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Virtual Reality seems to be everywhere I look now in technology news. Does this mean that VR is about to leap from “cool futuristic idea” to “mainstream tool that most people are familiar with”? We will see. Just in the past week alone: Sony Playstation finally released their long awaited VR headset and suit of games (with reviews not always being that glowing), Occulus Rift released a pair of controllers (that did earn glowing reviews), Walmart started selling a headset/controller combo that turns your smartphone into a VR device for $19.98 (made out of plastic instead of cardboard), and a VR model was used to convict a Nazi War criminal. The real educational potential will be more in allowing learners to design their own experiences in VR, from creating 3-D models that they can then walk around virtually to designing and releasing various games and simulations.

After Pokemon Go came out, I prepared myself for the onslaught of articles pertaining to the application of the game to education. Audrey Watters best summed up my feelings in a singe tweet:

Oh god. Someone has already written the “how Pokemon Go will revolutionize education” article

— Audrey Watters (@audreywatters) July 10, 2016

Regardless, I decided to see if there was any substance to the notion and I started playing on July 27. I planned to play for just five days and finish on the 31st, but life was extremely busy at the time and I kept playing past my self-imposed deadline. Most of the aforementioned articles popped up in July and August (ex: http://www.tcea.org/blog/pokemon-go/, http://www.edutopia.org/discussion/educational-potential-pokemon-go, http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/08/03/educators-weigh-learning-value-of-pokemon-go.html and my contribution is definitely late to the game. My post highlights my positive and negative experiences, as well as a few ways that an educator could consider utilizing the app. Here is some more information if you have the inkling!

Happy hunting!