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.

It has been eight years since Pokémon fever raged at my house so I was intrigued to hear about Pokémon Go, an augmented reality game based on the beloved characters from the 20-year-old franchise that you play on your smartphone using an app. In its simplest form the idea is to use your phone’s GPS to go to real places and “catch” virtual Pokémons.

I have read a few articles describing the dangerous situations players have found themselves in and the financial windfall this is supposed to bring to Nintendo, but nothing about the potential learning opportunities it could bring. On Monday, I saw a segment of the CTV show, The Social in which the hosts despaired for the future of humanity because people were wasting their time trying to become Pokémon Masters.

As a mom and a teacher, I can tell you if we could harness and utilize the power of Pokémon, we would be able to reach a lot of children we might characterize as reluctant learners.

When Pokémon became the “big thing” at my son’s school he was 6 and he wanted to collect the cards. Like most of his friends, he didn’t do much more than look at them but I recalled that when my younger brother was interested in Pokémon, the cards were used to play a game. I looked it up and taught myself how to play it using the tutorial on the Pokémon Organized Play website. In addition to understanding my son’s interest, I realized I could use it to help him learn to read.

I was right about the reading but even I didn’t realize how much more he could get out of the card game. Because he was highly motivated, it was a matter of weeks before he was able to decode the information on each card for himself. It became important for him to know how to read so he could learn the strengths and weaknesses of each character and how to use them so he could win.

He needed to learn how to use the counters to keep track of a character’s health points so he practiced basic addition and subtraction. Most importantly, he used higher order thinking skills to build effective decks. He had to think about how each card of the 60 he was allowed complemented the others to form a winning strategy.

Eventually, we attended events and tournaments and met an incredibly friendly community. Experienced players were happy to mentor him and share their knowledge and resources. Gruff looking teenagers were eager to help a confused mom master the game. After awhile, I became pretty good at it so instead of waiting while my son played in tournaments, I played too. He still talks about the time I beat a former Canadian champion with my Tyranitar Deck.

It was only through playing the game and interacting with the other players that I realized how much learning potential there was in the game. The best players were very smart but not necessarily motivated at school.

My son’s school, however, eventually banned Pokémon cards because the staff found them too distracting. As a colleague, I understood their difficulty but continued to use Pokémon as a teaching tool at home.

So far, Pokémon Go has been blamed for being so distracting that players are hurting themselves and neglecting their real life relationships. There has even been a report that one player found a dead body when she was playing the game. In light of this, the first instinct might be for parents to discourage their children from playing it but I see learning potential in this game too.

Parents could use the game to help children learn mapping and responsible use of GPS. Even adults could use a refresher in not blindly following GPS instructions. There are also financial literacy lessons to be learned with respect to the use of mobile data plans and their limitations. Parents can help their children learn to balance the game with their other responsibilities.

Finally, this game requires players to go outdoors. Early reports are that it has been very successful in motivating people who might spend most of their time inside in front of a screen to explore ravines, parks and other natural areas. As a former outdoor education program co-ordinator, I know this is an important first step. So instead of fighting against it, it might be worth investigating how to leverage the teaching potential of something players find so highly motivating.

Catherine Little is a Toronto-based educator and consultant who writes about parenting, education and diversity.

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