Escape rooms are rising in prominence within education and whilst colleagues have shared their experiences at conferences, we wanted a dedicated online event to showcase and champion their use across the sector. So, in 2023 we put together an exciting line-up of keynote talks, workshops and shared practice sessions with colleagues across education into an online showcase. This turned out to be not only a day to escape from presentations and escape rooms but one that give attendees the opportunity for escapism from the day job. Overall, this was very much a cameras on by choice event – with pets and children joining in across the day – and was a very energetic end to the academic year. Building on this success the second showcase took place on 10 May 2024. Links to resources and recordings for each year can be accessed below.

Save the Date 2025

Conferences Chairs: Clare Thomson, Heriot-Watt University and Briyana Morrell, University of Indianapolis.

Escape Rooms Showcase logo 2025 - a green key with Heriot Watt University logo inside

We are thrilled to announce the Escape Rooms in Education Showcase 2025, a premier event dedicated to exploring the innovative use of escape rooms in educational settings. Join us for an exciting and informative experience where education professionals, researchers, and enthusiasts come together to share insights, strategies, and success stories.  

This year we will be moving to two half days instead of one long one to enhance flexibility and inclusion: 

Dates: Thursday 15th May, from 13.00 BST and Friday 16th May 2025, from 08.00 BST 

Location: Online (Microsoft Teams) 

We have two sets of incredible keynotes lined up for each day to share their knowledge, experience and work in the field of escape rooms in education so watch out for the reveal announcement in January 2025.

2024

Conference committee: Clare Thomson, Gimhan Godawatte, Gordon Craig, Rachel Goh, Rosemarie McIlwhan and Suzanne Lampert.

This was such an inclusive event, thank you for making it possible for me to attend at a distance and in another time zone.

It was a great day and I liked how things were planned out with the breaks between sessions and a clear overview of what was on at each session. Well done to all who put it together – I can’t imagine how much organisation went into it all!

The balance of “here’s some inspiration based on what the speaker has done” with the “this is a framework/ guidance for how you can do it” and the “here’s the theory underpinning it” was absolutely spot on. I felt like I have ideas, but also know how to start with them and why they might be effective too. Really well done.

2023

Conference committee: Clare Thomson, Rosemarie McIlwhan, Coral Condeco-Dunachie and Debb Baff