Cracking the Case of Differentiated Instruction:
A Breakout Game
This breakout-style game helps higher education students enrolled in an educational technology course become familiar with textbook materials in a fun and engaging way.
Audience: Higher Education Students at the University of Houston
Responsibilities: Instructional Design, Visual Design, eLearning Development
Tools Used: Articulate Storyline 360
Responsibilities: Instructional Design, Visual Design, eLearning Development
Tools Used: Articulate Storyline 360
The Problem
Higher education students need a way to engage with the textbook content in their educational technology course.
The Solution
Create a digital game in Articulate Storyline that encourages higher education students to use and apply knowledge they have learned from their assigned textbook readings.
My Process
For this project, I focused on Liz Kolb’s Triple-E Framework and incorporated the three main elements: engagement, enhancement, and extension. My goal was to create a digital game that higher education students could use to interact with the information introduced in their textbook.
I had eight weeks to complete this project, so I began by developing a plan to help me stay on track. I identified the main steps I needed to accomplish and created a timeline of when each step would be completed.
Digital Game
I began this project by collaborating with the Subject Matter Expert (SME), the professor of CUIN 3312: Educational Technology. While looking at the instructional need, we determined that higher education students enrolled in the course would most benefit from a digital game focused on the topic of using technology to differentiate instruction.
After meeting with the SME, and identifying instructional needs and goals, I began designing an outline of the game. I wanted to have a themed scenario and mission objective that the learners would work to meet. To incorporate the topic, I decided on a detective themed story where someone steals technology tools used for differentiation. The learners play a detective whose mission is to review the evidence and figure out how to open a safe that contains the missing tools. The detective won’t be able to go home until the case is solved.
Development
To make the project engaging, I incorporated elements of escape room/breakout games in a digital way. Using Articulate Storyline, I created hotspots around the detective office that the learner could click on to go to different puzzles.
Each of the six puzzles reinforces information from the textbook and encourages learners to interact with the material. I used text entry, multiple choice, sequencing, matching, and freeform drag and drop interactions to bring the puzzles to life.
Features
I added several features to the breakout game to make it easier for the learner to navigate. One feature I added in the top left corner was a counter, using triggers and variables. This lets the learner know how many puzzles they have visited out of the total number.
Additionally, for each puzzle that the learner visits, they get a number “clue” for the keypad to the safe. I used states and values to have the numbers appear on the detective office slides once they are collected. Once all six digits are collected, the learner can then input them into the safe’s keypad... You'll have to try it to see if you can crack the case.
Triple-E Framework
While this is a game, it is first and foremost a learning experience, requiring students of CUIN 3312 to use knowledge they have learned from the chapter of their textbook. For this reason, it was important to me to include elements of the Triple-E Framework.
Engage: This project uses technology to engage students through active learning in a digital breakout game. Since the game is hands-on, students are motivated to learn and focus on the activity with less distraction.
Enhance: This project enhances learning goals by creating paths for students to demonstrate their understanding in an asynchronous way that would be more difficult to do with a traditional breakout game.
Extend: The project extends learning goals by allowing students an opportunity to learn outside of their typical school day. Furthermore, the breakout game itself serves as an example of how to incorporate technology into the classroom, helping students connect learning with real-life experiences.
