#9: Augmented and Virtual Reality

 Post#9 - Who Would Have Thought: 

Augmented and Virtual Reality in Education

    Growing up in the 80's and 90's, my brothers and I played video game consoles like Sega Genesis, Nintendo, and the handheld Gameboy.  I remember the graphics on the Gameboy were a multitude of various shades of light and dark green dots that animated my screen with flat images.  Over time, all the game consoles evolved to make the video gaming experience more realistic with color (and more realistic graphics and 3-D images).  Back in the 90's, I never would have thought that gaming, virtual, and augmented reality would become so popular in the library science field and that these tools would be used as teaching tools in education.  One popular example is the Pokémon GO phenomenon, an augmented reality game.  

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR):  What's the Difference?  

    Massis (2015) explains, "Virtual Reality strives to completely simulate an immersive sensory experience indistinguishable from the real […] often using technologies like headsets that attempt to completely deprive human sensory organs like the eyes from any stimuli outside of that which is artificially generated by the VR technology. Augmented Reality strives to overlay additional layers of useful (e.g. actionable, descriptive, informative, directional) media onto the real without replacing it" (p. 796).  

What's Pokemon GO?  

    RayL (2015) describes the phenomenon like this:  "This augmented reality game requires players to use their smartphones to capture Pokémon.  To do so, you will need to explore your real-world surroundings.  Since your child will be exploring the real world, this is an activity for both parent/caregiver and child.  In simplest terms, Pokémon GO is a scavenger hunt with a basic battle element" (para. 2).  The Pokémon GO app can be downloaded at https://www.pokemongo.com/en-us/.  Once the user downloads the app onto their smartphones, he/she is ready to battle!  

    So, after hearing about this craze years ago...I might be inclined to try it now that all of the popularity has settled down.  As I read the articles, I wondered how was this augmented reality game considered to be educational and why were libraries loving little Pikachu and everything Poke?  Not only was the game great to get people up an moving but libraries (and other educational places of interest) were also featured as "Poke Stops" (hot spots for capturing creatures).  Not only do libraries love Pokémon GO, but some educators do as well.  Farber (2016) states, that this augmented reality game teaches digital citizenship, meta-cognition and problem solving skills, resilience, and encourages meaningful conversation while visiting the stops.  This application may also be used to teach students directional skills and map reading.  In short, this tool can be used to have fun and play, but it can also be used as a teaching/learning tool, in disguise. To read more about how Pokémon GO can be used educationally, click the links below.  

Additional Readings: 

• Why Pokémon Go and the Library Make a Perfect Partnership 

        https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2016/07/pokemon-go-library-perfect-partnership/

• Teaching Geography with Pokémon Go 

           https://sgsup.asu.edu/teaching-geography-pok%C3%A9mon-go 

• Ways to Use Pokemon Go in the Classroom (*Love this website) 

            https://www.teachingideas.co.uk/computing/ways-to-use-pokemon-go-in-the-classroom

References

Farber, M. (2016, July 22). The educational potential of Pokémon go. 

     Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/educational-potential-pokemon-   

        go#:~:text=But%20they%20also%20teach%20problem,game's%20growing%20communit%

     20of%20practice.

Massis, B. (2015). Using virtual and augmented reality in the library. New Library World, 

     116(11/12), 796–799.