World-Shaker

Twelve Ideas for Teaching with QR Codes

There’s a great Edutopia article about what a QR code actually is (and how you could use it as an educator) right over here. Oh, and here are three of the ideas from this list:

1. Create 21st Century Resumes

Have students use QR to create resumes that link to other content such as their professional website or portfolio. All schools do some level of resume building and technical writing. Help them bring it into the 21st century by creating a resume that requires interaction. Not only will this help engage them in technical writing, but also their work will be innovative.

2. Show Exemplars

You can create QR for linking students to examples of quality work, whether it’s PowerPoint or slideshare for a class presentation, or people speaking a foreign language specific to your current lesson.

3. Provide a Service

Integrate QR with a PBL or Service Learning project where students can create the codes that will link to the content they create. If students helped create awareness around spreading germs, for example, they might put the codes around the school or in a parent newsletter. They can take it a step further by creating codes for a local business or organization.

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Using QR Codes in the Classroom

Create a Mobile Language Lesson With QR Voice

A clever, simple idea (the best ones usually are).

I’ve seen QR Voice mentioned by a few other bloggers recently so I had to check it out for myself. QR Voice is a free tool that allows you to create QR codes that when scanned will play a short audio message. To create your message and QR code you can record a voice message by clicking the microphone icon on QR Voice or you can type in your message. Either way you’re limited to 100 characters. QR Voice is offered in Spanish, English, Japanese, and Portuguese.

DJ Your Classroom: The Digital Playlist →

A fascinating concept.

One feature of digital learning that our family has adopted is the concept of the playlist. School of One (So1) first promoted the idea of the playlist in education more than three years ago. When students arrive to So1 each day, they are greeted with a personalized “playlist” that is developed by a learning algorithm.

Mindshift’s Tina Barseghian writes:

“What makes School of One a contender to watch is its re-conceptualization of the school day. Students arrive at school in the morning and receive a “playlist” — a schedule adapted to each student’s level of progress … . Based on the students’ progress — daily quizzes, other assessments, and teacher input — a new playlist is created for the next day.”

How to set up a QR Code Treasure Hunt →

I. Love. This.

An excerpt:

With students just about to start their essay assignment, a series of 20 codes were hidden in random locations around the school. These were created using the Classtools QR Treasure Hunt Generator.

Students were put into small teams: each of these teams contained at least one person owned a mobile device (e.g. phone, IPod Touch) which could decode the QR codes (note: an internet connection is not required - the QR codes decode as text files).

Each code, when ‘read’ by the mobile device, turned into a quiz question relating to the study topic. Some of these tested (and so consolidated) existing knowledge; some of them required further research to obtain the answer.

In breaktimes over a two-day period, the teams of students hunted around for the codes, copied down the numbered questions as each one was decoded, and then researched and recorded the answers. The completed answer sheets were then handed in at the end of the school week and the team with the most correct questions and answers was awarded a prize.

The following week, the sheets were photocopied and returned to the members of the teams. Each student could then use the fresh information they had gathered in the Treasure Hunt to develop their essay project in more depth.

Periodic Table of QR codes

Each code links to a YouTube video about that element. Incredible.

(by Periodic Videos)

No Projector? Use QR Code & SlideShare to Share a Presentation on Smartphones →

Simple and genius idea. Fives steps and very short. I’d quote some of it, but would come close to quoting the whole thing. I strongly recommend a click-through to any of you who may be presenting in the next year.

(via 15 Creative QR Codes [PICS])

QR Code Periodic Table with Symbols

Each element is a QR code that, when scanned, takes you to a video about that element. Amazing!

Oh, AND it’s available for download as a HUGE image (that you could probably print out and hang in your classroom).

(by Periodic Videos)

QR Codes in the Classroom →

I decided to try to come up with something that could play into students’ interest and novelty of using QR codes in learning. I created mystery picture worksheets that could be completed as an independent or center activity, where the only tools needed would include a mobile-device (such as an iTouch or a laptop with a webcam that is capable of capturing the picture of the code), the worksheet, crayons/colored pencils, and headphones (if using the audio component). An example of what I came up with:

QR Code Math Fun

To create my worksheet, I had several steps to cover. First, I decided on the Common Core Standard for which I would be covering – in this case, a third grade math standard. Next, I created a 5 x 6 grid table in a Microsoft Word document. From there, I needed to decide how I wanted my finished product to look with color. Keep in mind, that you do not want the codes to be so small that they cannot be easily scanned, so you are limited by how many squares you have in your grid. After knowing what my final product would look like, I set out to create questions and answers (correct and incorrect) to match the grid and the standard for which I was assessing. Next to the possible answer choices, I had to make sure the correct answer also had the correct color(s) mentioned, along with the incorrect color(s) for the incorrect choices.

Click through for more explanation, plus a link to the activity he created!

How to Use QR Codes in Student Projects →

Scannable bar codes may be just what you need to spark some student interest in your classroom - read on to learn how to use them to showcase your student work and give some life to your classroom’s infographics.

Last April ago I took a trip to Tokyo, Japan.  One thing that really stood out to me there was the abundance of these scannable barcodes.  These things were everywhere - flyers, posters, billboards, even in advertisements on the sides of commercial vans.  Over the past few months, I’ve watched these codes gain popularity in the United States (If you’re from another part of the world, I would love to hear about the trends you’ve seen - leave a comment or Tweet @EdTechUNcon.). 

The world as we know it is becoming scannable.

I’ve become a very big fan of QR codes lately. Is anyone using these at all? How’s it working out for you?

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Who exactly is scanning those QR codes?

via 5.mshcdn.com

QR Codes Improve Web Access →

In the last week I have finally had the opportunity to use Quick Response (QR) codes in my classroom. I have found them simple, straightforward and very effective in improving access to digital resources.

I have been thinking about ideas to use QR codes in the classroom for a long while and many colleagues have joined me in contributing to a shared “Interesting Ways” resource. It outlines many useful and innovative ways to utilise the QR codes in the classroom and around school.

I have noticed that some people consider them to be exclusive to mobile devices. (The printed code needs to be read by some software that then displays a link, information or similar.) It seems many people think that only mobile devices like the new iPod or smartphones could do it. However we have been using them with desktop software on our class netbooks and the in-built webcam.