TMST: Digital BreakoutEDU

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I'd love to blame this late Teach Me Tuesday post on the STAAR tests we gave this week, but truthfully, there is another reason I am a couple days late - my new obsession with helping educators create digital BreakoutEDU experiences.

What is a Digital Breakout? Well, think escape room for education.  Learners are challenged to "unlock" a series of puzzles tied to their content using different Web 2.0 sites and Google forms.  When they successfully complete the challenges, they have "broken out".  

Take this one for example...I worked with some 4th grade educators on one to help kick off their Life Science unit. Learners are partnered up and must complete the scenario of being lost at the zoo using only the clues provided and what they know about adaptations, producers and consumers to figure out how to unlock a Google Form using codes.

Digital Breakouts can be a great way to switch things up and keep kids engaged and active as they construct meaning in your class!  Our 4th graders at Lee went "all in" while working on this one that connected to their Storyworks paired passages!

Shoutout to Ms. Knight, who co-designed this with me and tried it live in the classroom!

I learned a ton from the Digital Breakout site, exploring the ones already built and using this resource which provides help tutorials and different suggested tools that can be used to build!


The site is great, but as always, never underestimate the power of a thought partner. Collaboration with my DLC partners, Amanda and Megan, as well as some risk-taking educators was the key for me as I began creating my own Breakouts. After learning with them, I was able to create a quick checklist of things to think about when preparing to design one.


As your DLC, it helps me learn when I am helping you.  If you are interested in trying out this format for instruction, don't hesitate to let me know or join me next time we do FedEX to learn more!

This session will be rescheduled soon!  Keep an eye out for more details!

What excites YOU about Digital BreakoutEDU?  Let me know in the comments!





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