This session will provide an overview of how I designed and used a digital escape room to teach about interrogations in Constitutional Criminal Procedure.
A digital escape room is essentially a picture with interactive links to videos, activities, and questions that students must answer sequentially in order to complete the activity. I have used them in synchronous Zoom classes in breakout rooms where students work in groups, as well as in asynchronous classes where students work independently.
For example, when teaching about the rules governing interrogations in Constitutional Criminal Procedure, I designed a digital "interrogation room" using Google Slides. I told students that they would need to move through a series of activities in the room in order to "unlock" the door to the interrogation room and return to class. I used clips from a documentary that provided footage regarding a real-world case of an interrogation, and prompted students to: (1) review the applicable rules; and (2) apply the rules to the facts in clips they viewed throughout the activity. The digital escape room included links to videos I filmed of myself, providing quick review of the law; segments of courtroom testimony from the case I was using; multiple choice questions; matching questions; and a discussion board embedded in a video clip.
This session walks the audience through the escape room, demonstrating various activities one might incorporate into designing an escape room in a law school setting.
Students have reported that they find digital escape rooms fun and engaging. This is a modality that requires students to actively engage with the material, and they receive feedback throughout the activity to help them assess their learning.
The presentation will be appropriate for people with any level of knowledge, beginners to advanced. I hope those who have not worked with videos, digital quizzes, and links will be inspired to learn more about the nuts and bolts of how to use these various modalities. For those with previous experience with designing onling content, I hope the session will help people think creatively about how to design a digital escape room for their own classes.
