Dive Brief:

• Pokémon GO, the wildly popular augmented reality game, has captured the attention of kids and adults alike, creating new opportunities for teachers to make lessons more engaging.
• Ed Tech Magazine reports educators have already suggested using the data-tracking element of the game to teach students important data literacy skills like processing, manipulation, presentation and analysis of data.
• Teachers can also use the game to explore wildlife and natural ecosystems, practice digital storytelling with photos of the Pokémon students capture, learn about GPS and mapping, research PokéStops and engage in global networking opportunities. 

Dive Insight:

If students are already primed to be thinking about little else than a newly released game, teachers might as well take advantage of the enthusiasm. Today’s students have already grown up with the idea of gamified learning, with many accessing learning apps on their parents’ computers or smartphones since before they could talk.

Minecraft was another game for which teachers capitalized on student enthusiasm during lesson planning. Teachers have used the game to get students engaged with design projects, make calculations for scaled replica buildings, read and research new Minecraft environment ideas, track data and learn about renewable versus nonrenewable resources.