Use the following sections to discover how to integrated QR Codes into Literacy & Art:
QR Codes: What Are They?
QR (Quick Response) codes are a type of barcode that when scanned using a QR Reader app on a smartphone or tablet device, take the user to a web address, generate an email, save a phone number, generate an SMS, create a phone 'contact' card, generate an event (e.g. day, time and place via geolocation) or even a PayPal payment.
Image (C) Mybiz Mobile 2013
They are effective and efficient marketing devices used world-wide as they allow people to:
- Learn additional information that would otherwise not be available given a lack of space on the product
- Save time by no longer have to type in a long web address e.g. http://www.longwebaddress.com or www.facebook.com/useraccount
- Visit a website even if they are hampered by poor spelling, and
- No longer have to commit to memory a web address for them to visit later on.
A person in a subway in time-poor Korea, scans images of 'virtual food' from Tesco posters on the wall (e.g. a Virtual Tesco store) which are then placed into an online shopping cart and then upon payment is delivered to their door!
Go to Article. Image source unknown.
Go to Article. Image source unknown.
QR Codes are no longer being utilised just by marketing companies. As they have entered the mainstream, a wide variety of bodies have adopted their use, including national parks for giving the general public the ability to download forest trails, wineries for giving information about the wines produced by various crops and museums for providing additional/background information about the artist or artwork. There are also many realistic applications for the use of QR codes by students in schools.
QR Codes in The Classroom
QR codes can and should be used by schools once they determine realistic and meaningful avenues in which they can be successfully integrated into teaching and learning activities. Here are just a few.
Reading
With QR codes appearing on most bus stops, billboards and in magazines, if schools are to truly prepare their students to be literate in today's world and for the future, students must be taught about QR codes so they can recognise & identify what these images mean and what they are used for so they can interact with them in the real-world.
Schools whose students have access to tablets or smartphones should use of QR Codes in the classroom to provide quick links to digital storytelling websites.
QR Codes can be easily generated and printed to provide students with weblinks/QR codes that can be scanned using a QR Code reader to instantaneously open up school and/or teacher approved digital storytelling websites.
Click on the image (left) to download/view this classroom poster and then scan the relevant QR code with a QR Code reader to access various digital storytelling websites.
QR Codes can be easily generated and printed to provide students with weblinks/QR codes that can be scanned using a QR Code reader to instantaneously open up school and/or teacher approved digital storytelling websites.
Click on the image (left) to download/view this classroom poster and then scan the relevant QR code with a QR Code reader to access various digital storytelling websites.
Writing
Poetry
The study of poetry is a perfect situation to integrate the use of QR codes. Once students have created their visual art display of their written poem(s), they can video record themselves:
(i) reciting the poem, and
(ii) reflecting upon the creation process.
Students can then:
Poetry
The study of poetry is a perfect situation to integrate the use of QR codes. Once students have created their visual art display of their written poem(s), they can video record themselves:
(i) reciting the poem, and
(ii) reflecting upon the creation process.
Students can then:
- Upload their videos to either internal (i.e. intranet) or external (i.e. internet) web servers (FTP - local or HTTP - global)
- Determine the URL (web address) of the uploaded files
- Use QR code generators to create QR codes linked to their uploaded files.
Staff and parents who walk past the work presented within the school (and even once the artwork has gone home, including uploading photos of the finished work to an online portal such as SeeSaw for parents who can't make it to school during school hours or are not allowed to be onsite due to Covid-safe protocols), can scan a QR code from any poem to watch videos of students reflecting upon and reading aloud their poems!
Narratives
QR codes should also be adopted in the presentation of narratives. QR codes present within the hard copy or ebook of a student's narrative can be linked to a video of the students acting out the related playscript (once they have converted their narratives into a playscript - adapting the text for different audiences) or audio files of students reading their stories (an audio ebook where the audio is linked to each page would be a much better idea though).
Advertisements/Brochures
QR codes should be use in the creation of any advertisements/brochures to ensure that students are being trained in the use of real-life marketing tools.
QR codes should also be adopted in the presentation of narratives. QR codes present within the hard copy or ebook of a student's narrative can be linked to a video of the students acting out the related playscript (once they have converted their narratives into a playscript - adapting the text for different audiences) or audio files of students reading their stories (an audio ebook where the audio is linked to each page would be a much better idea though).
Advertisements/Brochures
QR codes should be use in the creation of any advertisements/brochures to ensure that students are being trained in the use of real-life marketing tools.
Art
The idea to utilise QR codes in the study of poetry (above) was inspired from an image (see below) contained within a Slidedeck (I cannot find the Slidedeck to provide the link) on Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano's 'Langwitches Blog', obviously relating to her blog post about ''Transliteracy - QR Codes and Art'.
The idea to utilise QR codes in the study of poetry (above) was inspired from an image (see below) contained within a Slidedeck (I cannot find the Slidedeck to provide the link) on Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano's 'Langwitches Blog', obviously relating to her blog post about ''Transliteracy - QR Codes and Art'.
Imagine parents walking through the school or attending an Art Show night, being able to watch videos of various students talk about the inspiration behind their artworks at the press of a button on their smartphone or tablet device!
QR Codes can be generated to hyperlink to a web addresses (e.g. online video or ePortfolio), generate an email, save a phone 'contact' card, generate an event (e.g. an art showing) or even a PayPal payment (to purchase a student's piece of art)!
These are all ideas that private schools would be salivating over but one that is freely available for everyone! The future is most definitely here.
QR Codes can be generated to hyperlink to a web addresses (e.g. online video or ePortfolio), generate an email, save a phone 'contact' card, generate an event (e.g. an art showing) or even a PayPal payment (to purchase a student's piece of art)!
These are all ideas that private schools would be salivating over but one that is freely available for everyone! The future is most definitely here.
Considerations
- Before any videos of children are uploaded onto the internet, schools must ensure that parents have signed an Internet and Media Publishing Consent and Waiver Forms (most school Media Release Consent Forms do not address the move towards cloud-based storage and the sharing of digital content with a local/national/global audience)
- As a matter of courtesy, the file size of each video/audio should be stated underneath each QR code so that parents don't download over their smartphone's data limit
- A school-owned tablet device(s) (i.e. an iPad) linked to the school's data plan/wireless internet should be made available next to any presentation involving QR codes and be put in a prominent position secured to a wall/table
- On an art show night, school-owned tablet device(s) (i.e. iPads) should be made widely available and could be 'signed out' by parents, to allow those who do not have access to smartphones or their own devices to view the work
- Work can be scanned and emailed to parents who can't make it to school during school hours) who can then scan the QR code(s) to watch videos of students reciting or reflecting upon their work
QR Code Apps
There are various apps and websites that either generate or read (sometimes both) QR Codes. Use the following sections to find the approach that best suits your needs.
QR Code Creation
QR codes can be quickly and easily generated and saved (into a picture format - normally .jpg) for free via many different ways, including:
- Windows/Mac - By visiting qrstuff.com
- iOS - Barcode+Free: Screenshot
- Android: QR Droid (Free) Screenshot
- Windows Phone: QR Code Reader (Free) Screenshot 1 | Screenshot 2
QR Code Readers
There are a variety of QR code reader apps, including:
- iOS - iQRScanner (Free) Screenshot and Barcode+Free: Screenshot
- Android - QR Droid (Free) Screenshot
- Windows Phone - QR Code Reader (Free) Screenshot
- Mac - QR Journal