Download Virus PDA game

Participatory Simulation:
The Virus Game on PDAs
Participatory Simulations
• Students become the “agents” in computermediated simulations of a complex system
• Provide rich learning experiences where
technology and social interaction are key
• Use relatively simple and cheap Palms
• Games include Sugarscape (economics),
Big Fish Little Fish (ecology), Virus (health),
Live Long and Prosper (genetics), and
NetsWork (the science of networks).
Virus!
…an interactive computer simulation
of the spread of an infectious
disease through a population.
Turn
the device
ON
press this button
Enter
your
name.
press here to bring
up the keyboard
enter your name
then click “done”
Do not press
“Start”
…otherwise you might
get out of sync with the
simulation!
Once we start the game..
a happy face means
that you appear to be
healthy – you are not
showing evidence of
any virus infection
and...
a sad face means that
you are sick.
To Meet each other
You “meet” by holding your
Palm device near another
device as shown, and then
ONE PERSON clicks on the
“MEET” button.
only
ONE PERSON
clicks
the MEET
button
Data collection
The names
of those you
meet will be
listed here
Your goal is to meet as many
people as possible without
getting sick.
Any questions?
After completing a round, ask for
Observations and Hypotheses,
Then ask participants what they
want to find out and for experiment
designs.
Vote on which experiment
to try in the next round.