What Can Your Students Learn During a Classroom Escape Room?

Purpose & objective

Escape Rooms are becoming a very popular activity in schools and communities worldwide. Following a few important design steps, students and teachers alike can design their own! This is the opportunity to engage students in online and collaborative learning that encourages creativity, teamwork, persistence, and problem-solving. Free internet and Google-provided tools combined with content standards make for a powerful and fun experience that teachers and students can enjoy together! Let’s spend time during this session designing your very own "Escape Room".

During this workshop participants will:

-Learn how to design an Escape Room
-Visit with the presenters and use a simple Google Doc template to design and plan their very own Escape Room
-Work with participants to design and set puzzles
-Test/solve those sample puzzles together to beta test how students will perform with the locks
-Receive resources, advice, templates, and 1:1 planning assistance
-Make something useful! Maximize conference time by planning an Escape Room to use in the classroom

Outline

Introducing Participants to the Session Outcomes
-(5 minutes) We will begin with an introduction to the session objectives and discuss and demonstrate the need for teachers to design Escape Rooms as a model for problem-solving and critical thinking.

1. (10 minutes) We will begin our plans, download the template to user devices, and then discuss the content, standards, and student processes that they want to include in their designs.

2. (5 minutes) Then, we will discuss the selection of themes and settings that are used to involve the user in an Escape Room.

3. (10 minutes) Next we will display possible usages of Google Tools like Slides, Docs, Drive, and Keep for students to use when solving the problems within an Escape Room.

4. (10 minutes) Then, we will work together to determine the setups and supplies that are required to prepare students for working on the problems found in the activity.

5. (10 minutes) Next, we will look at specific puzzle types that educators can include in a classroom Escape Room. The participants will work in teams to prototype a example puzzle using their subject area content and a provided lock.

6. (5 minutes) Finally, teams will trade puzzle prototypes and practice solving locks using hints and clues found hidden within the session presentation. (Teams will each be typing on a shared presentation so that all participants can access and benefit from the creativity of the group.)

Reflection (5 minutes)
We will conclude by wrapping up any questions by the participants and allowing time for attendees to voice which tools, concepts, and/or puzzles they included in their plans. Participants will be able to take their google doc template home from the conference and continue working on it and eventually use it with their own students!!

Supporting research

Active Learning, such as found in an "Escape Room" is a hallmark of the eMINTS Instructional Model.

eMINTS is featured in the “What Works Clearinghouse” for research findings that show positive impacts on student engagement and learning in schools.

http://emints.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/eMINTS-Research-Findings-Summary_updated-04.15.2015.pdf
Are you wanting to engage students in online, collaborative learning that utilizes free internet and Google-provided tools? Let’s work together at this session and spend some time designing your very own "Escape Room" activity using these nifty resources and templates I’ve collected. Then, use this activity with your students in the upcoming school year!