QR Codes and Organization

I was having a discussion with a colleague about students who seem to be struggling in a class because they fail to turn in assignments. Our teachers are expected to post homework assignments on our online grading system on a weekly basis. Unfortunately I think this has resulted in many teachers not writing it on the board as they might have done in the past. Consequently, if a student has any issues with logging into the system they will likely not remember the assignment and therefore not turn it in on time. The teacher and I talked about how some students need to physically write down the information. Just seeing it posted online doesn't make the connections for them. A 7th grade student also commented that she felt too rushed at the end of class to write the assignment down and always felt like she was in a hurry to get to the next class. We also have students who, no matter how many times they do it or are reminded how to do it, having trouble logging into websites to get the information they need.

So what to do? One of the solutions we discussed is one that I have often recommended to teachers to use for their students. Yes, this does require some technology but I do think it would help many students. A dynamic QR code could easily solve the problem of "what is the assignment?". So what is a dynamic QR code? This is a code that does not change but the information attached to it does. Another option: You could also have a QR code linked to any type of editable webpage where you might list the daily assignments. As a teacher, you would go back to the site on a regular basis and change/add the information on the page. The student would only need one QR code glued to the inside of their notebook, assignment book, calendar or whatever tool they use. It could even be printed off and hung up on their refrigerator at home! The point is, this QR code would stay the same all year long but every time they scan it they would see new information.

So try this out. Here is a code:

i-nigma

Come back in a day or so and scan the code again and you will see the page has changed. The QR image is the same but the information on the page has changed. For students who have trouble logging into sites (remembering passwords, etc) this would be a very easy solution for them. The only thing needed is a QR reader for a smartphone or tablet. There are many available but I recommend i-nigma. It has been a favorite of mine. Fast and reliable.

Want to see a nice list of QR code generators and what you can do with them? Check out my colleague and co-presenter's website Hold the Mayo.

Teachers and Technology and QR codes

I've just finished helping the professional development director for the diocese do five different tech workshops for teachers. We did two workshops on using the SmartBoard, one on using QR codes in the classroom, one for ELA projects using the iPad and then Encouraging Writing with Weebly. Everyday went very well. I was quite pleased and I think all in attendance were too. I was also happy to see a nice group from my school present. Yippee!

My favorite of the week though was our QR Code workshop. We sent our participants on a sort of QR Scavenger hunt that led them through different ways to use a QR code. I know some people think QR codes are old but they are simple to make and easy to use and that my friend is what teachers will actually use.

Of the many ways to use QR codes there were two that I would use. One- put a QR code on homework that when scanned will take a student to a tutorial to help them remember how to do their assignment. The tutorial could be teacher created or linked to a video elsewhere or maybe a website with a game to help them.

The second one that I think is brilliant is to put a QR code in the front of a student's take home folder or whatever they use. The QR code is linked to the homework assignments for the day, week, month, whatever you choose. No excuse for not knowing the homework! You could even have a QR printed out for the parents to hang on the fridge so they could scan it. Too many uses!

**hint hint** did you scan the code?

Vocaroo - online audio recording

Our STAR Camp, a tech camp for teachers, begins tomorrow. We will be focusing most of our time on the web tool Voicethread, which I will discuss in another post. But we will also be giving teachers a list of web 2.0 tools to evaluate and create a Voicethread about them. So I am sitting here this evening looking at a list of sites and adding more to the list. I came across Vocaroo during my search.

Pretty nice site. I remember seeing this site one other time but I clearly had forgotten about it. Vocaroo lets you record audio online, save it, download it, even get a QR code linked to it. I was quite impressed. There is no time limit in recording but they do state that internet interruptions could easily affect your recording time.

QR code for my Vocaroo

I was considering the possible classroom uses and I really could have used this site last school year. I had recorded some first graders reading and wanted a safe place to put their voices and share with their parents. I couldn't find anything and didn't do anything with the recordings. If I had remembered Vocaroo, I would have recorded them here, gotten the QR code and sent it to their parents to listen to. That would have been pretty cool. Still may do this since I still have the recordings.

Vocaroo is worth exploring. I am looking for other audio recording sites that are free to use. Preferably something that would let me record and distribute securely.

September and bad blogging

It's September. Not the first of the month but pretty much half way through the month. I have been trying so hard to be a good blogger. A friend of mine told me that I needed to keep plugging away even if I only make one post a month. My goal was once a week and we can see that didn't happen. So at the very least I am going for once a month. Have to think positive though that I will make more posts. I'm trying. Okay enough whining....

Two interesting tools today. I was looking at a really wonderful wikispace called Cool Tools for Schools. Very nice collection of web 2.0 tools to use. Among the larger list of links I tried one called Quikmaps. I really liked it. Whenever I talk about musicians or composers in my music class I always like to show where they lived and traveled. It's hard to talk about Germany if the students have no clue where it is in relationship to where they live. Besides the fact that I just love maps! Right now we are listening to college fight songs in my music classes and I created a map showing where our school is and where the two colleges we have listened to are located. This link will take you to the map I created. You can add markers, text and save the map. You can use a variety of maps such as Yahoo, Google or Bing. I chose a Google Map. Very user friendly. You need an account but you do not need an email to get a free account. It is in beta but definitely worth a look.

You have seen this (to your left) before probably. I know I have. In fact I think I remember seeing them before I ever saw the gaining popularity QR code (on your right). This is a Microsoft Tag. You will need a Windows Live ID to create a free account but they are as simple to create as QR Codes. I don't know which will be most popular. You can get QR code readers and Tag readers for your smart phones. It seems I've seen more QR that Tags. But Microsoft has a pretty large footprint so who knows. So scan this with your Tag Reader app and it will take you to my school music wikispace. Download a QR reader app and try this QR code. One the quickest sites to create a QR code is Kaywa. Either way using these in the classroom would be a new way to engage your students.