QR Challenge: 12 Ideas for Using QR Codes in the Classroom

Created using the ClassTools QR Treasure Hunt Generator

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Teacher Notes

A. Prior to the lesson:

1. Arrange students into groups. Each group needs at least ONE person who has a mobile device.

2. If their phone camera doesn't automatically detect and decode QR codes, ask students to

Download a QR reader (e.g. I-Nigma | NeoReader | Kaywa ) onto their mobile devices
Bring these devices into the lesson.

3. Print out the QR codes.

4. Cut them out and place them around your class / school.

B. The lesson:

1. Give each group a clipboard and a piece of paper so they can write down the decoded questions and their answers to them.

2. Explain to the students that the codes are hidden around the school. Each team will get ONE point for each question they correctly decode and copy down onto their sheet, and a further TWO points if they can then provide the correct answer and write this down underneath the question.

3. Away they go! The winner is the first team to return with the most correct answers in the time available. This could be within a lesson, or during a lunchbreak, or even over several days!

C. TIPS / OTHER IDEAS

4. A detailed case study in how to set up a successful QR Scavenger Hunt using this tool can be found here.

Questions / Answers (teacher reference)

Question	Answer
1. 1. Create 21st Century Resumes	Have students use QR to create resumes that link to other content such as their professional website or portfolio. All schools do some level of resume building and technical writing. Help them bring it into the 21st century by creating a resume that requires interaction. Not only will this help engage them in technical writing, but also their work will be innovative.
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3. 2. Show Exemplars	You can create QR for linking students to examples of quality work, whether it's PowerPoint or slideshare for a class presentation, or people speaking a foreign language specific to your current lesson.
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5. 3. Provide a Service	Integrate QR with a PBL or Service Learning project where students can create the codes that will link to the content they create. If students helped create awareness around spreading germs, for example, they might put the codes around the school or in a parent newsletter. They can take it a step further by creating codes for a local business or organization.
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7. 4. Make Your Classroom Greener	Save a few trees! Instead of making more printouts than everyone needs, give your students a QR that takes them to the instructions, announcement or assignment. It can save you space on your wall, and keep your classroom greener.
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9. 5. Incentivize and Praise	Award prizes by having students scan a code leading to an animation or badge. When they pass a test on commas, perhaps they get a code that takes them to a badge for Comma Guru! Students can even create their own codes to award each other. When a student sees something great happen, they can give a code that links to messages such as "Good Job from Andrew" and "Thanks for doing your part for the team."
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11. 6. Make Learning Stations	Put codes in different areas of the room that will take students to different online activities, videos or content. Using a great tool like the discussion protocol of reciprocal teaching (PDF) or a graphic organizer will help facilitate their interaction with the linked content.
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13. 7. Check Answers and Reflect	Have students check their answers by scanning the QR code after completing a test or assignment. As a teacher, you can visually confirm when students are checking their work and can also check in to see how they are doing. This will help track individual learning and can provide an opportunity for you to facilitate student reflection.
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15. 8. Provide Extension Assignments	A great way to provide optional activities for students who want to excel is to simply put the code on the class assignment and let them follow it to the extension activity or question. It won't take up much space, and might facilitate a little excitement about the extension assignment.
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17. 9. Compile Research	Have students create codes linking to items discovered during research. These could be posted in class wikis on a specific topic, or on a wall in the classroom. It helps give them ownership of the research process and literally creates "walls that talk."
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19. 10. Create Interactive Labs or Dissections	Codes attached to a skeleton model or dissected pig can take students to important directions or content. Or vice versa. Maybe this will help them to create the lab themselves or make a model for the class lab.
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21. 11. Differentiate Instruction	Perhaps you have a poem for students to analyze. You can provide additional scaffolding with a link to a recitation or focused questions to get them started. Use the QR to help you manage differentiation of the various strategies in your tool belt of teacher practices.
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23. 12. Vote	QR codes can be a great voting tool allowing students to vote by simply scanning the code as they enter or exit the classroom. This can save time, and it gets your students up and moving