Curriculum, learning and teaching
Keep calm and scan on Susana Almeida and Ingrid Kay offer four good reasons for using QR codes in the classroom
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1. Making children’s portfolios interactive At Marymount International School Paris, parent teacher interviews are scheduled three times a year. In Kindergarten this year the interviews scheduled for April would be studentled. The first thought we had (beside panic) was HOW could 5 year olds tell their parents what they have been learning independently? We wanted to make sure that the children would be able to recount effectively what they had been doing and learning, without our interaction and help. We thought that using QR codes would help achieve this. After the children have completed a task or topic, we ask them several questions related to the things they learned, how they felt, what they liked and what they didn’t like. These ideas are recorded and then turned into a QR code that is attached to a work sample. In this way we are enriching the documentation, and for the children it is easier to remember and recount what they have learned. Tracking learning using QR codes has become a constant in our class, as we have found that we can easily see each child’s progress. In literacy for example, as part of our reading program we monitor children’s reading by recording them Autumn |
Spring
In October last year, when preparing our first parent-teacher conferences, we had just finished a new class movie that we wanted to share on that day. We started to think about how we could show it to our parents while they were waiting their turn. We thought of several options – and then we came up with the idea of creating a Quick Response (QR) code that if scanned would link parents to the movie. That way they could comfortably watch it from their phones and save it to watch later! Since that October conference day we have been researching QR codes and their use in the classroom, and have realised that they are a powerful construct when used sensibly and purposefully. We have found several approaches to using QR codes in the classroom, always using them with clearly defined aims for our learning context. QR codes are similar to barcodes, but can contain much more information. The information can include, for instance, text, videos, websites or songs. When a QR code is scanned with a smartphone, iPad or computer (if you have a web camera) it links information to you. We believe there are four good reasons for using QR codes in the classroom:
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