51 Interesting Ways to use QR Codes to Support Learning

In the Nursery class in my last school we used some QR codes to help the littlest of internet explorers navigate to their favourite websites. It seemed such an easy concept at the time and something that developed some great independence in those young learners.

Funnily enough using QR codes to navigate to specific sites proved useful for the older children too. Working in a Year 5 and 6 class I used QR codes to help the class quickly move between different web content, we gained so much more time back from sessions this way. We could focus on what we were doing with the content, not the process of getting there.

Hopefully this Interesting Ways resource for QR (Quick Response) Codes will spark some ways you can use them to support learning. As with all the resources please share with your colleagues and consider adding your own ideas to continue to develop them.

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!

Pic: QR by william couch

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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.

Another assumption I have spotted is that we use QR codes that are displayed (static) and we take the device to the code. I have seen it in a different way, producing printed codes which the children use on their own netbook to access websites and other digital resources. Taking the code to the reader.

We use the desktop version of the QuickMark software that is a free dowload. The children load up the software, hold the printed code in front of the camera and away they go. The URL is displayed, a double-click and they are on the site.

Now I did a mini experiment and monitored how many children had trouble loading a website that I gave them as a shortened (bit.ly) url – so not even the full address. We had 4 pairs of children who needed help to enter the url correctly. Using QR codes I have had none.

I know that QR codes can be, have been and will be used for far more innovative and creative ideas – but I know that my class can all get to a website faster and with less intervention using the codes. That is technology increasing independence and solving a real classroom problem.

QR Codes

I print lots of the same codes out and just let the children hold up a whole A4 sheet of them or little row of three of the same code backed onto card. The software reads a bigger area and it seems to increase the likelihood it reads the code – after all you don’t want to have to go and help them use the codes, that would defeat the purpose.

As an extension to a maths activity this week I had a website lined up for some children who had finished their planned activities. In the past I might have made a link on our blog or used Delicious, or perhaps displayed the address or had to show them myself. Instead I had a zip wallet of codes and the children just scanned them and they were away – in fact it seemed to me to not only improve access but speed it up. (Google Chrome helps too)

I am keen to talk to the early years staff to begin to integrate the codes into their environments, such as having a little roll-a-dex of QR codes for Nursery children to choose from – on the back of the codes perhaps a picture or symbol of the website they want to use. I know it would help them to independently choose and structure their own web use and ultimately rely less on staff intervention.

We must not forget about the most simple ways to use these incredible technical developments – put simply: using QR codes improves the ability of my class to quickly and independently access websites.