Now, knowing Google, this could easily be one of their April Fool’s pranks. They always have a really awesome prank each year. Some people are saying it’s not a joke because it’s March 31st, others are saying it’s April 1st in Japan already, where Pokemon originates.
Either way, if you update Google Maps on your phone right now, you’ll get to play around on your very own Pokemon adventure. I believe it’s a mobile-only feature at the moment, and you don’t get augmented reality like in the video, but it’s a lot of fun nonetheless. So go right now. Go. Do it. Update your app, click the search button and you’ll see a Pokeball. You’re officially on your way to be a Pokemon master.
Now, let’s get real here, Google. First off, this needs to be a thing just because it’s awesome. I would be a happy paying customer of a fully developed Pokemon/Maps crossover game or app. How awesome would it be to actually travel the real regions of Japan and France and catch Pokemon there?!
Secondly, from an education standpoint, HOLY HYPNO, Batman! How insanely useful would this be?! Are you a World Geography teacher? You could feature a new Pokemon (and location) every day and hardly ever run out. You could lead your kids on a scavenger hunt around the world, using geography clues to find Pokemon. Math teacher could conceal coordinates in solvable equations. Science teachers could create riddles to lead you to the species of Pokemon. There are SO many ways to get your kids engaged in a Pokemon quest. I teach music for cryin’ out loud, and I’m going to tell my classes about this. They’ll have to use technology (+1) to find locations on a map (+2) and collect a Pokemon! There’s your cross curricular action right there!
Google. Please. Just please let us make this a thing. Keep it. Let us teachers develop our own Pokemon searches to showcase places we want to teach about. Hnnnnngggg it’s just so cool that I’m all out of real words. Ultimately, I’d love for this platform to be developed and added to the classroom. We need to be able to create customizable pins to drop on different locations, and an option to collect those pins or badges. You could make an Achievement Hunter list for your class. You could collect Pokemon, badges, coins, characters, composers, or anything else your mind could come up with. This is a fantastic idea you’ve come up with, please don’t leave it on the 1st as a prank!!!
Nicole in Real Life 