Have you ever been to an escape room? Escape rooms are growing in popularity as a unique form of entertainment. Essentially, participants get “locked" in a theme room; for example, a bank, a ship, or a castle. With a 45-60 minute time limit, participants work together to find hidden clues and solve puzzles to “escape".
Educators are using the same principle in the classroom too.
I got a firsthand look at how to create an escape room in the classroom from Instructor Dr. Eva Brown. Eva teaches in the Business/Technology Teacher Education program. Eva and her colleagues are preparing the next generation of business and technology teachers for the public school system in Manitoba right here at Red River College.
Here's how it works:
The Instructor prepares a series of content-related questions. These questions (or clues for the questions) are hidden around the classroom. As the group of students finds and successfully answers the questions, they are gathering clues for how to unlock a large box (think tool box) that has some kind of prize (think treats!). For example, successfully answering a math question may reveal the first number of a combination lock. - Instead of paper problems and clues, you can also set up the questions in a Google Form. That makes it really easy to share with students (and other Instructors).
The popular name brand version of this technique is Breakout EDU, but you can also to it with a series of boxes and locks on your own. That's how Eva handles it. She has purchased various locks – a combination lock, a keyed lock, and a directional lock. This provides lots of options for how the content answers can be used to access the box.
I asked Eva about the draw of this approach: “The beauty of this teaching tool is that you are seamlessly integrating content with 21st century skills like collaboration, problem solving, creativity and communication."
Give it a try. See if your students can “break out".
What innovations are you using in your teaching practice? Click the sign in button on the top right, enter your RRC credentials, and join the conversation.
