Pokémon Go or Learning-on-the-go?

The most talked about words in the world of technology these days are Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). The concept of Virtual Reality was initiated for the video game industry. It can possibly be “the next big thing” in eLearning industry as well, but it seems that VR is a bit ahead of its time for corporate learning. Augmented Reality is a technology that allows you to create the illusion of multimedia objects. Thus, using AR in corporate learning allows us to explore many possibilities to enhance the learning experience for materials and onboarding experiences.

Most of us see the world in an augmented view through our smartphones. Pokémon Go has incited in people the need to observe the world around them with the help of maps. For those who are not aware, Pokémon Go is a free augmented reality game for smart phone users. It uses the inbuilt GPS system; it attracts players to real-world places in search of virtual creatures. Objects tend to appear around cultural landmarks, where players must go and collect them.

Pokémon Go not only makes you familiar with your surroundings but also provokes curiosity among players to discover new surroundings. Similarly, you can include elements that help build curiosity among your learners and help them discover the learning objectives as they progress through the course.

Pokémon goodies are placed at different landmarks. It gives you a reason to talk to other people you meet at these landmarks, who you might not know. It allows you to build and expand your social community. You can ask your learners to research and plot out different tasks for their peers to discover; or you can introduce a discussion on a forum where you can help your peers understand something that you have already learnt.

You can find Pokémons with the help of the inbuilt GPS system. It allows you to view the area around you. As you progress through different levels, you discover new objects that help you train your Pokémons. Its user interface uses Google maps to locate the different PokéStops. Initially, you can allow your users to get acquainted with the user friendly environment and then add more complexity and challenges within your module to keep them interested.

Pokémon Go, in a way, has built a great level of engagement among its players. Players acquire these skills after collecting all the AR points and badges required to complete the level. Incorporating an incremental progression within your modules can help your learners achieve the designed objectives. For example, Pokémon Go is secretly teaching Americans the metric system, particularly relevant for eggs, which players pick up at PokéStops. Before they can hatch, eggs need to be incubated until the player has walked a certain distance which is indicated in kilometers.

The Journal game automatically records the time and date of the events as they occur — whether it be collecting Poké balls or capturing a Pokémon. And, Pokédex includes every detail of each of Pokémon you have captured. This feature familiarizes students with the data literacy skills of data processing, data manipulation, data presentation, and data analysis. Including a similar feature within our learning modules that would monitor the learner’s progress could help them analyze their progression through their course and also make them familiar with the importance of analysis and statistics in learning.

Thus the bottomline is that, Pokémon Go has used our obsession with technology to build the bridge with people in the real world and encourage a new way of learning.

Image courtesy: www.pokemongo.com