Escaping Ordinary: Digital Escape Rooms in the Classroom Content to Classroom

Escape Rooms have been all the rage over the past few years. For those that don't know, escape rooms are just that... a room you must escape from. Usually, there is a theme to an escape room, and it is up to you and whomever you're with to solve a series of puzzles in under an hour to "escape" the room. As an avid escape room hobbyist, I wondered if this concept could be applied to the classroom. Sure enough, it can! Through a variety of different platforms, teachers can use or create their own escape room right in the classroom. It encourages collaboration amongst groups, critical thinking and evaluation, and to just have fun! This concept can be used to introduce content, review content, or even teach content. My students have tried to keep the villainous Ms. G. (that's me) from pulling a Carmen Sandiego and stealing major monuments throughout Europe (World Geography), and they've tried to save Julius Caesar from his gruesome fate. The sky is the limit with these activities, not to mention it is so fun to see students engaged (and frustrated) with the content. Escape rooms can be done with physical locks or they can be done through a digital platform. I have more experience creating and using digital escape rooms than physical. There is also a website called Breakout EDU that allows teachers to create themed content right there on their website for virtual learning, as well as offering information on how to get started with in-person activities.

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All of Jenn's amazing links:

- European Digital Breakout (World Geography): https://sites.google.com/nn.k12.va.us/catchmsg/home

- Save the Republic Digital Breakout (World History): https://sites.google.com/nn.k12.va.us/savetherepublicbreakout/home

- Save the Renaissance Mini Digital Breakout (World History): https://sites.google.com/cnu.edu/renaissancebreakout/home

- Hub for digital breakout resources: https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/digitalbreakouttools

- Breakout EDU (this has some free resources, but otherwise you’d have to pay): https://www.breakoutedu.com/

- A good blog post about creating digital escape rooms: https://meredithakers.com/2019/11/17/digital-breakout-made-easy/

- This one looks like a really good source! https://sites.google.com/edtechcreative.com/digital-breakouts-guide/home?authuser=0