Month: March 2011

TeachMeet Midlands 20th May 2011

TeachmeetPublished on3 Comments on TeachMeet Midlands 20th May 2011

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I am delighted to be announcing that there will be another Midlands TeachMeet this year. Hot on the heels of the great success in Lutterworth at Spring half term comes Teachmeet Midlands 2011 take two!

We are in celebratory mood as it is the 5th anniversary of the best type of teacher professional you will ever be involved with. There are stacks of events kicking off around the UK to mark the celebration – which are you involved in?

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2 years ago Stuart Sutherland and I organised the first TeachMeet Midlands at the National College in Nottingham and we are really pleased to announce we will be using this stunning venue again. We also welcome along the huge expertise of Kevin Mulryne to the organising team who has (amongst other things) the challenge of making the streamed online experience the best it has ever been for a TeachMeet.

It was a great success last time out and I am sure those who attended will comment that the venue contributed to the quality of what we learned that night – I am sure it will be the same this year.

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Head on over to the wiki and sign up to lurk or even to give a short presentation about an interesting story of learning.

But wait there is more – here is my personal challenge to you, yes that includes all you regulars who enjoy these events. We need to find those who may never have heard of TeachMeet before. We need to go that extra mile this year to spread the word.

So choose:

  • Tell 2 people about TeachMeet Midlands who would not normally discover this type of event.
  • Encourage 2 people to go to TeachMeet Midlands (or one of the TM5 events this year.)
  • Bring 2 people with you who would not normally attend.

Leave a comment to show how you have helped spread the word.

Which are you going to do? It could change the way they perceive teacher professional development forever.

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Pics

The main room awaits TeachMeet Midlands 2009 By Mr Ush

John Sutton’s session at TeachMeet Midlands 2009 By Mr Ush

Giant QR Codes in the Classroom

QRPublished onUpdated on37 Comments on Giant QR Codes in the Classroom

Since about Christmas time the children in my class have been using printed QR codes and the webcams on our class netbooks to access websites. Now for those of you who didn’t understand a word of that last sentence, here is a quick 5 point guide:

  • QR stands for Quick Response
  • They are simple 2D code from the family of bar codes
  • Different information can be encoded using tools such as http://myqr.co/
  • The more information there is, the larger and more complex the code will be
  • A camera and code reading software is needed to read the codes and display the results – can be used with mobile phones or computers with webcams.

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We have seen a fantastic response from the children in how we use them – it is something that can be easily implemented so long as they have regular access and use. In our class it is just part and parcel of what we do. Even our Foundation 2 children are using them to improve independent internet use.

  1. I print the codes off
  2. The children open QuickMark (our code reading software for PC)
  3. Hold the printed code in front of the webcam
  4. The code is read and displays a web address
  5. Double click and they are on their way

However sometimes I want to share something with the children on the fly and not have the time to print things off – I might recognise they need some more practice with something during a maths session and direct them to a web based activity in the plenary. Or I might find a site via Twitter and want to share it with the children.

So why the giant codes?

Well today I tested to see if an enlarged code displayed on an IWB or via a projector would easily work and of course it did! The children turned their netbook webcams towards it and it read it perfectly. For some of the children they needed to move due to the angle they were sitting, but for others they simply turned the netbook on the table and turned it back!

Getting to a website has never been so much fun.

Of course the reason I use them is that it allows children to get to the web resource much quicker and so increases the time spent doing the activity. Earlier this week I wrote a web address on the board for the children to type in and once again the old problems emerged – spelled incorrectly, spaces and other problems.

There is no question I will be using the GIANT QR code method from now on – the days of writing a web address on the board are well and truly over!

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Pic: QR by william couch

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