September 7, 2016
5 Ways to Use Pokemon Go As a Learning Tool – Guest Post from Courtney Pepe & Wendy Thompson
Many thanks to Courtney Pepe (@iPadQueen2012) and Wendy Thompson (@wendypurple407) for this guest post. It first appeared on Daily Genius.As a curriculum supervisor and a demonstration teacher at the A. Harry Moore School of New Jersey City University – an innovative urban special education school – we are always looking for new and interesting technology applications that will pique the interest of our student population while connecting to academic and social goals. We recently found a learning opportunity that benefits our student population in many ways and in an unexpected way: through the Pokemon Go App. This piece will share our story and discuss how we used Pokemon Go Pokestops on the New Jersey City University Campus and in various Jersey City neighborhoods to supported social engagement, community awareness, travel, and 21st century instruction.
Social engagement

Community awareness
Schools all across the country should be a reflection of the community at large. At A. Harry Moore we are fortunate to be a part of two communities, New Jersey City University of which we are a department, and Jersey City, our local community. Pokemon Go gave us the opportunity to learn more about both communities on the micro and macro levels. We began our hunt by finding stops on the NJCU campus including Fries Hall, the campus bell tower, and Vodra Hall. The students enjoyed navigating the campus and interacting with augmented reality pop-up game characters as they traveled from one Pokestop to the next. Then the class took public transportation to various historically relevant places that were designated Pokestops in this, the fastest growing urban area in the Northeast. The students earned points as they traveled to Essex Street Station, the Colgate Clock, and Liberty Harbor Pier. Also, at each stop, Ms. Thompson took the time to share historical information about these different historical landmarks with her students. Since many of our students are wheelchair dependent, it was critical for them to have this experience walking – or in some cases driving in a power wheelchair – through their local community.Travel

Language Arts Curriculum Tie-In
Students need educational tasks that are tied to the curriculum and our use of Pokemon Go related to our language arts curriculum. The New Jersey Student Learning Standards place an emphasis on informational text as well as craft and structure. The curriculum asks that our students distinguish between information provided by pictures and information provided by words in a text. Pokemon Go allowed the students to tap on different towers based upon the geo-location of the student. Once the students get close to a Pokestop, they click on the blue spinning object. This exposed them to visual and written information about the significance of the stop. Then the students could use the visual and written information to describe key ideas about the Pokestop, relating to the integration of the knowledge and ideas section of the curriculum.
Looking for more innovative ideas? Come join us in Boston!
