Using QR codes in the classroom

Ok, I know what you are probably thinking! What on earth is a QRcode? A few weeks ago I thought the same and now I am seeing them all over the place.

Basically QR stands for Quick Response code and works similar to a normal barcode you would find on a magazine or pretty much anything you can buy in a shop. Except the  main difference is that it can hold around 4000 characters of information. At the moment their most popular use is to scan it (using your mobile phone)  and the code takes you directly to a web page. Remember you need an android or iphone that you can download a free app – most popular for iphone is ‘neoreader’.

Watch this step by step video

How and why would this be relevant in teaching MFL? Well it does seem like they are here to stay and popping up everywhere  (no doubt you will also see them everywhere now too!). Although mobiles are discouraged or banned in most schools these codes can be used creatively as an extension of classroom learning. and an opportunity to try something new. One example that springs to mind is on school trips, students can have a workbook with activities based on information they find through the codes or even a code with a link to a google map on how to get back to the meeting point!

Here is a slideshow of Interesting ways to use QR Codes in the classroom by Tom Barrett who has collated ideas such as adding a code to a homework sheet for more information, so you don’t have to type a website address and explain how to find the correct page/section within the website (maybe useful for your VLE/Moodle). Also you can make displays interactive for example having links to pictures on how the display was made.

The codes are really easy to make, all you do is go to a website like this one… www.qrstuff.com

copy and paste a website address, then hey presto your code is made. There are lots of websites that make them, it doesn’t  matter which one you use but this one has the option to change colour and customise the QR code.

Thanks to Steve Anderson’s blog which was a great introduction