"WallCology: Studying Ecology using a Distributed, Persistent Virtual Ecosystem in the Classroom"

Created on March 25, 2008

2008   ·   paper   ·   papers

WallCology: Studying Ecology using a Distributed, Persistent Virtual Ecosystem in the Classroom

Uphoff, B., Bhatt, D., Lopez, B., Frack, Malcolm, P., Cain, V., Moher, T.

image Tagged creatures in WallCology habitats Credit: T. Moher

This paper introduces a system for studying ecology that places a virtual ecosystem within the walls of a classroom. WallCology is designed to give students and teachers easy access to affordances which allow them to study ecological phenomena as ecologists would in the field. Using a set of computers as portals into the virtual ecosystem, students study creatures with different morphologies and behaviors moving about on pipes and walls. These portals, called WallScopes, are linked together using a remote server which allows the creatures to move within the larger virtual space based on their own environmental preferences. A two month pilot study of WallCology in an urban middle school classroom comprised of species differentiation and population estimation units demonstrated the feasibility of this approach.