On March 11, together with fellow Secondary MAC teaching interns, I had the opportunity to attend, what could possibly be one of the nation's biggest educational conferences, - the MACUL conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The day passed by in a whirlwind of consecutive sessions and influx of new ideas, as well as questions.
A session that intrigued me the most was 'Breakout EDU'.
A session that intrigued me the most was 'Breakout EDU'.
As teachers, we got to participate directly in a breakout game. In teams, we were presented with a challenge: finding and solving a mystery box. The mystery box was a box that had LOTS of locks.
We had to unlock EACH of these locks by looking for clues around the classroom and interpreting the clues, within a time limit. It was very challenging and only during the last 5 minutes did our team manage to open the mystery box, not without having asked for multiple hints from the organizers.
Praise for Breakout EDU: This is definitely a ground-breaking approach of gamifying learning. I can see a lot of potential in it being able to engage students, by keeping students thinking and working on their hands and feet all the time.
Questions/Wonders: What is the express purpose of breakout EDU - answering an intellectual problem or just trying to open a mystery box? Or how should I frame the activity within a historical question - the learning goals that I want my students to accomplish? Some teachers are concerned that students may not be used to moving around this much. I'm not really worried about that, as much as how to keep all students on-task throughout the game (especially in such large breakout groups of 7-8 [smaller groups require more materials and setup]).
How might I go about finding answers to my questions?: I checked breakoutEdu website and joined their facebook group! While I haven't been able to find the answers on the website, it's been nice to read many teachers' 'testimonies' on facebook. Perhaps it would be a good idea to talk more to a Breakout educator about this really innovative game.
Praise for Breakout EDU: This is definitely a ground-breaking approach of gamifying learning. I can see a lot of potential in it being able to engage students, by keeping students thinking and working on their hands and feet all the time.
Questions/Wonders: What is the express purpose of breakout EDU - answering an intellectual problem or just trying to open a mystery box? Or how should I frame the activity within a historical question - the learning goals that I want my students to accomplish? Some teachers are concerned that students may not be used to moving around this much. I'm not really worried about that, as much as how to keep all students on-task throughout the game (especially in such large breakout groups of 7-8 [smaller groups require more materials and setup]).
How might I go about finding answers to my questions?: I checked breakoutEdu website and joined their facebook group! While I haven't been able to find the answers on the website, it's been nice to read many teachers' 'testimonies' on facebook. Perhaps it would be a good idea to talk more to a Breakout educator about this really innovative game.