Possibilities and challenges of use of the digital game pokémon go in school spaces in the context of digital technology and cyberculture: Initial trails for teaching biology

Abstract

Cyberculture allowed us to rethink how pedagogical practices in the classroom are used. The advance of the internet has decentralized the knowledge in a way that has increased access to it in different spaces of the school. As digital information and communication technologies (DICT), as the example of digital games, can contribute to learning processes and be part of the daily lives of students who establish living spaces, but are disregarded in schools. In this article, we investigate the possibilities and challenges of the use of the digital game Pokémon Go® in schools in the city of Maceió to mediate the teaching of Biology in a context of cyberculture and digital technological hybridity. The hypothesis that supported the study was that the game presents the potential for teaching Biology practices inside and outside schools. The methodology used involves qualitative research with exploratory design. The participants were two Biology teachers, players of Pokémon Go®. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observation in the schools where the teachers work. A content analysis technique with the aid of the Atlas Ti 7® software was used to analyze the collected data. As a result, the Pokémon Go® game presents the potential for teaching in the extra school contexts, in informal spaces under pedagogical mediation by teachers and the challenges within schools were related to pedagogical management, technological support and spatial dimensioning that need to be overcome.