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HEALTH ECONOMICS-RELATED VIRTUAL WORLD ACTIVITIES CHECK LIST

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What am I supposed to do now that I have logged into the Tulane SCS Metaverse?
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(1)  Explore the different economics of health and wellness learning activities (that are located on the SCS Campus South island).

(2)  While most of the learning activities can be completed individually (and asynchronously), if you are interested in participating in a real time activity with other members of the class and/or the course instructor, sign-up for one of activity times listed on the Virtual World Forum on the "Main" course site discussion board.

(3)  Take the "Participant Survey" (to earn half of the module two/three discussion component points) and provide important feedback to your course instructor.  Note:  If you participate in the virtual world learning activities during module two and module three, you need to take two different surveys.  In other words, you will need to take a survey for each module.

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What economics of health and wellness learning activities are included on the SCS Campus South island?
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(1)  Demand for health and wellness simulations are located in the building on the east side of the island.

(2)  Supply of health and medical services simulations are located in the building on the west side of the island.

(3)  Global comparisons of health care systems -- including overviews of the health care systems in Japan, Great Britain, Germany, and Canada -- are located in the building on the south side of the island.

(4)  An implementation timeline and other materials related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are located in the stadium on the north side of the island.

(5)  Orientation posters [re:  navigating around a virtual world] are located behind the stadium on the north side of the island.

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What course learning outcomes do the above virtual world learning activities support?
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The virtual world learning activities on the SCS Campus South should contribute to your understanding of:

(1)  How health care markets differ from other market types, including the unique role of health insurance in the market.  

(2)  How lifestyle choices affect health, including both direct effects on health and indirect effects on earnings.

(3)  The monopolistic competition market structure for physicians and physician-firms influences the prices in these markets.

(4)   The economic implications of federal insurance programs (Medicae, Medicaid, and Supplemental Children’s Health Insurance Program) – in terms of demand, risk management for individuals, and cost.

(5)   How the costs and benefits of the United States health care system, including why the United States has the largest per capita health care spending among the developed  nations, yet worse health outcomes than nations spending less per capita for health care.  Also, will understand how other  nations’ system choices differ from the United States' health care system.

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What skill sets are needed to explore the above virtual world learning activities?
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Part A:  Basic Viewer Set-Up Skills

(1)  After you are logged into the Tulane SCS Metaverse, hold down your CTRL + ALT keys and then press the "D" key (to activate the Advanced menu tab on a PC).  Or hold down the CTRL + OPT keys and then press the "D" (to activate the Advanced menu tab on a Mac).

(2)  Next, click on the Advanced menu (located in the upper left-hand portion of the viewer screen) and click on "Debug Settings," type in "RenderVolumeLODFactor," change the value to 8.0, and hit the enter button on your keyboard.

(3)  Click on the "Edit" menu (located in the upper left-hand portion of the viewer screen) and click on "Preferences."  After you open up the Preferences menu, click on "Graphics," check the box next to "Custom," and experiment with the draw distance (that ranges from 32 meters to 512 meters).  If your computer has a good graphics card you will be able to keep your draw distance at a greater depth-of-field (that in turn, will enhance the visual effect of being in a virtual world).  Still, if you find your system "crashing" a lot, you may have to lower your draw distance.

(4)  As a final basic adjustment (but know there are many more viewer customizations possible and I urge you to experiment a bit), click on the "View" menu (located in the upper left-hand portion of the viewer screen) and make sure there is a "X" next to the "Camera Controls" and "Viewer" controls.  In this way, you will see two control boxes on your viewer screen that will help you move around the virtual campus.

Note:  There is a good "Quick Start Guide" in our myTulane course site (in the "M2/M3 Virtual World Option" section of our myTulane course site).

Part B:  Learning Activities Related Skills

(1)  To obtain a note card from a note card giver, right click on the objects that have "Touch" hoover text.

(2)  To watch the slide shows, use the red arrows to advance the PowerPoint slides and lecture notes.  Note:  The PowerPoint slides are located in the computer screens while the lecture notes are located in the clipboards.

(3)  Touch each vocabulary flashcard -- to read the related definition.


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