Imagine this … in your classroom, four of your students each put on a virtual reality headset and find themselves together in a room in a Minecraft-style block world virtual dungeon. Each student is holding a key with the number 1 on it, and there are eight blocks on the floor in the room with +1, +2, +3, +4, x1, x2, x3, and x4 written on them. When one student touches the +3 block, the number on their key changes from 1 to 4, and the block vanishes. When that student then touches the x2 block, the number on the key changes from 4 to 8, and this second block vanishes. Only 6 blocks now remain. There is a door to exit the room with four keyholes in it. The four keyholes have the numbers 5, 8, 8, and 9 above them. The student slides his key into one of the locks with the number 8 above it, and it turns smoothly … but the door does not open. Would your students be able to solve this puzzle and escape the room? Can you?
*This is only a draft image used while building the final VR Math escape room (coming soon).
MathsCity or your classroom
This is just one of the many maths escape room puzzles we’ll be bringing to your classroom in the next few months through our partnership with MathsCity and MathsWorldUK. If you are based near Leeds in the UK, you’ll be able to take your class to MathsCity and try this new experience. If not, you’ll be able to run it in your classroom with or without VR headsets. Although a VR headset will make the experience more immersive, your students will be able to play exactly the same escape rooms in your classroom on Chromebooks and iPads or even at home on their mobile phones. So, whatever your device setup, your students will be able to learn maths in class or for homework whilst doing what they like best, playing an engaging game.
Minecraft Meets VR: Blockerzz, step inside the blocks
The maths escape room will be a new game built on our Blockerzz game engine (our Minecraft-inspired Metaverse for the classroom). Our first two Blockerzz games, Arrow Quest and Gold Rush, are already a popular way for teachers to turn a quiz on any topic into a fun interactive classroom experience. No more boring leaderboards, classroom quizzes are now epic multiplayer adventures of both knowledge and skill!
Arrow Quest and Gold Rush run instantly in the browser on any student laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. They are free, and there’s nothing to install. Moreover, teachers can use our AI quiz creator to create a quiz on any topic in seconds. Our Blockerzz games are a fantastic way to engage your class whilst also collecting data on student learning gaps to help you instantly personalize your teaching in the classroom. We’re passionate about helping teachers make a difference to every one of their students.