Video conferencing platforms like Zoom, the video affordances of MS Teams and google handouts offer a way to connect with our students, however, their limits are the synchronous nature of the technology, the minimal shared experience and the lack of sense of place. The paradigm of adopting games and play as systems for representing and simulating real-life conditions, imparting knowledge and moral teachings, and generally nurturing social evolution, is an approach which has only recently started to be called ‘Game Based Learning (Clarke et al 2017).
A recent systematic literature review by Fotaris and Mastoras (2019) identifies the concerns about the time it takes to design and construct escape rooms. However, their analysis indicates that educational escape rooms offer an enjoyable experience that immerses students as active participants in their learning environment. Escape rooms offer learners the opportunity that promotes teamwork, creativity, decision-making, leadership, communication, and critical thinking. The JISC ‘Student digital experience insights survey’ (2020) summarised the experiences of over 20,000 HE students at a range of 28 HE institutions. One surprising finding was that only 20% of students gain any ‘real life’ simulation experiences as part of their degree, and these tend to be in engineering design and healthcare.
Creativity, games, and role plays are well known to learning developers as established educational and research methods, and communities of practice, such as @CreativeHE share and celebrate this body of work.
This presentation will offer participants:
The theoretical framing for introducing digital creative practices to their own contexts
A taster ‘Escape’ room session
Access to our templates and ‘step through’ resources
References:
JISC Student digital experience insights survey (2020) https://www.jisc.ac.uk/sites/default/files/student-dei-he-report-2020.pdf
Clarke, S., Peel, D.J., Arnab, S., Morini, L., Keegan, H. and Wood, O., 2017. escapED: a framework for creating educational escape rooms and Interactive Games For Higher/Further Education. International Journal of Serious Games, 4(3), pp.73-86.
Fotaris, P. and Mastoras, T., 2019, October. Escape rooms for learning: A systematic review. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning (pp. 235-243).
Veldkamp, A., van de Grint, L., Knippels, M.C. and van Joolingen, W., 2020. Escape education: A systematic review on escape rooms in education. https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202003.0182/v1
Wiederhold, B.K., 2020. Connecting through technology during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: Avoiding “Zoom Fatigue”.
Presenters:
Debbie Holley (Bournemouth University), Carina Buckley (Solent University) and Kate Coulson (University of Northampton)
1. The opportunities and challenges of
educational escape rooms
Debbie Holley
Bournemouth University
@debbieholley1
Carina Buckley
Solent University
@evildrB
Kate Coulson
University of Northampton
@K8tecoulson
Please tweet to @ALDinHE_LH
2. Connecting with our students and
colleagues during the pandemic
Online shared spaces have their
uses
• Zoom
• MS Teams
• Google hangouts
• However, research showing it
is exhausting, stressful and
impacts on our mental health
(Wiederholt 2020)
• And student report our
learning designs are part of
their stress 'technostress'
(Holley and Biggins 2021)
3. Despite students accessing the VLE regularly, there is wide
variation on how easily some components can be accessed
course calendar
Click to add text
Frequency of access
5. The paradigm of adopting games and play as systems for representing
and simulating real-life conditions, imparting knowledge and moral
teachings, and generally nurturing social evolution, is an approach
which has only recently started to be called ‘Game Based Learning'
(Clarke et al 2017)
• The JISC 'Student digital
experience insights survey'
only 20% of students gain
any 'real life' simulation
experiences
• Creativity, games, and role
plays are
established educational
methods
• and communities of
practice, such as
@CreativeHE draw upon
these methodologies to
inform their research.
• Veldkamp et al point to a
lack of educational 'escape
room' scenarios...
6. What is an escape room?
• The participants in an escape room normally play as a
cooperative team ranging anywhere between two and
ten players.
• Games are set in a variety of fictional locations, such
as prison cells, dungeons, and space stations. The
player's goals and challenges they encounter usually
follow the theme of the room.
• The game begins with a brief introduction to the rules
of the game and how to win. This can be delivered in
the form of video, audio, or a physical gamemaster.
7. How do escape rooms support learning?
• Creative, student-centred, positive
learning environments
• 'Hands on and minds on activities'1
to be achieved as a team
• The narrative contextualises
knowledge and skills
• Unambiguous feedback, rewards and
increasing complexity = scaffolding
• Active, social, situated learning
• Collaborative problem-solving
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.
1. Veldkamp et al, 2020
8. The principles of
an escape room
They should:
1. Have a story or narrative
thread
2. Feel like a game more than a
quiz
3. Have a clear goal or endpoint
4. Allow students to work in
teams
5. Involve an element of
competition
10. Case Study: "Induction
Investigation" @ Northampton
New approach to induction
Pre-pandemic....
