QR, or quick response codes are everywhere and have been for a number of years now. One of the two best librarians in Alaska, Nicole Roohi, got me interested in QR codes two years ago and we pondered how we could take these to a level that would benefit students both for access to information and preparing them for an innovative work force.
We started with examining how they were being used in industry and commercial products. At first, what we found was staggeringly unimaginative. The purpose of a code on a Pepsi cup at a theatre taking the patron to a Pepsi home page destroyed much hope for this new communication device. I still look forward to the theatre industry placing codes on the popcorn and soda packages designed for specific films that take patrons to the trailer of the film they came to see as an appetizer to the main course of the film. An even more exciting concept for nerds such as myself would be the first release of a trailer to the film's sequel. That would make me, the patron, feel special in a very marketable way. I would buy every popcorn with a movie poster on it to be a part of the elite first audience of upcoming films. But alas, poor trailers, I know you not.
As one can see from the above video, good ideas were forming, but the medium had other challenges besides an incredible lack of marketing creativity in large firms. QR readers were sketchy at best in the beginning. One would need an incredibly steady hand and smartphone cameras were still dodgy in megapixel abilities. Codes needed a large amount of space and one would need close proximity. These challenges have since fallen to the wayside as Moore's Law has not let me down yet.
It was not until a year and a half ago when Jeremy Shulz, an acquaintance of mine and a friend of my brother, really inspired me to think heavily on the education opportunities presented by QR codes. Jeremy started R Evolution which places QR Codes onto band shirts which link the customer to a one-time download of the band's album. This forward thinking and radical shift in product movement forces us to rethink the possibilites of this funny looking square in student communication and interaction.
The following posts are a collection of ideas and tried lessons using QR Codes in a variety of classrooms and other learning environments. I will also post some that we have brainstormed for future trials, so if anyone has the ability and love of risk to try them out, please leave your experience, tips, and criticisms in the comments. After writing out the first two, I think I will post one every other day as to not inundate those actually interested. The planning on some can seem daunting, but the payoff is worth every minute.
In The Writing Classroom: (Why teach everything to everyone?)
As an English teacher, grammar is my double-edged sword. While I understand the beauty and purpose of students knowing language structure and gaining the ability to discuss language with the words relating to it, I also know they are bombarded with grammar every year in often boring and unimaginative direct instruction. Do not think I am one of the folks denigrating the teaching of grammar, because that is the last message I want to send. With the hot word "purpose" floating around the heads of wide-eyed administrators everywhere, it seems appropriate to put it to actual use. This is how it works for me.
- I have a recipe box that sits on my desk. It is organized in alphabetical order and each card has the name of an English concept written across the top from grammar rules all the way to essay structural concepts. At the beginning of each year, I scour YouTube and its educational equivalents looking for videos related to common mistakes I see in my students' initial writing. I then make a QR Code linking to each video, print it off, and glue it to its perspective recipe card. One of my favorites over the last three years is a semicolon explanation from "How to Write More Better-er". I could take the time to make these videos myself, but there is no need as the internet is brimming with great clips that can help with education, even though most of our students would rather watch screaming goats or people eating cinnamon.
--Now all I have to do is read their writing. When working in class and reading off paper copies or on the white boards and we spot one of many writing issues present itself, I can simply ask the writer to grab the needed recipe card, plug their headphones in, scan the code and get a personal lesson in a writing weakness specifically to them. As most students cannot function without their smartphone for longer that twelve minutes anyway, I rarely need to bring out one of my own.
--This raises the question on whether this cheats other students from learning this valuable information. What if they already know it? My students also take assessments on the basics of language through google forms. Our district has a package with access to many of the products through a district .net account. I prefer the forms as I can require students sign in to take the assessment giving me a time stamp and name attached to the data. (Note: If your district does not offer such a package, you can still make google forms through a gmail or google docs account. I would make one separate for educational purposes and make sure your supervisor supports the idea. You will not have the auto name functions offered in a package, but you could make the first question of every test asking students to type in their first and last names. Teachers are smart; you will figure it out. If you don't, ask me and I will help you and gladly talk to your supervisor about the benefits of such packages.) If you want a fabulous data collection tool on basic skills, forms works great. If you do not have the excel skills to manipulate the data, you can find tips online or find an accountant. They can manipulate data in excel in ways that make nerds a bit too giddy. Ask one to teach you how and they will jump at the opportunity to share the hip secrets they have carried in the darkness of cubicle life for so long. Once you have the data organized into a useful manner, it becomes easy to target the needs of individual students. I then make myself a note to have those students see multiple clips explaining the concepts in a variety of delivery methods and check in on progress. This frees up so much time in the classroom to move on with projects, discussions, and exciting and mind-blowing experiences.
--I also keep a table in my google docs with the same QR Codes from my desk lined up with the same title from the cards, as well as a third column with the URL addresses to the videos. When writing in google docs, my students share me with edit and commenting privileges. When I notice an issue I have a video for, I can highlight the section of text and link a comment on the side with both my notes and the direction to click on the link for further explanation. (Ask me how and I will show you.) When a student fixes the problem with a comment, they mark resolved and I get a handy link in my inbox taking me directly to the problem area to check on revision and edit work.
--This seems like a lot of work, but if I work my basic skills lessons into actual writing that has meaning for the students and is an added piece to my curriculum, my time doubles in value and final drafts take less than a quarter of the time to read.
Next Post: QR Codes in the Library or Who the hell is Edmund Wilson?
No comments:
Post a Comment