How to create teaching assignments using Digital Escape Rooms

An escape room is a game in which a group of players work together as a team to uncover clues and solve puzzles in one or more physical rooms with the purpose of reaching a specific goal. They have a limited amount of time to work through different tasks.

A digital escape room is by and large the same, but the rooms are not physical. They are digital or more accurately digital texts. 

Digital escape rooms can be a great pedagogical tool to create variety in your teaching practices. We often talk about varying assessment practices, but in my experience most learners want teachers to create variation in how different subjects are taught as well.

I learnt about this concept when I attended a seminar hosted by Bro AOF which was taught by Eric Torsøe.

Fagfornyelsen or the new curriculum is based on certain policy documents and research that led to the conclusion that future learners need certain skills for success. Of these Critical thinking · Creativity · Collaboration · Communication  are called the four C's of the 21st century. 

Digital Escape Rooms is a pedagogical tool which can help stimulate and hone these four C's.

The idea is that learners will learn/read/ work with different texts but in order to get access to the text they need to solve a puzzle to get a password. They use this password to open the next text/room and so on. They have to be creative, think critically, collaborate and communicate with each other to navigate their way through different rooms.

In order to create a digital escape room you need to able to lock a pdf file. Click here to learn how to protect a file using a password.

In this powerpoint you will find a lesson plan using the concept of digital escape rooms. I have created 4 documents which the learners use as digital rooms. Room 5 is a quizlet, and room 0 is a short text in the textbook book Citizens. We used 45 min x 2  in two different groups of vocational learners and we had enough time.

Here are the different documents that the learners will open using passwords. You will find the passwords on the last slide of the above powerpoint, and clues to figure out the password are also in the powerpoint. 

Tips to create passwords:

1. The passwords shouldn't be too complicated.

2. You can use passwords that lead to interdisciplinary work - for example ask the mathematics teacher what the class has been working with and the password can be a mathematics task that the learners have to solve.

3. Make the learners create their own digital rooms.

4. The password can be revealed a short video that you have uploaded somewhere. If you are comfortable doing that, you can record a video of yourself teaching a certain theme and hide the password in the video. 

Good luck :-)

Sample of a well-written text (with teacher comments) that shows how you can answer the long – answer part of the written exam.

The following text is written by my 16-year old student Camilla Lønningen, who is a student of general studies/studiespesialiserende.

She has kindly agreed to let me share her text for teaching purposes. She answered this task during her whole-day test / written mock-exam this semester. The whole-day test consisted of two tasks: one short answer task, and one long-answer task. Given that she only had 5-hours at her disposal, the ideas presented by her are very well-executed. I have placed the text into a table to show how the content has been organized. On the right-hand side, I have made some comments to provide an insight into what I think works in the text.

Here is the link to the text that Camilla Lønningen created, and which includes my comments.

The text that she wrote was a response to the following task which is what the students enrolled in Vg1 or Vg2English typically get for their written exam in English.

In literature and films, the main characters often take on a challenge. Compare and contrast two such characters you have studied in your English course and reflect upon the challenges they have met and how their actions and choices help us understand them and the world around us.

In your text, you should

·         in short, introduce the texts you have chosen and how you will answer the task

·         present the challenges of character one with examples

·         present the challenges of character two with examples

·         compare and contrast the two characters’ challenges in a discussion

·         conclude by summing up the main differences between the characters

    Give your text a suitable title.

If you are interested, you can check out this post here about how to prepare for you written whole-day test or written exam. 

On the blog you can also find an example of a well structured argumentative text with teacher comments.

Teaching Assignment on the topic "The American Dream."

Here is a teaching assignment on the topic: The American Dream - is it dead or still alive?

The learners read an article and watch a movie which supports the view that the American Dream is still alive.

They also watch videos and read an article which claims that the American Dream is no longer a reality.

After reading and watching these texts the learners write an essay where they write their opinion on this topic. They HAVE to incorporate information from all these texts in the essay they are writing. This way we can teach them how to refer to sources and show arguments from both perspectives. I think this is a great assignment to work with at the beginning of the school year. 

Here is an action plan for the task. This includes the articles and videos the learners will work with. The competence aims are also included. In order to practice the concept of "tilpasset læring" or "adapted eductaion", I have included some extra texts that learners who need extra challenges can work with.
Here is the task and it includes assessment criteria as well. 

