Mobile real ESCAPE Rooms as an innovative teaching method in VET Erasmus Project

Project Title

Mobile real ESCAPE Rooms as an innovative teaching method in VET

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

In their daily work, teachers in general education and vocational training are faced with the challenge of conveying teaching content to their students in a way that is appropriate for the target group. Classical teaching methods such as frontal teaching, self-learning and group work are increasingly being supplemented in educational pedagogy by innovative, modern methods in order to make learning more efficient for pupils of different age groups. It is not unusual for playful elements to find their way into the classroom, which can significantly increase the attractiveness of the lessons and thus the learning success.

The project is developing an innovative teaching method which, with appropriate professional preparation, can be applied universally in many teaching subjects, initially in an exemplary manner in vocational training. This teaching method is based on the method of station learning and is very closely oriented to the play principle of the real escape room.

Real Escape Rooms are about the playing group becoming part of a fictional story, at the end of which there is a disaster scenario if the group does not succeed in averting this scenario. The actors have a limited time window of about 1 hour in which they have to solve different, usually complementary puzzles in an appropriately equipped room in order to successfully complete the game. The actors do not only play to solve the puzzle, but also against the clock and are thus in competition with other groups, so that it is not only important to solve the puzzles, but also to complete these tasks in the shortest possible time.

These game principles are applied to the mobile real escape rooms for use in vocational training that are being developed in this project.

Since the development of a real Escape Room suitable for mobile use would be a complex and time-consuming task for teachers without subject-specific knowledge, the participating project partners support the dissemination of this innovative teaching method with the following project results:

IO1: Digital Tool-Kit as a teaching concept for teachers for the use of mobile real Escape Rooms in vocational education and training with didactic anchoring

IO2: Digital tool kit as technical manual for the production of 12 high-quality, technically appealing escape puzzle games. The manual contains material lists and detailed, illustrated building instructions, so that teachers can also reproduce these puzzle games.

IO3: Web-App as a toolbox for mobile real Escape Rooms in educational work

Key innovative features of this project:

Mobile use: When we talk about “real escape rooms”, we mean physical rooms within buildings with permanently installed puzzle games. However, a fixed installation is hardly suitable for use in classrooms or even outdoors. The preparation of the topic and the puzzle games for the mobile real Escape Room, which is used in the classroom, can already be done elsewhere, such as in the teachers’ room or at home, due to the mobile basic concept. The mobile real Escape Room can then be set up in a relatively short time at any location, such as a classroom or demarcated forest.

Technical diversity: In order to ensure the mobility of the Escape Room, technically mature, stable puzzle games are developed that are independent of the wired power supply and are in no way inferior in attractiveness to the permanently installed puzzle games in real Escape Rooms.

Low effort: Teachers receive detailed guidelines and manuals with the results of the project, so that after studying the documents they are able to create their own mobile real escape rooms with little effort. Once the puzzle games have been constructed or replicated, they can be used variably for several topics within a subject area or even across different subjects or independent of them.

Infection prevention and hygiene: When drawing up the room plan, the project partners take into account that all puzzle games can be solved with a minimum distance of 1.5 m between the players (the teacher as game master/operator observes outside the room anyway) and with mouth protection. All puzzle games can be disinfected with surface disinfectants. The group size is limited to a maximum of 6 persons during the game.

The project will conclude with an intensive training for project staff and multiplier events in all participating partner countries in order to make the teaching method accessible to as many teachers from different fields as possible.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 181310 Eur

Project Coordinator

TALENTBRÜCKE GmbH & Co. KG & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Club Life Long Learning
• SCUOLA COSTRUZIONI VICENZA ANDREA PALLADIO
• CENTRE IFAPME LIEGE HUY VERVIERS ASBL
• Europe Unlimited e.V.