QR Code Resources

Updating a previous post about QR Codes for the Classroom.  (previous Post Aug 2011)

While QR codes are still enjoying popularity in discussion groups, the use of the codes hasn't continued growing as well. This blog-update is serving to share a few more QR resources that may prove helpful in the classroom.

Still my favorite QR generator, delivr.com does a very nice job of not only making the code, but assisting in modifying the size for larger format printing and use outside a computer monitor. 

After generating the code, look for the download link for the 'eps' file type.  The eps file is a vector-imaged file which can be enlarged digitally without loosing resolution.  Print a large page or T-shirt QR? The eps files will usually work really well.

In my previous post, I used software called by Quickmark.  They have software for Windows, Mac, and mobile devices.  The desktop software will not only create QR code, but can use the webcam to read or use a software reader to read codes on the computer screen.  The software is not free, but it is very useful.

Sites like delivr.com,  goo.gl, and kaywa.com also provide the valuable service of keeping a history of the codes you have made and tracking them.  You can often see how many times someone has clicked through your QR code or when the last time someone used it was. 

Taking QR codes the next step can involve making them more artistic or visually meaningful.  QR readers only read a certain percentage of the pattern in the code.  You can creatively remove squares and place your own artwork inside the code and still be able to use it with a reader.  Be careful not to remove too much of the code.  For some great ideas, check out beautifulqrcodes.com  and customqrcodes.com .  I made a very quick example of this during a Discovery Educator Network Summer Institute and it shows how I edited a QR code.



There are more instructional resources for QR codes these days, but I few that I have used in the past include:  classtool.net for a school treasure hunt ,  a Livebinder of resources, and Twelve Ideas for QR codes on Edutopia.





I would love to see some QR codes that have been put into action.  Share a link to yours or comment on what you have done!  
Thanks!

iPad Training With Science Teachers

I was asked to bring a special splash of iPad use to a group of Science teachers in AISD this Friday. The big goal for our just-under two hours together was for them to get their hands on the iPad and use it like students would use it in the classroom. Our focus will be to capture images, edit the images on the iPad, and share their work back with the teacher on a shared storage space online. The 'students' would then be able to access that same work using their laptop computer for further review or extended work.

The teachers will be playing the role of students as they try to identify the mystery trees in the school yard, research their findings via QR codes, edit their photos and post them online.  They will be using iPad apps: Skitch, DropBox, Scan, and hopefully PuppetPals.  All of the apps are free.

Teachers will be using this lesson plan outline:
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1ZNefF4UMLmadCKUPoRyc4vYWRHw6bgEzt_kUDXhYZ5U


Flickr.com Creative Commons Photo Credit

Make Your QR Code Talk To You!

QR codes are pretty popular these days and I've already posted a couple of times about it.  This time I'm sharing a website that you can use to make your QR Code TALK TO YOU!

First of all, why?   A number of my schools have said that they are using QR codes in scavenger hunts around the school.  What if your students are English Language Learners or early readers?  When the students get to the answer spot and hit the QR code, this time the code will congratulate them on their correct answer and give them there next direction. 

scan this with your mobile camera!

This is incredibly hard for the teachers.   You have to go to http://qrvoice.net/ and type your short sentence in the blank.  Click the small barcode enter button and you get your new barcode.    That's it!

Copy and your post QR codes for the students to scan.  On my Android phone, I did have to click 'browse' once the code was scanned and then click 'execute' to hear the voice.  My iPad played it right after scanning once.

How would you use this in your classroom?

QR Codes at School?

Over the summer, I met a good number of teachers in workshops that have already been preparing to use QR codes in their classroom.  QR codes are the square bar codes that webcams (with certain software) can read and direct the user to a website, send a text, or perform various other functions.  I posted last year, and felt called to post again, about using the small netbooks that are on every campus, to read and use these special codes.

Creating a QR code is pretty easy.  The are various sites that will do this for you; http://goo.gl and http://qrcode.kaywa.com/   are two good starting points.  You simply type the website address (URL) into the box and click the button to generate the square code. (Goo.gl makes you click the details button afterward to see the code.)

What can you do with codes? Akins High School librarian, Bonnie Hauser, shared a Livebinder collection of links all about QR codes.  I saw a couple of middle schools this summer using QRs scavenger hunt or building tour signs to engage the incoming sixth graders during summer camp.  One of my favorite online resources is an Englishman named Tom Barrett, who encourages teachers to share ideas in Google Docs, (his 28 Ways to Use QR Codes is now up to 40!) Students can support the community by posting codes for informative purposes in public places.

Great ideas, but you still have to have a camera device to read them.  I found that teachers can download and install QuickMark for PC onto the small netbooks that each campus received last year. After installing the software, students can turn it on and point their computer at a QR code. The netbook will read it and preform the action stored within the code.

The following video, despite my repeated reference to Q codes ;( , shows how a large projected QR code can be seen across the room and direct student netbooks to a webpage.

QR codes can provide a functional tool that mobile devices and webcams can use to access data and preform some functions without typing complicated web addresses.

How have you used QR codes? What is another way that a QR code could play a unique in the classroom?

Oh, and you can have artistic fun with them as well!  ;)