Medical education escape rooms are emerging as a viable technological resource for pedagogy-first, learner-centric educational activities. This work presents the evaluation results of the first flipped classroom implementation in medical education, thus utilizing a mobile-driven augmented reality (AR) escape room. A total of 21 first-year medical students attended a flipped classroom educational activity that aimed to acclimate the students with the workflows of basic life support. Knowledge acquisition and user perceptions were evaluated. Knowledge acquisition was evaluated with an ad hoc relevant instrument at three timepoints: (a) baseline at recruitment, (b) preclass after students had prepared for the episode, and (c) after class. Learner perceptions about the activity and the AR escape room were recorded at the activity’s end using a previously designed evaluation instrument. The results demonstrated sufficient knowledge acquisition only after completing the whole educational activity, while learners found the experience interesting, and the AR escape room challenging, thus reflecting an activity that was well formulated in structure and content. The challenges identified were the limited out of class collaboration capacity of the digital application and the highly gamified approach that at points counteracted the educational scope of the activity. Overall, these positive initial results demonstrate the potential of collaborative, escape based, activities for self-directed, learner-centric medical education.

Introduction: One of the important elements influencing the well-being of society is a highly educated, professional staff of the entire therapeutic team. Physiotherapists play a significant role in this team, which is why the higher education system is expected to make efforts to develop optimal education programs, including the development of practical skills. The purpose of this article is to present the Healint4All project, whose mission is to facilitate international internships for students of physiotherapy and other medical professions, which will allow high-class professionals in the healthcare sector to enter the job market. Material and methods: A step-by-step process of creating a protocol for auditing places of clinical practice was prepared. Virtual, interactive teaching resources were developed to prepare auditors. A literature analysis, focus interviews in groups of academic teachers, practitioners, and students. A pilot study of the protocol in live environments was conducted. Results: Both potential auditees (medical institutions) and auditors (universities) positively assessed the newly created tool. The recommendations included paying attention to transparency, simplicity, and linguistic correctness in all language versions of the protocol. It was suggested that the protocol, containing everything useful, should not be too long and would not burden the user with time. Conclusions: In the opinion of students and experts who evaluated the Healint4All protocol, it will contribute to increasing the supply and quality of international placements offered by healthcare organizations throughout Europe, as well as simplifying the processes involved in organizing these for students, educational institutions, and healthcare organizations.

There has been increased emphasis on using immersive and interactive learning experiences to improve educational outcomes recently. Drawing from three completed research projects in medical education and digital accessibility, our goal is to create a blueprint for accessible educational escape rooms that address the unique needs of learners. We aim to design engaging and inclusive experiences that promote participation for all students by integrating insights and methods. This study builds on three successfully completed projects: developing medical education escape rooms, digitizing them for remote learning and incorporating digital accessibility tools. By utilizing expertise from education, technology and accessibility, we explore participatory design approaches and involving individuals with disabilities in the creation process. Quantitative and qualitative methods are proposed for assessing the effectiveness and accessibility of the escape rooms. Combining findings from past projects reveals that immersive educational experiences like escape rooms promote active learning and knowledge retention. Transforming physical escape rooms into digital formats supports remote education, especially in times of crisis, while evaluating accessibility tools highlights the importance of creating inclusive learning environments. Building on such insights the focus is on developing accessible escape rooms that cater to the needs of diverse learners, particularly those with disabilities. This research promotes accessible education through innovative and inclusive learning experiences, such as accessible educational escape rooms that offer a valuable approach to enhancing engagement and learning. The perspectives of people with disabilities should be considered from the design phase to ensure that the resources are more effective and user-friendly. Future research will focus on improving these escape rooms and evaluate their impact on learning outcomes and accessibility.