The Deck.Toys Lock Guide

Treasure Key locks, Number locks, Activity Entry locks, Text locks, Direction locks, and even QR code locks? Let us show you how to make use of these locks effectively for your interactive lessons!

What is a Lock?

First, let’s go back to the basics. According to Cambridge Dictionary, a lock is “a device that prevents something such as a door from being opened and can only be opened with a key”. In Deck.Toys terminology, it is the same concept but instead of a door, it is to prevent students from moving on to the next activity in the deck unless the exact ‘key’ or passcode is found.

Lock App in Slide Activities

You can insert a Lock Slide App when you are a Slide & Video Activity of a deck. When you click on the Lock icon, it will bring you to a configuration page. Here you can choose between the Text, Numbers, QR code, Key, Voice and Direction Lock.

Text Lock

Text Lock accepts alphabets, symbols, and space. You can make a question based on the previous comprehension text provided and provide a hint to the answer. Make sure your answer is solvable without any ambiguity to prevent unnecessary frustration to the student! 

A good example is shown below where there is only one possible answer and an extra hint is provided (4 letters).   

Next is an example of a text lock which is poorly configured and would be almost impossible for a student to solve. This is because the student has to key in the words AND commas exactly as your configured answer, i.e. “text, numbers, qr code, key”. If he/she types in “numbers, key, qr code, text”, the answer is considered incorrect and the student will remain stuck at this activity.

A clever way to use the Text Lock is as a fill-in-the-blank question as shown below. 

If you have multiple potential answers, insert a vertical bar |  between answers, e.g. had | has. 

Numbers Lock

Numbers Lock is excellent for Mathematics or numerical questions. The answer key can be any of the numbers and symbols (. , + – /) on the given number pad. Do provide enough scaffolding for your student to be able to unlock the puzzle by providing hints and resources in Slide Activities prior to reaching this lock.

For an escape room activity, you could provide numbers leading to a final Number Lock and ask the student to enter it at a final activity.

Treasure Key Lock

Treasure Key Lock requires students to collect a Treasure Key with a matching Key ID to unlock the lock. It can be configured as a reward for students completing an Activity or added as a Slide App for students to find and collect. There is a whole adventure waiting for students using this very powerful Treasure Key Lock. We suggest reading this FAQ to help you understand how to use this better. https://help.deck.toys/article/91-treasure-key-lock

This deck has an excellent example of using Treasure Key Locks. Students have to go through various activities to find the matching ‘Eggs’ to fill up the Easter Egg Basket with ‘Locks’.

https://deck.toys/a/Qkq235wR5

QR Code Lock

QR Code Lock can be used with a physical stations activity where the students use their devices’ camera to scan the QR code generated by this unique lock. For example, you could have a scavenger hunt that hides the sheet with the QR code and they then scan it to unlock this QR Code Lock.

Direction Lock

Direction Lock is useful as an orientation password. You could provide hints to the student on the route of escaping and the student keys in the direction in the right sequence.

Voice Lock

Voice Lock works with Chrome browsers only and in English language. The student will use their voice to read out the password to open the lock. An example would be asking the student “What is the name of your class?” in the Slide Activity containing this voice lock.

Activity Entry Lock

In Deck.Toys, activities are the main components of your learning content within the Map, made up of the Slide Activity, Study Set Activity and Signpost. The Activity Entry Lock works at the Map area itself, where you can lock the activities with a password. This is in contrast with the Lock App which is inserted within a Slide Activity.

The student must get the Activity Entry Lock correct before being able to enter this particular activity. You can set for a text, number, QR code, treasure key, voice or direction lock. However the most powerful Activity Entry Lock is the ‘Activities’ option itself! The default setting of ‘at least 1’ would allow students to complete either paths to enter a merged path. However you can change this to ‘at least 2 or more’.

This is an example of a lesson where 2 paths are finally merged into 1 signpost activity. However the signpost is locked with the Activity Entry Lock, forcing the students to complete both paths before they can declare completion of the entire lesson.

https://deck.toys/a/7kszqJa9Y

I’m ready to level up!

With all these amazing locks at your disposal, you are ready to build your own digital escape room! Search for inspiration in the Deck Gallery and read this blog for more info: https://blog.deck.toys/how-to-build-digital-escape-rooms/

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