Quick QR Code How-To

Wondering how to use QR codes in education?  There are many ways!  In my online Tech for Educators course, I have a creative librarian working towards integrating QR codes and ipods.  In my quest to aid her, I aggregated the following.

 She is using The QR Code Generator: http://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/ 

Unitag:  http://www.unitaglive.com/qrcode looks like a good site to customize QR codes.

QR Voice is another fun variation to explore:  http://qrvoice.net/
Tag My Doc allows you add a QR code to a document, so others can simply scan it. http://www.tagmydoc.com/ 

Watch how I created and embedded the QR code above.

What could you do with QR codes in your instructional setting?  (The topic of immersive technologies in education is a good extension to this conversation.)

Happy creating!

Social Media in P-12 Education Discussion

I love this part of my job!  Students in my Tech for Educators course had an interesting discussion on the topic of Social Media in P-12 Education.  Uses of Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs were discussed.  Concepts of “friending” students and parents, where to draw the line between personal and professional life, and digital citizenship all entered the conversation.

It was interesting for me to hear them discuss various ways schools are using social media.  I was also intrigued by the conversation of how students sometimes set up their own Facebook pages to extend learning beyond the classroom—student lead.  I have my own evolving views of this topic that I won’t mention here.  I will say we as educators need to have these types of conversations and look at all sides.  As we do, I agree with one of my students who ended the conversation by saying there are more questions than answers!

This past week, I’ve done my own extension of learning on this topic.  Here are some of the resources I’ve explored and highly recommend.

This one’s especially for the amazing math teacher in my course:  Bringing Twitter to Life with Alan November and Jessica Caviness.

This interview with Alan November and David Weinberger entitled, The World Has Become “To Big for Us to Know”  is a must listen to for all of us!  Alan and David "discuss what knowledge means and what type of learning must take place in a connected world of overabundant information.  Alan and David share a series of ideas and stories that will have you thinking more about the structure of assignments in your classroom." 

My students inspired me to give a simple taste of  how Twitter can be used without student accounts.  I pulled out a few of their favorite assessment sites shared in our wiki last week and posted them using this hashtag #TCE596Winter.  It should be accessible on any mobile device by following this link.

Happy discussions!  (Face-to-face or virtual ;)