Pokémon GO, the Augmented
Reality based game that’s topping the search trends this month, has
captured the attention of K-12 learners. So if these kids are primed to think
of little else than this game then teachers and content providers might take
the advantage of this newly created opportunity. The game has made such a
huge buzz in EdTech community with teachers and educators debating the
different possibilities to create game based interactive learning content.
Understanding that the attention span of K-12 learners can’t be more than 17 minutes [Attention Span (mins)
= Chronological Age + 1], games have proven to be an excellent way to ensure
effective learning outcomes. Publishers and content creators understand
how to make games memorable and "sticky" in the sense that, even when
students aren't playing the game, they are still thinking of solving the
problems and puzzles. That’s the effect of this newly launched AR based game
which is topping the charts.
Here are a few ideas for turning Pokémon GO into a meaningful
educational tool:
1) Promoting Data Literacy Skills: The game
automatically records the date and time of the event as they occur – be it
collecting Poké Balls or capturing Pokémon. Students can use the app to
learn data plotting and finding average number of events per day. Analyzing
this data can then help them become familiar with data literacy skills like
data-presentation, data- analysis and much more.
2) Inspire Story-telling: The game allows
players to snap photos of the creatures in front of their real-world
settings, this gives an opportunity to teachers to fuel creativity in students
and promote language skills by asking them to imagine and write stories
around Pokémon they capture in the game.
3) Encouraging Young Social Scientists: The game can be used to help students research about the habitat
where Pokémon is found. Students can be made to observe the habitat where
Pokémon is found and sketch it. It also encourages students to analyses the
kind of conditions under which different creatures thrive and makes them
environmentally conscious.
An excellent opportunity here for interactive
content development to achieve the desired learning outcomes and for
EdTech companies to leverage the power of Augmented Reality (AR) and Game based
learning in the classroom.