Thank you Hanne Vasshaug and Linn Therese Jostem for helping me develop this task. 

Hand-out: How to Prepare for Your Written Whole-Day Test/Mock Exam/heldagsprøve i engelsk

Students these days are preparing for a written whole-day test/mock exams. Here is a hand-out I give to my students as an aid to help them prepare before the exam and during the exam. The hand-out is a modified version of a text that I got from Anette Haugen, who teaches English at Kristiansand katedralsokole. 

Oral Presentation - Occupational Health and Safety.

In this video, you can see Chris Mestre present the topic of Occupational Health and Safety. Chris is a studying Automation at Sotra Vgs. The task can be found here.

In my opinion, this presentation stands out:

·        Because of the high quality of content as Chris covers the topic in its complexity.

·        Chris covers all parts of the task which can be found here.

·        Chris uses different tools to convey his content: he uses body language and  he writes and draws on the blackboard to emphasize parts of the content.

·        He is poised under pressure, uses formal language and maintains eye contact with the audience throughout the presentation. 

·        He does not read from a script which shows that he has understood the content and can produce sentences in English language on the spot.

·        His language is fluent as he communicates his content well using right technical vocabulary and the presentation flows well.

·        His language is also pretty accurate, and even though one can see some concord issues, they do not hinder communication and are not very frequent.

Here are some tips to improve the presentation even more.

·        Chris could have told the audience what exactly “long term health risks" mean. This is because it is easy to confuse long term health risks with long-term consequences. The former indicates a health issue that can come up if the working conditions are not optimal. For example, loss of eye sight over time due to poor lighting. The latter refers to a consequence of a health related issue and can also occur from a safety hazard. For example, you can break your leg if you slip and fall because of wet floor. The consequence is long-term even though it does not take place over time.

·        Chris should also discuss the prevention of the risks in-depth.

·        It is a good idea to say something more about the sources than just “here are my sources.” One can, for example, comment on why a certain source was used . One can also comment on the reliability and the credibility of the sources.

All in all, this is a brilliant presentation by Chris  which I am proud to share with you, with his permission of course. 

Indigenous Peoples -Native Americans: A news report about Standing Rock, the Dakota Pipeline and discussion questions.

Picture source: Inhabitat.com <http://inhabitat.com/dakota-access-pipeline-operators-to-forge-ahead-in-defiance-of-obama/>

The curriculum for Vg1 and Vg2 specifies that students need to:

1) discuss and elaborate on texts by and about indigenous peoples in English-speaking countries 

and

2) present and discuss current news items from English language sources

On NRK TV, there is an excellent news report about the Dakota Pipeline in the US. The documentary provides a short historical context and also an interview with Dallas Goldtooth from the Sioux tribe in South Dakota. There is also an interview with Sandra Márjá West, the parliamentary representative for the Sami, the indigenous Peoples of Norway. She was at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. 

Here is the link to the news report. 

The students can listen to the report fro the beginning to 14 minutes and answer questions about segment 3, which is the interview with Dallas Goldtooth.

Segment 3 is from 4.59 minutes until 9:27 minutes.

I have written down the questions that the interviwer asks Dallas Goldtooth. The students are supposed to write down answers to these questions and then they can be discussed in class.

Discussion Questions

1)  When the interviewer asks Dallas Goldtooth with the Sioux tribe in North Dakota, what they will do now as the work on the pipeline continues, what does Dallas Goldtooth answer?

2) The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has said that Trump’s decision to continue work on the pipeline is a violation of treaty rights. In what ways is his actions illegal? (include terms like consultation, planning process, disregarding the process, study on the environmental effects in your answer)

3) What positive impact will this pipeline have on America’s economy according to Trump?

4) What are the negative consequences of this pipeline according to Dallas Goldtooth? (include terms like a leaking pipeline, drinking water, routing of pipeline through sacred sites)

5) This protest is not just about Standing Rock. What else is it about? What does Dallas Goldtooth answer?

Working with a CV and an Application Letter

Students need to learn how to write a good CV and an application letter to potentially secure a professional job. 

I have created a task which can be found here. 

I find that NDLA has excellent resources about how to write a CV as well as an application letter.
Here is a link to the resouces about CV on NDLA and here is a link to resouces on application letter on NDLA. 
I find that the CV on NDLA does not require the applicants to talk about their technical skills which I consider to be quite important piece of information escpecially for vocational students, so I ask my students to include that in the CV.

