The simulation is separate from the course:

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.

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

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.

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.

> 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).

> 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.

>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

This Walking Dead course would fit in nicely.

https://www.canvas.net/courses/the-walking-dead

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!