Using PokemonGo as an educational app

pokemongo Aerodactyl
PokemonGo Aerodactyl Pokemon. Catch em All.

Unless you have been totally out of touch with the students, you have heard about the PokemonGo rage that is taking the world by storm. PokemonGo has garnered a lot of press, some good and some bad. the bad mostly comes from people doing stupid things while trying to catch them all. Regardless of where you stand on the whole PokemonGo phenomena, there is one fact, the app gets the kids off the couch and out of the house and second, it can be educational.

Wait, you just said educational? Isn’t this just a game where people catch little monsters in their poke balls and try to raise them? Yes, it is, but the educational part comes from the PokeStops. PokeStops are an integral part of this game. These are locations where players can stop and spin the stop to get more supplies, such as more balls, potions to heal Pokemon, etc..






Examples of Using PokemonGo for Education:

Most of these stops are centered on landmarks and historical locations. When you open up the stop, it will tell you the name of the historical location. This is where you could stage a field trip or make an assignment where students have to research more about the PokeStops in your community. This is a good way to get kids interested in the history all around them and at the same time promote research skills. The PokeStop is going to give them a name, but they are going to have to research to find out the significance. A lot fo stops are also at locations such as churches, which may not be as useful unless they are something like the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta Georgia where Martin Luther King got his start.




These are just a couple of examples of how you can bring the Pokemon craze into your classroom. This can provide something unique for your students to do. Keeping classrooms internet is one of the biggest challenges educators face in this distracted world. The digital revolution has brought us closer together without social networks, Facebook, Twitter, etc.. but at the same time. its separated people as many just sit behind their screens. Pokemon has devised a method for getting the kids back into the community and having real interaction with their environment. This can’t be a bad thing. Even if dumb people are driving into trees.

The below images show what PokeStops look like. If you drive around your historical district or downtown area, you will likely find a lot of these. Or just ask your class, I’m sure they already know where the PokeStops in your area are located.

How to Find PokeStops

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