Who knew these little black squares would have so much classroom application?  On Monday we had a QR Codes in the Classroom Workshop and it was SUPER fun.  Here’s how it went…

Qr codes intheclassroom_slideshare

The presentation above was used to introduce participants to QR Codes.  I think a lot of people think you need a smart phone or mobile device to read QR Codes, but the truth is, all you need is a computer with a web-cam.  This is important because while many schools are going mobile, there are sill many schools out there that don’t have the funding for mobile devices.

After the presentation came the fun.  Prior to the workshop, i-nigma, was downloaded to iPod touches for participants to use.  I used Kaywa to generate QR Codes for multiple classroom application examples (the actual codes are at the bottom of this post).  Here’s what they were:

• Link to a book review (Language Arts)
• Link to The Periodic Table of Movies (Science)
• Link to a YouTube video demonstrating the proper form of a Push-Up (PE)
• Link to a nutrition website (Health)
• Link to an oli (Hawaiian Chant)
• Link to a Poll Everywhere Question
• Link to a movie demonstrating how to create a Factor Tree (Math)
• Link to a Google Form

I set up stations around the room with some of the QR Codes mentioned above.  The others I put up around campus and generated clues to where the outside codes were to give teachers the experience of what a QR Code Scavenger hunt might be like.  Teachers were given a handout and used the QR Codes to answer the questions on their handout.

Overall, teachers really enjoyed the workshop.  We had a great discussion about how QR Codes can enhance instruction and really make the “ol’ worksheet” an interactive experience for our students.  They did feel that not having mobile devices could be a barrier for integration, but 100% of the participants said they would use QR Codes in their classroom (results from the poll everywhere code).

Just a note of advice if you hold a QR Codes workshop, if you post QR Codes around campus as part of your workshop, make sure the code isn’t too far away…Also, if I could do this again, I’d probably have a prizes for the participants who got all the answers correct.  In addition, always double check and make sure your QR codes work.  YouTube videos seem to be the best when working with video.

If you want to start using QR Codes in your classroom, here are some excellent resources to get you started:

QR What – The Mobile Native
This is really the only resource you need.  Scott Newcomb (@SNewco) picked out the best of the best for us so we don’t have to spend time researching for QR Code resources.

The Best of QR Codes
@MissNoor28 put together this resource of awesome QR Code resources with classroom applications.

QR Code Comic Tutorial
I love this comic created by the Daring Librarian, who I like to call the darling librarian because all her stuff is just so cute.  She has a great QR Code Presentation on slideshare which is way better than mine.

In the Classroom

More than just a game
Alice Leung has some excellent classroom application posts on her blog, but this one is my favorite.  Don’t just follow her blog, but follow her on twitter if your interested in gamification.

QR Technology
Here’s a great post from Phil Barrett(@philcbarrett) that explains step by step how QR Codes were used in PE.

Here’s a resource with down-loadable worksheets you can implement right away from The Organized Classroom Blog.

And here are those QR Codes I mentioned earlier:

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