NetLogo Mobile: An Agent-Based Modeling Platform and Community for Learners, Teachers, and Researchers
Date:
Since 2020, NetLogo Mobile has been developed into Turtle Universe, a full-fledged agent-based modeling and programming app for children, educators, and enthusiasts. It is the foundation of Tortuga (an editor for interactive tutorials), NetLogo AR, and NetLogo Chat. In May 2024, it has been used by 105,932 people around the world.
This is the first poster introducing an early prototype of NetLogo Mobile. Here is its poster. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, I was never able to physically present it. Hope you would enjoy it!
Chen, J., & Wilensky, U. (2020). NetLogo Mobile: An Agent-Based Modeling Platform and Community for Learners, Teachers, and Researchers. Proceedings of International Conference of the Learning Sciences 2020.
Aftermath
In 2020, I started sending out prototypes to many online kids through my other project, Physics Lab. With children’s participation, this work was soon developed into another interactive demo talk in ISLS 2021.
Original Summary
A complex systems perspective provides a major opportunity for learning. NetLogo is a powerful tool to foster computational thinking with complex systems. This poster reports on our prototype of NetLogo Mobile, a new interface to NetLogo designed for wide scaling. We introduce its underlying design principles. Through scaling the community, expanding the interactive repertoire, and scaffolding, we empower a variety of stakeholders to create models and curricula for localized needs, embracing learning designs and social behaviors to emerge.