QR Classroom!

This QR Code will take you to my blog.

During NYSCATE 2012 one of the most interesting sessions I attended dealt with Quick Response (QR) Codes.  Even if you are not familiar with QR Codes, chances are you have seen them.  One of the most common uses of QR Codes is as part of magazine advertisements.  If you see a QR Code and have a mobile device (cell phone, iPod, iPad, etc...) and a QR Reader app, scanning a code is a simple and quick process.  Last year, our library media specialist introduced me to QR Codes as a way to link to author and book websites, but I did not fully understand what they were capable of doing. Needless to say, I did not have a very good understanding of QR Codes and how they could be used in my classroom.  Walking into the session at NYSCATE 2012, I had believed that QR codes were only able to send you to a website.  That in itself is valuable and avoids users having to remember and type in long URLs, however the same could be accomplished by sending an email link to my students.  As the session began I was very excited to learn that QR Codes can be used for so much more!

In addition to URL links, QR Codes can be used to store and link to text, images, email addresses, Twitter accounts, map locations, Facebook accounts, videos, and even to send SMS text messages.  As you can imagine as a social studies teacher who has a class set of iPod Touches I was very excited to hear about these uses.  Less than a week of school after learning of these uses I have turned my classroom into a "QR Classroom."

The first thing I needed to do was make sure my iPod Touches had the capabilities of scanning QR Codes.  I was able to quickly download an free app called "i-Nigma" to each of the twenty-three iPod Touches I have in my classroom.  Teaching my students to use the app was quick and painless and after only a few days of experience many are "experts" at using QR Codes.  Now, only a few short school days after NYSCATE 2012, I have QR Codes hanging all over my room for several different uses.

Students can quickly reach my website with remembering the URL.

I even put a QR code in the hallway so parents can quickly reach my website.

One of the most common things I deal with in my classroom in regards to the iPod Touches is unsolicited advice from students on what apps we should download.  I decided that I would allow my students to suggest new apps.  On my classroom website I set up a form that allows my students to suggest apps.  The form asks for the name of the app, the price (free ones are much more likely to be downloaded!) and the reason why the app has educational value. After reading a few submissions I did edit the form to add a "Name" box.  This was not necessary, but I was getting a lot of very creative reasons that apps were educational and wanted to be able to pair the reasoning with the student who wrote it.  Another nice part about the form is that the submissions are emailed to me and automatically sorted into their own folder.  This allows me to examine the suggestions at my leisure.

App suggestion QR Code and Kidblog QR Code.

Some of the other QR Codes I have hanging throughout my classroom are an "Email Mr. Hoover" QR Code, a link to Kidblog.org, and a link to Culture Grams.  Kidblog.org is a kid friendly blogging service that I have begun using with my students (this may the subject of a future post).  Culture Grams is a research database that my fifth graders use for state research and my sixth graders use for country research.

Email Mr. Hoover QR Code

Another Email Mr. Hoover QR Code

Kidblog.org and Culture Gram QR Codes

Hanging QR Codes around my classroom is not the only way I have been using QR Codes.  After a little experimenting I was able to determine the size QR Codes needed to be on my SmartBoard in order to allow students, even in the back row, to scan the codes from their seats.  I also have begun to use QR Codes in my social studies unit guided notes.  I have created QR Codes that lead to non-fiction articles (hooray, common core!), videos, and even definitions that students match with vocabulary words.  These QR Codes are included right on the guided note packet that each student uses throughout the unit. 

QR Codes directly on guided notes.

In just a short time I have been able to begin implementing QR Codes in my classroom.  The students have been able to quickly understand how to use the app and have become adept at scanning the codes in an even shorter amount of time.  QR Codes are one of the coolest and one of the most time-saving techniques  I have been able to implement in my classroom.  I should note that this works well in my classroom because of the 1:1 student to iPod ratio.  If you are not able to provide 1:1 technology in your classroom the way you use QR Codes would need to be tweaked and may not work well for you. 

Note:
The site I have been using to create QR Codes is www.beqrious.com.  It is free and allows you to create and change the color of QR Codes for a wide variety of purposes.

NYSCATE 2012

 

Earlier this week I had the exciting opportunity to attend the annual NYSCATE conference in Rochester, NY.  I wanted to give a quick recap of the sessions I attended, later on I will go into more detail and share how I implement what I learned in my own classroom.

My wife and daughter made the trip to Rochester with me, essentially to get out of the house for a few days.  I was glad to have them come and my four month old daughter handled the nearly four hour drive like a champ!  After checking in at the Radisson and getting situated I was able to register and catch the 3:00 session on Sunday. 

The first breakout session I attended was titled "Using QR Codes in the Classroom."  I knew the basics of Quick Response (QR) codes, but other than knowing that they could provide quick links to websites, wasn't sure how they could be used in the classroom.  Our former librarian had been adding them to library books allowing students to quickly go to the author's website, book reviews, and interviews (audio and video) with the author.  I thought this was a great idea, but most of the time students in the library didn't have access to a device to read the QR codes.  I was excited to learn about the many ways QR codes can be used; links, questions, email, text messaging and even for phone calls.  This session was especially exciting for me since I have a classroom set of iPod Touches in my classroom.  I now have a long list of ways I plan to use QR codes and will post to share my successes and speed bumps as I go.

The next thing I attended was a keynote address by Adam Bellow.  Adam had a very interesting outlook on technology and education in general.  Additionally, he was a very entertaining and fun speaker to hear as an audience member. 

The following morning after breakfast I attended "Real Results! Notifications that Positively Impact Community Engagement."  This sessions introduced and explained how the Honeoye Falls-Lima School District has implemented the use of Blackboard Connect to communicate with parents and community members.  This was one of my "future administrator" sessions, but I found that the session helped spawn a lot of ideas that I could also implement as a teacher.

Another keynote speaker, Scott Kinney, followed the first session.  The speaker was very engaging and shared a lot of great ideas and information, but really he was "preaching to the choir" trying to convince attendees of the value of technology in education.  Most of the audience was in attendance, because they already believed in the importance of technology in education.

A "Technology Leadership Roundtable" was the next session I attended.  Initially this was another of the "future administrator" sessions, but ended up being very valuable as a teacher as well.  The session provided a great opportunity to share the ways I am using technology in the classroom and hear about other exciting ideas.  It was also a chance to brainstorm solutions to some of the speed bumps we all face when using technology in the classroom.

Another keynote speaker followed during our lunch.  Mike Lorion talked about digital citizenship and different ways to teach the concept to students.  Many good ideas were shared, since we all know one of the biggest challenges when using technology is teaching students to use it appropriately.

Following an hour of exhibitor time, or as most people call it "collecting free stuff with logos of companies who no one can explain what they do," I attended "Edmodo for the Dodo."  I have used Edmodo here and there the past two years, but never really had the chance to dig deep into the features.  Not only did I learn about a lot of the ways Edmodo can be used in the classroom I also learned about many other online resources that can work hand in hand with Edmodo.

The last session I attended the following morning was "Get Racing with Mobile Devices."  This session showed how several teachers from different states collaborated to use iPods and iPads in an "Amazing Race"-like project. Students used math, geography, science and logic to plan a trip to the birthplaces of various Presidents.  As a social studies teacher I wouldn't be able to completely incorporate this project, but with a little tweaking, I may try to incorporate it in the state and country reports my students do each year.

Overall, I had a lot of fun and learned a ton of new ways to use technology in my classroom.  As I implement these new ideas, I will post about how things go on this blog.