Zombies - not human zombies, but zombie ants whose brains are hijacked by an infectious fungus. Can't beat a sense of humour. That right there made me want to s ign up.
- edmccard 13y ago
  >but zombie ants whose brains are hijacked by an infectious fungus. This is the fungus that causes ant zombification: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis
tiptup 13y ago
This Walking Dead course would fit in nicely. https://www.canvas.net/courses/the-walking-dead https://www.canvas.net/courses/the-walking-dead
frigg 13y ago
Thanks so much for posting this. There are so many MOOCs that I want to take but can't due to other stuff which have precedence (like university) and even though this is completely out of my field of study it looks interesting and at the same time the workload seems light.
- marcelsalathe 13y ago
  Course and moocdemic lead here. I've designed the course with you in mind (to be frank, with me in mind, but I'm exactly like you ;-). Too many MOOCs out there in my opinion that just transfer offline education to online.
  - ctb_mg 13y ago
    > Too many MOOCs out there in my opinion that just transfer offline education to online. This is very true. And the hourly estimates required are underrated in my experience. I am taking a coursera course that claimed 5-8 hours of investment per week; in reality I am spending 12-18 hours per week (skipping optional assignments).
Isamu 13y ago
The simulation is separate from the course: https://www.moocdemic.com/static_pages/about https://www.moocdemic.com/static_pages/about "MOOCDEMIC is a simulation game of a real world epidemic. It is best played on a mobile device. "The game is being run in parallel with a Coursera MOOC (massive open online course) entitled: Epidemics - The Dynamics of Infectious Diseases. Although they are being run in parallel, neither requires participation in the other to advance. The MOOCDEMIC game can be played without participating in the online course and vice versa, but in our completely unbiased view, you should totally sign up for the course - it's absolutely free and you won't regret it. "The thing is, knowing how epidemics unfold might be helpful in the game. And the game will be using actual concepts and terms from epidemiology, which will hopefully help cement ideas in place from the course. "The game is developed by Marcel Salathé and members of his research group at the Center for Infectious Diseases Dynamics at Penn State University.

Looks cool! Just signed up. Completely out of my field of expertise, but something I've been fascinated by. Hoping the simulation is as cool as I expect it to be!

cdt5058 13y ago

I was privileged to take a course with David Hughes at Penn State on parasites taking over hosts, primarily ants (think zombie ants) and can say without hesitation it was one of the most interesting courses I've taken to date. http://ento.psu.edu/directory/dhughes http://ento.psu.edu/directory/dhughes

rjtavares 13y ago

> And yes, we will be talking about Zombies - not human zombies, but zombie ants whose brains are hijacked by an infectious fungus. Can't beat a sense of humour. That right there made me want to s ign up.

edmccard 13y ago
>but zombie ants whose brains are hijacked by an infectious fungus. This is the fungus that causes ant zombification: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis

tiptup 13y ago

This Walking Dead course would fit in nicely. https://www.canvas.net/courses/the-walking-dead https://www.canvas.net/courses/the-walking-dead

frigg 13y ago

Thanks so much for posting this. There are so many MOOCs that I want to take but can't due to other stuff which have precedence (like university) and even though this is completely out of my field of study it looks interesting and at the same time the workload seems light.

marcelsalathe 13y ago
Course and moocdemic lead here. I've designed the course with you in mind (to be frank, with me in mind, but I'm exactly like you ;-). Too many MOOCs out there in my opinion that just transfer offline education to online.
- ctb_mg 13y ago
  > Too many MOOCs out there in my opinion that just transfer offline education to online. This is very true. And the hourly estimates required are underrated in my experience. I am taking a coursera course that claimed 5-8 hours of investment per week; in reality I am spending 12-18 hours per week (skipping optional assignments).

Isamu 13y ago

The simulation is separate from the course: https://www.moocdemic.com/static_pages/about https://www.moocdemic.com/static_pages/about "MOOCDEMIC is a simulation game of a real world epidemic. It is best played on a mobile device. "The game is being run in parallel with a Coursera MOOC (massive open online course) entitled: Epidemics - The Dynamics of Infectious Diseases. Although they are being run in parallel, neither requires participation in the other to advance. The MOOCDEMIC game can be played without participating in the online course and vice versa, but in our completely unbiased view, you should totally sign up for the course - it's absolutely free and you won't regret it. "The thing is, knowing how epidemics unfold might be helpful in the game. And the game will be using actual concepts and terms from epidemiology, which will hopefully help cement ideas in place from the course. "The game is developed by Marcel Salathé and members of his research group at the Center for Infectious Diseases Dynamics at Penn State University.