Facilitating Team Building through “Escape Room” Games

Posted on Categories Misc. Lesson Plans & Ideas, Online Learning Tools & Resources, Student Engagement

At a Glance

Dauphin County Technical School (DCTS) instructors use “escape room” games to increase student engagement and to help strengthen team building skills in students.

Description

For the 2018-2019 school year, the primary instructional goal at DCTS is to increase student engagement. To move towards achieving this goal, the faculty can use Breakout EDU, a website that provides escape room – type games. As with other escape room-type platforms, Breakout EDU is designed to have students work in teams to meet a common goal. DCTS purchased an account which is managed by the instructional coaches and shared by the staff.

Before teachers implemented games in their individual classrooms, DCTS administrators and professional staff participated in solving a Breakout EDU game during an in-service to become more familiar with the format. DCTS finds that teachers must experience a breakout game to fully understand the student perspective and to appreciate the potential value of the game to increase student engagement and team building skills.

Impact

DCTS teachers appreciate the potential of Breakout EDU games to encourage teamwork and to provide students with an opportunity to work together to solve a shared problem.

Contact

Dauphin County Technical School
https://dcts.org/
Sharon Deiling, Instructional Coach
sdeiling@dcts.org