Escape Rooms
Escape rooms are physical rooms designed with a series of puzzles or challenges that participants must complete in order to fulfill the objective, which is to "escape" the room. The participants work as a team, and each team member leverages their own skills or background knowledge to help the team escape. The escape room activity is usually timed, and the challenges are based on an overarching theme, such as science or location.
Escape room activities in the classroom are designed similarly but focus on instructional goals such as information literacy, literature, or whatever topic the teacher wants students to explore. Puzzles might include using a cipher wheel to decode a word, number, or phrase; clues written in invisible ink; mathematical equations; or physical puzzles to assemble. Digital escape rooms have comparable goals to physical escape rooms, but the exploration and puzzles are all online. Escape room activities can be used to introduce or review a topic, or as a team building activity. Faculty report high student involvement and enthusiasm with these types of student-centered applications. Sample Digital Escape Room Try it out! Age - high school to adult |
HCC Center for Teaching Excellence Escape Room Resources for Faculty Checkout
Locks: 7 various - word, number, directional
Cipher wheels: 7 - alphabet only
Invisible ink pens: 3
Ultraviolet flashlights: 5
Poster of Braille alphabet: 1
Small boxes with "hasps" for locking: 7 - various shapes
Cipher wheels: 7 - alphabet only
Invisible ink pens: 3
Ultraviolet flashlights: 5
Poster of Braille alphabet: 1
Small boxes with "hasps" for locking: 7 - various shapes
Digital Escape Room Using Google Forms Tutorials
You can create engaging Digital Escape rooms using Google Forms. Clues can be text, audio, video and images.
How to create sections and multiple choice questions that direct a digital escape.
How to create a clue that requires a validated answer to a question.
Further Reading and Resources
Workshop PowerPoint - January 2018

escape_this_workshop_-jan18.pptx |
Development of THIS Escape Room Session
Goals: Involve educators in a student-centered, active lesson about the use of digital and physical puzzles to
introduce content and encourage careful reading, team building, and creative thinking.
Introduce the use of various technologies to use in classroom and online environments.
Time/Puzzles: Planned 4 digital puzzles and 5 physical puzzles for a 50 minute period.
Participants: 6-24 participants in groups of 1-4
Cost: $20 - reusable materials
Technologies used in this Digital Escape Room:
Embedded Video
PowerPoint
Google Sites - how to build a site, how to add content to a site
Google Forms - how to create a form, how to edit and create sections, how to require a specific response
Goals: Involve educators in a student-centered, active lesson about the use of digital and physical puzzles to
introduce content and encourage careful reading, team building, and creative thinking.
Introduce the use of various technologies to use in classroom and online environments.
Time/Puzzles: Planned 4 digital puzzles and 5 physical puzzles for a 50 minute period.
Participants: 6-24 participants in groups of 1-4
Cost: $20 - reusable materials
Technologies used in this Digital Escape Room:
Embedded Video
PowerPoint
Google Sites - how to build a site, how to add content to a site
Google Forms - how to create a form, how to edit and create sections, how to require a specific response
Resources used in this Physical Escape Room:
Cipher Wheel - photocopied sample and laminated
Blank puzzle - purchased online
Invisible ink - purchased online
Number lock - purchased online
Word lock - purchased online
Blacklight flashlight - purchased online
Locked box - created by taking a cardboard box and fashioning a hasp out of duct tape
Further Reading and Resources
Bassford, M. L., Crisp, A., O'Sullivan, A., Bacon, J., & Fowler, M. (2016). CrashEd–A live immersive, learning experience embedding STEM subjects in a realistic, interactive crime scene. Research in Learning Technology, 24(1), 30089.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/rlt.v24.30089
Clarke, S. & Arnab, S., Morini, L.,Wood, O., Green, K., Masters, A., & Bourazeri, A. (2016). EscapED: A Framework for Creating Live-Action, Interactive Games for Higher/Further Education Learning and Soft Skills Development. In R. Bottino, J. Jeuring, & R. C. Veltkamp (Eds.), Games and Learning Alliance. (Vol. 10056, pp. 144-153). Switzerland: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-50182-6_13
Digital Escape Rooms - https://www.breakoutedu.com/digital/.
How to Create and Educational Escape Room for Your Class - https://www.classcraft.com/blog/features/escape-room-education/
Cipher Wheel - photocopied sample and laminated
Blank puzzle - purchased online
Invisible ink - purchased online
Number lock - purchased online
Word lock - purchased online
Blacklight flashlight - purchased online
Locked box - created by taking a cardboard box and fashioning a hasp out of duct tape
Further Reading and Resources
Bassford, M. L., Crisp, A., O'Sullivan, A., Bacon, J., & Fowler, M. (2016). CrashEd–A live immersive, learning experience embedding STEM subjects in a realistic, interactive crime scene. Research in Learning Technology, 24(1), 30089.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/rlt.v24.30089
Clarke, S. & Arnab, S., Morini, L.,Wood, O., Green, K., Masters, A., & Bourazeri, A. (2016). EscapED: A Framework for Creating Live-Action, Interactive Games for Higher/Further Education Learning and Soft Skills Development. In R. Bottino, J. Jeuring, & R. C. Veltkamp (Eds.), Games and Learning Alliance. (Vol. 10056, pp. 144-153). Switzerland: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-50182-6_13
Digital Escape Rooms - https://www.breakoutedu.com/digital/.
How to Create and Educational Escape Room for Your Class - https://www.classcraft.com/blog/features/escape-room-education/

escape_this_workshop_hints_-_group_a.docx |

escape_this_workshop_hints_-_group_b.docx |

escape_this_workshop_hints_-_group_c.docx |