QR+Codes

QR Codes Last year I asked people for info on QR codes as I was planning on using them around the library. A number of people asked me to report on how it went so here it is. At the beginning of the year I usually run a library orientation with our Year 8s (currently our first year of high school in Qld) where I show them around the library and tell them about the different areas, rules etc. This year I conveyed the same information but in a much more interactive way – using QR codes. I used the code generator @http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ to create the codes, printed them out, wrote on the back of each one what it was and laminated them for next year. I had the IT staff put a free QR reader app on the class set of iPads – I used QR Code Engage. With this app, the students just press the screen to start the scanning, hold the iPad up until the QR code appears in the viewer window and then the text or video or website appears on their screen. I blu-tacked the laminated codes around the library, issued each pair of students with an iPad and a question sheet and sent them off on a treasure hunt, before debriefing them afterwards. Most of the QR codes contained just text – information about that section and a question they had to answer. There is a limit of about 250 characters that you can fit on a single QR code. Some QR codes contained links to websites such as the library catalogue or home page and a couple, such as the one on our DVD section or the one on our Sherlock Holmes display in the foyer, contained YouTube clips for students to view. The kids enjoyed it (even the teachers got involved) and it mostly went very well. We even got a mention from the principal in the weekly newsletter. I did encounter a couple of problems – the iPads had problems reading two of the codes which I’d printed out in too large a size; a 3-4cm square worked best. Also, I hadn’t realised that the iPads couldn’t recognise Flash, so a website which used Flash and a Voki which I’d created, didn’t work. I will be doing this again, with a bit of tweaking. At the moment I’m printing QR codes to go in the front of our fiction books with links to author websites and book trailers. I’m also going to be running an inservice on the educational uses of QR codes for our staff. Cheers, Nell Keen Pacific Lutheran College

[]