All of my kids’ teachers have a school teacher website. I’ve seen better websites in 1990 with sparkle gif unicorns and rainbows. I’ve sat at many teacher-parent nights, watching the teachers fumble over computer projection screens to show us what is being taught to our children. The PowerPoint presentations are simple, to say the least. These are the people we are asking to use QR codes to further their teaching material, as well go green. The good thing about QR codes is that even those who are not technically… the best, can still use codes effectively and with ease.
I’m not putting down any teachers, mind you. Classrooms and schools are going digital. Someone finally figured out that bulk purchase iPads can replace every text book they were formerly obliged to purchase and schools are handing out iPads to students. Students were raised on electronic devices. My parents never let me play with their typewriter when I was 2 years-old. That’s probably what drove me over the edge! My kids were on the computer when they could barely walk. It didn’t take that long for them to overcome even my vast knowledge of the digital world. I learned it later in life. They grew up with it in their lives. Our kids are the biggest reason for using QR codes in classrooms. We need to catch up with THEIR educational needs and a free QR code generator is a big step in bridging what are lessons and homework that are becoming obsolete with our changing society and family dynamics and bring them into the 21st century.
Most articles on using QR codes in classrooms suggest treasure hunts or answer sheets tied to QR code usage. That’s a good time-waster. How about we use that time for education so we can catch up to at least 13th place in education among developed nations?
If you want tons of ideas about using QR codes in the classroom, then here are a few articles to surf:
- 50 QR Code Resources for the Classroom
- Ways to Use QR Codes for Education
- Exploring the Educational Potential of QR Codes
Judging from my two kids, the problem with the average student is that school has become an annoying interruption in a child’s online time. My youngest son was so excited at the prospect of having a tablet to use, even though his laptop, Nintendo DS and assorted game consoles just aren’t enough ways to roam the known universe, because it tied him back into the web while at school. It also wasn’t hard for him to hack out the school-imposed filters. I see Nooooothing!
Since I assume it’s all the electronics in their lives that have made them zombies with IQs over 150, I guess we must now speak their digital-zombie language as well, and that is where QR codes are really helpful in the classroom! I assume my kids are normal students, so lets use their particular needs for QR codes.
1. They never remember their assignments! If there was a big QR code on the notebook for a subject, they could scan it at home and link to a page that has the assignments for the week.
2. They get bored of reading! Yes, it’s society’s downfall, but people don’t like to read anymore. The school ignored that my kids have the penmanship of demented serial killers, choosing to shrug their shoulders and admit that everything will be done by keyboard. As much as you might despise such changes, society has to change how students receive and interact with education in the most positive way. Lessons that mix text with links to videos, infographics and other stimulating content will capture a student’s attention and memory retention.
3. Don’t deal with paper! At the end of every semester, I clean out both kid’s folders of folded, crushed papers by the hundreds. “Oh,” I often say. “There’s three copies of that test you kept forgetting and they are all filled-out, which explains that you didn’t hand them in.” QR code link on the homework site page (yes, people can and need to scan from one device to another — it’s quicker than emailing a link for another device to pickup) will bring up a sample document a student can paste into a Google doc, sharing with the teacher for a time stamp, easy corrections and questions from the teacher and the student and NO PAPER! Let’s see your dog eat that digital homework!
4. Remind the little angels! Yes, sometimes forget a test is coming up or some other date, like graduation, that the students should know about… because they forgot the first 12 times they were told. QR codes allow SMS texting to the student’s phone for a reminder message. Just have the students scan the master QR code for that class to register with the SMS distribution list when the semester begins.
5. No more shyness roadblocks! With QR codes on the teacher’s website, shy students can apply for extra credit work without the stigma of being called a “braniac,” “Einstein” or “someone-who-will-amount-to-great-things” by their peers. Just scan for their preferred device, do the work and submit it back to the teacher. This allows kids to excel at their own comfort level.
6. Track which students are falling behind! Imagine a little QR code placed strategically at places in longer assignments, like reading, where a student would have to scan a QR code to check in that they’ve reached that point and perhaps take a short online quiz while the material is fresh in the students’s mind. As the student progresses, or more importantly doesn’t progress, the teacher will see which students are keeping up and which are falling behind. Individual students can be reminded via digital methods and programs can be tailored for some students with learning disabilities — all through digital means, freeing the teacher to continue teaching as only a human can… for the time being.
The last two suggestions hits a nerve in schools today. Standardized education doesn’t fit all of the students’ needs. Some students move faster and some slower. This has always been a problem and the hope was computers would help in the education process. Computers can, but as tools, they have to be used correctly. We are not just entertaining elementary school children. We must use QR codes to teach our students right through their senior year in high school and into college.
Sure, surf the articles linked above. You’ll pick up some great ideas, but remember that the technology enables forward thinking to old learning lessons. The tools have changed, society has changed, as have the students and the way they learn. QR codes have so many uses for students to learn, inspire and make them reach further for information just waiting for you to present to them via a simple QR code.
Great QR Code Articles:
- Beautified QR Codes That Are Almost Invisible
- The Best QR Codes EVER!
- Uses for QR Codes Around the House
Click HERE to start creating your free QR code!
Top image ©GL Stock Images
The post Why Articles on QR Codes in Educational Use Are All Wrong! appeared first on uQR.me.