The future of learning: Pokemon Go
After the launch of Pokemon Go just last week, the game is already seeing huge international success (with an estimated 9.5 million daily active users attracted within five days of launch), and some educators are claiming it offers multiple learning opportunities. Teachers report how using the app gives children the chance to develop skills in vital areas such as: mapping and geolocation (as it is necessary for players to understand geographic positions to locate characters); mathematics (as players must work out the “combat power” relative to a potential opponent to take part in a battle); memorisation (as players must remember the relative merits of over 150 species of Pokemon); and lastly there are multiple reports from players who have learned about local historical landmarks that they were previously unaware of through the game. The recent launch of Minecraft for Education in American schools shows the increasing trend of gamification in education, so it is worth watching how Pokemon Go progresses.

By now, you have almost certainly heard about the augmented-reality phenomenon that is "Pokémon Go."

You also may have heard that the game has significant physical and mental health benefits for its players, and that it has been a bit of a trouble magnet in recent days.

But did you know that it can also be educational?

"Pokémon Go" requires players to hone certain skills to be good at the game, and these skills have many useful real-world applications. Here are three of them.

Geolocation

At the start of the game, "Pokémon Go" uses your smartphone's location to put your character on an interactive map of your area. Different locations have different Pokémon, Poké Stops and gyms for you to explore, making it necessary for you to understand your geographic position to locate what's around you.

You can also zoom out to see how many Poké Stops and gyms are in the surrounding area and decide if you'd like to venture further.

"The skills needed to read and interpret maps are a part of visual literacy," LearnNC, a program of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill School of Education, says on its website. "Visual literacy means not just decoding an image but comprehending it – grasping the image’s intended meaning, evaluating it and incorporating it into other knowledge."

Math

"It is next to impossible to live an independent life without basic math skills," explains an article on Livestrong. "People must have these skills in order to follow a recipe, evaluate whether or not an item on clearance is a good deal and manage a budget, among other things."

How does "Pokémon Go" come into play in developing these skills? Pokémon battles in gyms are determined in part by each Pokémon character's CP, or combat power. The higher the combat power one Pokémon has relative to its opponent, the more likely it is that it will win the battle.

However, with some well-timed dodges and attacks, a Pokémon with a lower CP can pull out the "W" – and that's where probability comes into play. Discerning trainers need to weigh their chances of success before a challenge if they want to emerge victorious.

Memorization

There are 151 species of Pokémon featured in "Pokémon Go," each with their own abilities and attributes. If you want to be a true Pokémon Master, you have to know who's who and what kind of strategy is most likely to net you wins in battles.

Take the two Pokémon Bulbasaur and Squirtle. Bulbasaur is part grass-type, with grass moves that can inflict double the damage against a water-type like Squirtle.

In turn, Squirtle's water-type attacks do half the damage on Bulbasaur and other grass-types. In-the-know players have memorized which types are effective and ineffective against each Pokémon to have the highest chance of success in battle.