Most of you are probably familiar with the concept of escape rooms which has been growing in popularity over the last few years, where individuals or small groups are physically put into a room and they must solve a series of puzzles and tasks to unlock the door and escape, usually against a time limit in order to create a sense of urgency.
Similar concepts have been used in computer games almost since they were invented (The Hobbit 1982), so with the advent of the pandemic and the resulting lockdowns, escape rooms very quickly moved online to become virtual escape rooms.
Escape rooms build on the theory of gamification and the concept of introducing an element of competition or reward into tasks or activities. In an educational setting, gamification refers to the use of a pedagogical system that was developed within gaming design, but which is implemented within a non-game context as a means of improving engagement.
While there are limitations, escape room exercises can be developed within Brightspace using a combination of the available tools and external resources, which can be physical or online. The important thing to remember is that the action point where the user actually applies the response must happen in Brightspace so it can be registered and thus allow the sequence to continue. While this will never be as impressive as a dedicated and specifically designed website, the resulting activity can be an engaging and informative experience.
If you would like to experience a Brightspace escape room, click the following link to have a go and see examples of some of the things that can be achieved.
If you would like to try this with your unit, contact your Faculty Learning Technologist.
FLIE lunchtime drop-in: Tue 6 Dec 11:30 – 13:00 FG04
For more information, read these articles:
https://inspiringlearning.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2022/06/exploring-virtual-escape-rooms/
JISC: Gamification and Games-Based Learning
Advanced HE: Gamification and Games Based Learning
