Dive Brief:
- Lee Araoz, a K-12 technology coordinator in New York, recommends teachers consider Breakout EDU to bring collaborative, game-based learning to classrooms this year.
- Araoz writes for eSchool News that teachers can get physical boxes for about $100 or try digital ones for free and, after setting up their room, send students on a group mission to solve puzzles and “break out” of their boxes before time runs out.
- It takes about 15 minutes to set up the space and students should get 45 minutes to work on the puzzles, which encourage students to work together, communicate, persevere through challenges and improve critical thinking skills.
Dive Insight:
Live Escape Room businesses have popped up in cities including New York City, Boston, Atlanta, St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas. The challenges attract people of all ages to solve puzzles together and figure out how to get out of a locked room, generally within one hour. Modifying this type of activity for K-12 classrooms offers an opportunity to improve student engagement by sneaking in learning with games. Kids use math and logical reasoning skills as they problem-solve together, and they specifically use failure to do better on a subsequent attempt.
This skill-building combination is much like what happens in makerspaces, which have become a more common presence in K-12 schools in recent years. In makerspaces, students also have to troubleshoot their own problems and persevere through failure. These skills aren’t as easy to assess with standardized tests, but many teachers consider them important life skills students need to succeed in college and life.