The PedaGOgy of Pokémon GO

Part I

     I had never played an online game in my life when I opened Pokémon GO while walking with a friend who was playing.  This first experience was compelling enough for me to write a blog post, 10 Days of Pokémon GO.

My friends Stephanie, Tim and my husband John

     In the year and a half since that time, I picked it up again as a social activity and play with a small group of friends, and it has become a regular activity in my weekend life.  As an educator, with a special interest in online education, this game has reinforced my ideas about student engagement and opened my eyes in surprise and delight to some new ones.  It is an artful, amazing game that allows players to interact in their own ways, continue learning, and stay engaged long-term with constant challenges and rewards.  And yes - it makes me walk more and meet new people in the process.  Here are some of the great pedaGOgy strategies I have enjoyed: 

Personalized Learning 

     Each day, you are given the opportunity to complete research tasks that you receive by spinning stops. These are tasks you can either fulfill, or - if you don't like them - delete. There are a total of three you can work on at one time. If you delete one, you simply find another to replace it. This allows you to help to structure your own experience, and directly ties into adult learning styles, because we like to help control our learning experiences.  It also allows for different learning styles; some people love the raids, and tend to focus on research tasks that ask you to battle in a raid; others love the journey of capturing different types of Pokémon, and will work on those tasks.  Any one person will be moving forward in the game by picking and choosing their pathway. And the tasks for any given stop change daily, making each day a new adventure. 

Competency-based Learning 

     At the core, you are capturing Pokémon  of various sizes, forms, and skills with balls. You are given multiple chances to catch them; if you miss the first time, try again. You can use different berries to help entice them to hold still for you; you gather those berries by spinning stops as you move around.  If you absolutely can't get one, you can choose to escape and try another one.  There are always more Pokémon to capture, so no matter how few or many you end up catching, you can always try again. Each time you catch one, it is tallied; if you miss one, you move on. You receive metals for catching them, and you can work at your own pace. 

Scaffolded Learning Opportunities

     Pokémon GO helps you to become a better player by reinforcing information as you play with low-stakes activities such as powering up Pokémon and offering medals for capturing certain numbers and types with badge-like rewards that suddenly appear on your screen. It is like suddenly learning you got extra points on an assignment, boosting your confidence.  Pokémon reminds you of how to play the game in this way, and helps you advance in subtle ways.  With this support you can move forward gracefully. My research tasks remind me that I need to use my berries.  Slowly, by advancing from level to level, I gain an understanding of the various components of the game.  Pokémon GO starts with lower levels that are short and easy to move through, while the higher levels take much longer (ie more points) to complete. In that way, beginning players are rewarded easily as they learn the basics, while more advanced players are given bigger challenges to move forward, but no one is given something they can't handle at their level. Excellence in teaching!

Group Work and Building Community

My box becomes full and I have to decide which Pokémon to power up, send off to Professor Willow to clear space in my box, or trade with someone.  These decisions are part of the everyday tasks in the game, and there are as many approaches to them as there are players.  Learning from others on how they approach the game is part of the game itself.  And as you reach higher levels and start to raid, you naturally meet other players, as some raids take at least 10 people in order to win. Even those quieter among us share information and help each other; I have been in more than one raid where we all backed right before it started to allow someone time to reconnect their phone, or arrive late. There is as much a culture of respect as there is one of competition that is cultivated by the game. It allows for both introverts and extroverts in the learning community. 

Next: Professor Willow, Shinies, and Luck