

Coursera and massive online simulation on epidemics - jamiecollinson
https://www.coursera.org/course/epidemics

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Isamu
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.

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cdt5058
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)

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frigg
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.

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marcelsalathe
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
> 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).

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rjtavares
> 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
>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)

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tiptup
This Walking Dead course would fit in nicely.

[https://www.canvas.net/courses/the-walking-
dead](https://www.canvas.net/courses/the-walking-dead)

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kartikkumar
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!

