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Digital education

Learning Central Induction: Escape the Learning Central Labyrinth

23 February 2026
Author: Punsisi Somaratne

Punsisi Somaratne

This blog is written by Punsisi Somaratne a Learning Designer from the Learning and Teaching Academy’s Digital Education team.

“Instead of another demo, could we make it a game?” That was the feedback from our student champions.

When students join the University for the first time, their respective schools provide a wealth of information to help them become familiar with the University, its processes, and systems. Inductions around using Blackboard Ultra (known in Cardiff as ‘Learning Central’) for their learning journey needs is one of them. Common practice is to share links to support guides on the intranet or to demonstrate how to use the platform. However, focus groups with student champions echoed the student voice. Thus, they stressed that the induction on Learning Central (LC) can be overwhelming, as students find it difficult to retain all the information given during their induction week. The solution suggested by our student champions: a game-based approach for the LC induction. To support their request, I designed an escape room style activity in LC.

Watch the video by clicking here  (1:40 mins) for insights into the game’s features.

Why an escape room? Why in Blackboard?

I chose an escape room activity in Blackboard Ultra for the following reasons.

  • Features like release conditions and progress tracking help create a pathway between puzzles and hints.
  • Escape rooms chunk tasks which reduce the cognitive overload according to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) [1] and Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning principles [2].
  • Such games boost active participation and motivation [3].
  • Students can get hands-on experience while being playful.
  • It is easy to generate images that match the story using an AI tool in Blackboard

 The puzzle map

Based on the feedback from the DigEd Student Enablement workstream and Digital Education team, the puzzles and tasks of the game allowed students to:

  • Navigate through module content to locate resources
  • Engage in discussions to work collaboratively to find a hint
  • Complete quizzes to unlock the clue
  • Submit a dummy assignment to gain access to the exit code

Making it more personal

Students receive a certificate upon completing the tasks. To make their achievement more of a personal learning experience, Power Automate was used to generate a personalised certificate. I do accept that Power Automate can be tricky, but Jo Moorman helped make this work!

Finally…

If inductions are about building students’ confidence and familiarity, this game makes it more fun and engaging. We are looking forward to seeing how our students accept this challenge!

If you are interested in exploring more on this topic, exploring playful learning and looking at how it can be used in your context, contact Punsisi (LTAacademy@cardiff.ac.uk). Happy to help!

Our Support and Resources

References

[1] CAST, “Universal Design for Learning,” CAST, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.cast.org/what-we-do/universal-design-for-learning/. Accessed: Dec. 11, 2025.

[2] R. E. Mayer, “Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning,” in The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, R. E. Mayer, Ed. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2005, pp. 31–48, doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511816819.004

[3] S. González‑Yubero, M. Mauri, M. J. Cardoso, and R. Palomera, “Learning through Challenges and Enigmas: Educational Escape Room as a Predictive Experience of Motivation in University Students,” Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 17, art. 13001, Aug. 2023, doi: 10.3390/su151713001.