This Haiku Deck presentation was prepared for DENapalooza 2013.

This session will assist you with ideas for integrating QR codes in daily classroom activities using iDevices.

Combining innovative web tools and easily providing access to them via QR codes is a fun and engaging way to maximize instructional time!

There are tons of resources to make your own QR codes. Here are a few I have tried:
www.qrstuff.com
www.delivr.com (this tool stores your codes)
www.kaywa.com

Content is added to the code:
•Audio: Record your message and paste link
•Images: Save to your cloud, wiki or site
•Video: Embed videos via SafeShare.TV
•Text: Save a typed message
•Links: Redirects to a URL

Use a variety of media to instantly take kids outsdie of the classroom.

Students scan from a QR Reader using an iDevice. Most readers are free and here are two I have used:
• Qrafter
• i-nig-ma

Practice showing students the steps to scan a code so they can continue to use the tools throughout the year in varying capacities.

Keep a handy "help sheet" for students to reference if they need to troubleshoot. This is a fantastic way to work in procedural text in an authentic way and cuts down on teacher interruptions.

Sometimes getting students to a specific website is full of potential problems. With a QR Code, count on:

•Error-free typing of web addresses
•Eliminated frustration with / and . symbols
•Avoiding misdirection to other sites
•Directly linking to site and page you want

The instant connection a QR code offers will kick off the activity on a positive note. All aggravations have been addressed in advance and instructional time is maximized.

QR Codes are ideal for research. For best results, consider the following:

•Create stations for students to rotate so there is movement in the class
•Provide a graphic organizer that loosely frames goals but allows student to take charge of their own learning
•Let them make their own observations for discovery by watching video played through SafeShare.TV
•Proper reading lexile for your grade level
•Custer related images into a single source but space codes for easier scanning and have students synthesize the content

If we are lucky, students really dive in to the subjects we teach. The trouble is, there isn't always enough time for them to explore to the level they want. Enter enrichment opportunities!

Prepare an Enrichment Center that supports the curriculum and let those overachievers bloom in their own way.

EXAMPLE: Solar System standards only include planets, asteroids, comets and the Sun. Create QR Codes that connect to student-friendly sites on nebula, black holes, and Sirius.

Set up engaging activities that spiral old skills or practice new ones.

•Students cycle into an “instance activity”
•Confirm sites are iDevice Friendly
•Connect to your personalized web content

Ideas for original web content:
•Haiku Deck: An incredible visual literacy tool that is perfect for streamlining text, focusing on main idea and supporting details, detailing vocabulary or digital storytelling that you custom tailor
•EDUCreations: An interactive whiteboard that audio records lessons or examples
•ThingLink: One theme represented by one image linking multimedia support

Sometimes there are educational gaps, holes need to be filled or you are looking for an interesting launch pad for a new unit. Use a QR code to complete the picture.

•Build background with primary sources
•Create an Evernote, Dropbox or Flickr account to retrieve images
•Find footage that brings a concept to life through current events or archives

Discovery Education

If you find YouTube videos you think perfectly work, copy the link and paste it into www.SafeShare.TV. They provide a new code you can link to a QR code.

Keep them busy and having fun as they piece the big picture together.

•Kids hunt for information then organize it
•Fun hook to build a theme by providing audio, visual or textual clues for students to solve
•Allows for movement opportunities in class
•Clever way to mask "necessary" as "fun"


Need help kick starting a QR Scavenger Hunt?
•Beginning of Year school tour
•www.classtools.net/qr to customize
•Amazing Race activity

Students need time to process and organize information. By clustering QR codes, allow students to critically think by doing the following:

•Three Truths and a Lie activity
•Infer information based on pictures
•Four Pics and One Word type activity
•Pair concepts to compare and contrast
•Sequence information (story, food chain)
•Identify Main Idea and Supporting Details
•Summarized nonfiction
•Identify cause and effect

The possibilities are endless when you think about it.

Thank you for attending this session!

Enjoy the station visits and don't forget to share!

My contact information:
klossing@mckinneyisd.net
@LMSKaren