Vocational students are encouraged to use technical vocabulary and here is a link to technical vocabulary at the book Tracks website.

I also upload a sample text for the students which they can use as a template. The sample text can be found here. 

I can be reached at jaspreetgloppen@gmail.com or you can write to the Correcto Ergo Sum page on Facebook, if you have any quesions.

Vocational Task: Conversation about practical training / Yrkesrelatert oppgave: Samtale om elevenes praksisperiode

Vocational students in Norwegian Schools have to go through a period of practical training for two weeks each semseter. 
Sometimes, I have a short 5-7 minutes conversation with my students about their practical training. This assessment is graded and I give verbal feedback right after the conversation. I prefer not to give the grade right away and wait til I have thought things through.
I then post the grades on the learning platform (Its Learning) and then write a comment there that "Feedback was given verbally after the conversation."

Here is a copy of the task. It also includes the assessment criteria. The learners use this link here to get access to the vocational glossary related to their profession, 

A Task About Occupational Health Safety / Opplegg om HMS - Et FYR prosjekt

My colleague Silje Håvardstun and I recently worked together on a task that combines the use of the English language together with a topic from social sciences. Our students also bring in their experiences from their practical training.
The topic is HMS which in English can be referred to as HES (Health Enviroment and Safety) or OHS i.e. Occupational Health and Safety. The students had to discuss health and safety issues related to their occupation and give examples from their practical training and discuss methods that were employed to prevent these injuries.
Here is a list of resources my students got as well as the task.
1) Power point
2) Safety Interview: Text NDLA
3) Vocational Vocabulary
4) Task


Min kollega Silje Håvardstun og jeg har nettopp hatt et tverrfaglig prosjekt der elevene på Vg2 TIP og Kjøretøy som hadde vært i  praksis skulle presentere et opplegg.
Opplegget dreier seg om HMS eller helse, miljø og sikkerhet. Elevene presenter helse og sikkerhetsskader som er vanlige i deres yrke. De skulle også hente eksempler fra sin praksis om tiltak som er på plass for å forebygge skadene.
Her er ressurser og oppgaven elevene fikk:
1) Power point
2) Safety Interview: Text NDLA 
3) Vocational Vocabulary
4) Oppgave

"Outsourced" Study Guide / Intercultual Communication

The movie Outsourced is an excellent movie to show when working with the topic Intercultural Communication. It shows how an American has to learn to adapt himself to the Indian way of living when he has to move there for work purposes. I have prepared a study guide or discussion questions that students can work with after they have seen the movie. Here is a link to the guide. 

Legg til bildetekst

Working with the novel "Slam" by Nick Hornby

One of the books my pupils read and work with is "Slam" by Nick Hornby. The book deals with the issue of teenage pregnancy, seen from the teenage father Sam's perspective. 

For evaluation purposes, I usually have an oral conversation with my pupils (one on one) for 15 minutes. I really feel that this helps me assess their English speaking skills thoroughly. To work with this task, the pupils read the book and also get a list of questions they will have to answer when I evaluate them. Here is a link to a file where you will find the competence aims this task covers, questions that the pupils get for working with the book and asessment criteria. Here is an assessment form that can be used to assess the conversation. While I have these conversations, the other pupils usually work with Folder Activities or Mappekrav. I wrote about this here earlier.

Fordypningsoppgave Yrkesfag / In-depth project Vocational Studies

Et av de kompetansemålene på Vg1 handler om et fordypningsemne som eleven må presentere innenfor sitt eget utdanningsprogram. Jeg har valgt å knytte dette til et annet kompetansemål: å produsere sammensatte tekster i digitale medier. Elevene lager en presentasjon ved å bruke Widows Live Movie Maker. De må ha både lyd, tekst, bilder og/eller videoer i filmene de lager.
Her er en oppgave og vurderingskriterier knyttet til den. Klikk her: Fordypningsoppgave yrkesfag - Elektro

One of the competence aims requires Vg1 pupils to select and present an in-depth study topic within their own education programme. I have chosen to work on it together with another competence aim viz. producing multimodal texts using digital media. Pupils create presentations using the Windows Live Movie Maker and they need to have both sound, text, photos and/or videos in their movie. 
Here is the task and assessment criteria related to this assignment: Click here: In-Depth Project Vocational Studies - Electronics