To create connections
F2F and Online
Academic Skills > University
11. Escape Rooms LD@3 Crib sheet slide 1/3
• Breakout room activity https://forms.gle/2NFNnvLaYRvPjUYV6
• This is designed to show what is possible using very minimal
technology. The key things are the hook and story, and the
opportunity to puzzle out an answer as a group. (No comments
needed on the quality of the puzzles in this example!) I built this in
Google Forms, having seen an excellent walk-through on YouTube
(https://youtu.be/p-4LvbAHA9c). Other platforms are available; you
could use Microsoft Forms, Google Slides, OneNote, or simply your
VLE with activity completion settings enabled. It can be animated,
illustrated, multimedia, or purely text-based. It doesn’t matter.
Remember: it’s all about the story and the group work. That’s all!
12. Escape Rooms LD@3 Crib sheet slide 2/3
A quick how-to in Google Forms
· Open up a form, give it a compelling name and add a header image to entice. Write a paragraph that sets the scene for the story. This needs to be a
quest or an escape; something has to be collected or found; obstacles must be overcome, doors opened, blockers removed to achieve a specific goal.
· Add a new section. This is important! You don’t want your participants to see everything in one go.
· Now comes your first puzzle. Mine were written in Word and then I snipped it as an image and added it. This is NOT good for accessibility, as screen
readers can’t read text on images, and I need to work out a better way of doing this. Any ideas?
o Settings: use a short answer question.
o Make sure the question is required.
o Click the three dots next to the required slider and select Text in the left-hand drop-down, then put the correct answer in the Contains section. NB
Google Forms is case-sensitive so make sure your participants know how to fill in the answer. The final option is for you to put some text that will
encourage another try if they get the answer wrong.
· Add a new section. Also important!
· This is for congratulations – they’ve succeeded – and the next stage of the story. Make sure there is a sense of progress.
· Add a new section. You get the idea.
· Here’s the second puzzle. Continue as before; try to build in a bit of variation, and also think about whether you need to get progressively more difficult.
It’s fun but it’s still a learning task!
· Add as many new sections as you need to complete your escape room: puzzle – story – puzzle – story – puzzle – story – puzzle – ending.
· Finally you get to the end; add an image or something to make it clear that they’ve achieved the goal.
l
13. The answers to my
breakout room
activity
1. Anagrams a. VALUES b. STUDENTS c. POTENTIAL d. CONNECTION
e. PARTICIPATION
Therefore the
answer is VSPCP
2. Fill in the gaps.
This is taken directly
from the ALDinHE
website – points to
anyone who
realised that and
cheated!
a. ALONGSIDE b. INCLUSIVE c. EMANCIPATORY
d. COLLABORATION e. EFFECTIVE f. EXTERNAL g. SCHOLARLY h. CRITICAL i. COMMITMENT
j. DEVELOPMENT
Therefore the
answer is
AIECEESCCD
3. We do not yet have an EDI working group so the
answer is EQUALITY & DIVERSITY (NB. Must be written
exactly like that, as noted above)
14. Feedback?
• Would you be interested in an LD@3 on
'how to' create an escape room?
• Or in collating co-designed resources and
examples and writing for JLDHE with us?
Please get in touch!
• dholley@bournemouth.ac.uk
• kate.coulson@northampton.ac.uk
• carina.buckley@solent.ac.uk
15. References:
@CreativeHE and blog: https://creativehecommunity.wordpress.com/
Clarke, S., Peel, D.J., Arnab, S., Morini, L., Keegan, H. and Wood, O., 2017. escapED: a
framework for creating educational escape rooms and Interactive
Games For Higher/Further Education. International Journal of Serious Games, 4(3),
pp.73-86.
Holley, D and Biggins, D. (25.11.2021) #Take5 #65 Wellbeing: The chasm between
students’ expectations and institutional provision
JISC Student digital experience insights survey (2020)
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/sites/default/files/student-dei-he-report-2020.pdf
Veldkamp, A., van de Grint, L., Knippels, M.C. and van Joolingen, W., 2020. Escape
education: A systematic review on escape rooms in education.
https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202003.0182/v1
Wiederhold, B.K., 2020. Connecting through technology during the coronavirus disease
2019 pandemic: Avoiding “Zoom Fatigue”.
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/cyber.2020.29188.bkw
Editor's Notes
Students are very confident in Social Media. Similar proportions across sex
Students much less confident in the VLE. No differences between sexes
