Name: The Keys to Opening Open Pedagogy: Unlocking Student-Created Digital Escape Rooms Through Renewable Assignments
Start: 2026-10-08T13:40:00-0400
End: 2026-10-08T14:10:00-0400

All sessions are available online except round tables, special activities, and workshops.

The Keys to Opening Open Pedagogy: Unlocking Student-Created Digital Escape Rooms Through Renewable Assignments

Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT

2 Room M

ID: 31985

Use the clues to find the keyTo opening open pedagogy.Escape rooms set the learning toneWhere students can create and own.In an introductory Library course, students are tasked with creating digital escape rooms for their peers to pilot test, learn from, and rise to the challenge of finding the key to escape based on a series of clues. Students have the option to license their digital escape rooms using Creative Commons licensing and have an understanding that they are creating an Open Educational Resource (OER) to teach future students. Marketed as content created by students for students, these digital escape rooms are renewable assignments. Renewable assignments are grounded in (OER) open pedagogy research (Wiley & Hilton, 2018) and theoretical frameworks such as self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and redistributive, recognitive, and representational principles of social justice (Lambert, 2018). In an effort to empower students and include diverse voices in the creation of learning materials, the digital escape rooms are creatively designed by students for future students as they teach and learn the value of libraries, information literacy concepts, or what they want students to know about the syllabus.Participants will gain insight into how this assignment integrates multiple technologies such as PowerPoint for interactive slide challenges, Canvas quizzes with embedded video content (and closed captioning), Canva for designing, and Springshare tools such as LibWizard and LibGuides for structured clues with multiple landing pages that deliver research-based adventures. These multiple levels of digital escape rooms from basic to more advanced provide scaffolding opportunities in online classes for learners to develop skills using information literacy frames such as Research as Inquiry, Searching as Strategic Exploration, Information Creation as a Process, and Information Has Value (ACRL, 2016).The session will outline the open pedagogical framework that was a key takeaway from completing the Open For Anti-Racism (OFAR) training. Open pedagogy transforms students from passive consumers of information to active creators using online learning as the modality for escape rooms, which are popular entertainment for students. Peer to peer instruction increases confidence (Tullis & Goldstone, 2020), aligning this assignment with research that demonstrates increased engagement, motivation, and deeper learning when students proudly publish their work. Wiley and Hilton (2018) highlight renewable assignments as improving student agency and achievement of learning outcomes with work that has lasting value. DeRosa and Jhangiani (2017) emphasize that open educational practices foster inclusivity by amplifying diverse voices in the creation of knowledge in student-authored OER.Attendees will leave with ideas and strategies for implementing digital escape rooms as renewable assignments in their courses, examples of student-created escape rooms for syllabus content,library orientations, and a framework for assessing creativity and information literacy outcomes. The session will also address scalability, sustainability, and alignment with institutional goals such as Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) initiatives, equity-minded teaching practices, and OER creation.This approach democratizes knowledge as student content creators share their lived experiences, embed their cultural knowledge and how they understand the course by creating these digital escape rooms.

Speakers

Natalie Lopez

Librarian, Department Chair, Academic Senate President, Crafton Hills College

With twenty years of professional experience in libraries from: Private Research (The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens), Academic (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Palomar College, Crafton Hills College), and Public (Rancho Mirage Library and Conservatory... Read More →

Thursday October 8, 2026 1:40pm - 2:10pm EDT
2 Room M MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139 USA

Presentation

Speaker Modality In-person
Track Innovating Open Content to Democratize Knowledge

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OEGlobal 2026

Natalie Lopez

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OEGlobal 2026

Natalie Lopez

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