Tuesday, July 31, 2012

QR Codes . . Take 2

I was having lunch with a friend of mine today and asked her had she read my recent post on using QR Codes in school.  She said, "I read that thing, but it was too complicated!"   When I asked her what she meant by that, she told me when she "clicked" on the QR code at the top of my last post, nothing happened. "The thing just got bigger". (Insert chuckle) :-) You see I had made an assumption about the prior knowledge of people who may have read my post.  Kind of like when teaching children and we sometimes make assumptions about their prior knowledge by assuming they know or have had similar experiences with something that is crucial to their comprehension.  That's when I realized I had not done my job correctly and some reteaching was needed.

So let's back up a bit.  Where do the codes come from?   A Teacher's Guide on the use of QR Codes in the Classroom has a list of code generators. I have used Kaywa Code and it was pretty easy.  You can use Google to generate a code.  This video shows how to create a code from a URL address in the address bar.  You can also create a code for text, or a phone number.

Now what?  Once you have the code, just copy and paste it into your document.  I save my codes in a folder on my desktop.

In order to read a QR code, you need to have a QR code reader, you can't just click on it.  Well, you can, but nothing happens.   The reader on my cell phone is called a "Barcode Scanner".  Most android or iPhones have them.  I found out the other day that these code readers are already on  IPads.  ooh, how I need an IPad!  Anyhow, I found you can also download QR code readers.   Once you have one, you don't click  . . . you hover over the code with the reader or hold the code up to the reader (watch below).




Once the reader reads the code, it will give you the information you are searching for.   It could direct you to another web page, take you to a video, reveal a secret message, direct someone to your class website, read a book review, send a student to a game to review a skill, take you on a scavenger hunt around your school, and get this you can even generate a code for a synthesized  voice  message. That's right, QR Codes that talk! I know I couldn't believe that one myself, but it works.   Imagine what you could do with that feature alone!

If you are lucky enough to be in a BYOD (bring your own devices) school, students literally have the world at their fingertips. Please give this a try.  There is so much you can do with these codes! Try it!  I dare you! 

4 comments:

  1. Can I use the same ap for the QR Code that I use to scan products to see what stores carry the products. I have it on my iPad.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Keep up this good work, you have a nice blog over here with much good information! When you post some new stuff, Ill visit your blog again and Ill follow it.

    ReplyDelete

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