I blame Amanda. Everything was going along fine until she went to the Imperial Valley GAFE Summit in April and came back telling us all about BreakoutEDU and its online cousin, Digital Breakout. Now all our EdTech office can think about is finding the solution to the six-letter word lock, or the date lock, or the 4-digit number lock. Frustration can be fun!
For those who are not familiar with the game, the original concept was a physical box secured by a number of combination locks. Clues would be hidden around the room, and participants would try to locate those clues and solve the related problems, which would get them the combinations for the lock. Once all the locks were opened, participants could open the box and claim the prize. This game was developed by James Sanders and Mark Hammons.
Looking for a way to expand the Breakout experience, Mari Venturino and Justin Birckbichler hit upon the idea of taking the game virtual. Digital Breakout replaces physical locks with entries in a Google Form protected by data validation. Until you enter exactly the correct word or number or date in each question in the form, you can't submit. Once you do submit the form, you win a digital badge and an immense feeling of satisfaction.
I enjoy puzzle games, so solving "Overthrow the Co-Dictators" or "The Lost Ticket" was great fun for me in itself. As I was enjoying the games, I was also appreciating the ingenuity that Mari and Justin had used in developing the tools used for the games, mostly from Google Apps. The main pages are made in Google Sites; the clues are hidden in spreadsheets, docs, and maps, among other types of sites. Whether or not you personally enjoy these kinds of games, there are two tricks employed in Digital Breakout that I'd like to highlight, both involving Google Forms.
First is a "question series" type of form. In one of the games, you are presented with a series of multiple-choice questions, one at a time, that you have to get correct in order to earn the big clue. This was created by using the "go to page based on answer" feature in Forms. The right answer for each question linked to the subsequent question; all the wrong answers linked back to the first question. In order to get to the end of the form, you had to get all the questions correct, in order.
The next is the "lock box" form itself. This is a series of questions, all on one page, each of which has to be correct before the "lock" is opened. This uses data validation, to ensure that the form cannot be submitted ("unlocked") unless each question is correctly answered. Data validation is a powerful feature of Google Forms; you can specify words, letters, numbers, dates, nearly anything you can think of. (I had a counselor one time ask me if they could specify a number of words for a form entry; with a quick Google search, I was able to find a regex that would do exactly what she wanted.)
Each of these uses of Forms is a great way to do quick and easy formative assessment. Students get instant feedback on their responses; teachers know that students literally can't turn in their work until it is 100% correct.
If you'd like to know more about setting up Google Forms for your students, contact any of the ToSAs. We'll be glad to come help you build these.
For those who are not familiar with the game, the original concept was a physical box secured by a number of combination locks. Clues would be hidden around the room, and participants would try to locate those clues and solve the related problems, which would get them the combinations for the lock. Once all the locks were opened, participants could open the box and claim the prize. This game was developed by James Sanders and Mark Hammons.
Looking for a way to expand the Breakout experience, Mari Venturino and Justin Birckbichler hit upon the idea of taking the game virtual. Digital Breakout replaces physical locks with entries in a Google Form protected by data validation. Until you enter exactly the correct word or number or date in each question in the form, you can't submit. Once you do submit the form, you win a digital badge and an immense feeling of satisfaction.
I enjoy puzzle games, so solving "Overthrow the Co-Dictators" or "The Lost Ticket" was great fun for me in itself. As I was enjoying the games, I was also appreciating the ingenuity that Mari and Justin had used in developing the tools used for the games, mostly from Google Apps. The main pages are made in Google Sites; the clues are hidden in spreadsheets, docs, and maps, among other types of sites. Whether or not you personally enjoy these kinds of games, there are two tricks employed in Digital Breakout that I'd like to highlight, both involving Google Forms.
First is a "question series" type of form. In one of the games, you are presented with a series of multiple-choice questions, one at a time, that you have to get correct in order to earn the big clue. This was created by using the "go to page based on answer" feature in Forms. The right answer for each question linked to the subsequent question; all the wrong answers linked back to the first question. In order to get to the end of the form, you had to get all the questions correct, in order.
The next is the "lock box" form itself. This is a series of questions, all on one page, each of which has to be correct before the "lock" is opened. This uses data validation, to ensure that the form cannot be submitted ("unlocked") unless each question is correctly answered. Data validation is a powerful feature of Google Forms; you can specify words, letters, numbers, dates, nearly anything you can think of. (I had a counselor one time ask me if they could specify a number of words for a form entry; with a quick Google search, I was able to find a regex that would do exactly what she wanted.)Each of these uses of Forms is a great way to do quick and easy formative assessment. Students get instant feedback on their responses; teachers know that students literally can't turn in their work until it is 100% correct.
If you'd like to know more about setting up Google Forms for your students, contact any of the ToSAs. We'll be glad to come help you build these.
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