About the IGLUE Project

The IGLUE project aims to empower universities to create and conduct pedagogically sound educational escape rooms, as well as to promote the widespread use and adoption of such innovative learning activities across Europe in order to enhance students’ performance and engagement. The project involves activities aimed at overcoming the main barriers that currently hamper the adoption of educational escape rooms by providing teachers with the training and tools they need to effectively design, build, and conduct these learning activities.

The specific objectives of the IGLUE project are:

Define a methodology for designing educational escape rooms.
Provide teachers with digital tools and training to create educational escape rooms.
Implement and assess educational escape rooms across European universities using the developed methodology and tools.
Establish a European network dedicated to the creation, sharing and execution of educational escape rooms.

The project will have an initial phase in which a methodology for designing effective instructional interventions based on educational escape rooms will be defined. On this basis, a virtual platform for creating, conducting, and sharing educational escape rooms will be developed and deployed at each participating institution forming a European network of escape rooms. This network will be decentralized and open to new institutions. Then, materials and courses will be created and used to train teachers in the use of the methodology and the platform developed in the project.
 
Furthermore, a series of educational escape rooms will be created, conducted, and evaluated, which will be used not only to teach course-specific topics to students, but also to develop soft skills. These escape rooms will be used as pilot experiences to validate the proposed methodology and the developed technological solution in a wide range of higher education settings, including face-to-face and distance settings, as well as engineering and humanities courses. Lastly, multiplier events will be held in order to extend the reach and impact of the project to a wider audience involving educational institutions across all levels of education.

The project work is organized in the following five work packages:

Work package 1:Project Management
Work package 2:Pedagogical foundation for escape room design
Work package 3:Development of digital tools
Work package 4:Teacher training and escape room implementation
Work package 5:Dissemination and exploitation

In summary, the IGLUE project will facilitate the design, creation, execution, and sharing of pedagogically sound educational escape rooms, promoting thereby the widespread adoption of this novel game-based learning approach. Furthermore, this project will contribute to a better understanding of the benefits and challenges of employing educational escape rooms in higher education.

Project deliverables and anticipated completion dates

Deliverable Description Completion Date
D-1 Methodology for designing pedagogically sound educational escape rooms 01/03/2025
D-2 Exemplary instructional scenarios 01/03/2025
D-3 Virtual platform for creating, sharing, and conducting educational escape rooms 31/05/2025
D-4 Reusable escape room puzzles 31/05/2025
D-5 European network of educational escape rooms 30/06/2025
D-6 Exemplary educational escape rooms 30/06/2025
D-7 Materials and courses for teacher training 31/08/2025
D-8 Pilot educational escape rooms 31/05/2026
D-9 Revised versions of the methodology, platform, and pilot educational escape rooms 30/09/2026
D-10 Visual identity and website of the project 30/11/2024
D-11 Academic publications 31/10/2026
D-12 WP2 report 31/03/2025
D-13 WP3 report 31/08/2025
D-14 WP4 report 15/10/2026
D-15 WP5 mid-term report 30/11/2025
D-16 WP5 final report 15/10/2026
D-17 Project mid-term report 31/12/2025
D-18 Project final report 31/10/2026

By empowering educators to create and conduct educational escape rooms, we will stimulate the sustainable adoption of innovative learning and teaching practices in the participating institutions and beyond. In addition, through the integration of innovative digital teaching tools in the participating institutions and the training of teachers on how to create and digitize educational escape rooms, we address digital transformation.