Recently, Janis Knuckols, Jane Long Elementary – Art Teacher Extrordinaire, approached me with the idea of having her students use QR codes to create a talking art museum. I immediately got ridiculously excited about the idea, my teacher-brain nearly spinning out of control thinking of all the great ways this idea could be used across the curriculum!

Think about it! Posting student work throughout your campus attached to a QR code that links back to a student’s audio explanation of what they learned. This same idea could also be used to create an indoor scavenger hunt, give audio directions for a learning center, create an talking picture book…and so much more!

Is your brain spinning too?  Ready to get started? Here’s what needs doin’!

 

Your Kiddos

Have your kids write about their work.  We don’t want this to be super short, but we don’t want it to be super long either…students are going to want to grab their audience’s attention and use great voice in their writing!  “Ba-da-bing!” is a great way to encourage this type of writing.  Here is a short Ba-Da-Bing! and Ba-Da-Bing Sample Lesson that will help explain “Ba-da-bing”, if you’d like to learn more! Feel free to use and share. This lesson and powerpoint were created by the lovely and talented Lisa McNally from George JHS. (Thanks Lisa!)

Microphones

Our district is lucky enough to have sets of microphones that can be checked out from your CITS.  Microphones are a very inexpensive addition to your classroom toolbox.  If you’d like to have  your own – Logitech makes several inexpensive versions (I have a $9.99 model that works fine).   Simply plug the microphone in to the front of your computer where you see the small microphone symbol.

Recordmp3

Once your microphone is plugged in, navigate to http://www.recordmp3.org/ and click to allow the site access to your microphone, and then begin recording!

http://recordmp3.org

Once you’re satisfied with your recording, click “Save Recording.”  Finally, Right-Click and Copy the web address that your recording is given.  Hang on to it for a minute, because you’re going to need it for the next step!

QR Stuff

Finally, it’s time to create your QR code!  To get started, visit http://www.qrstuff.com/ and follow these steps:

  • Data Type – Website URL
  • Paste in the URL (address) that you copied from Recordmp3 into the “step 2” box
  • Change the QR code color, if you’d like
  • Click on the “Download QR Code” button on the right
  • Click “Open”
  • Right-Click and “Copy”
  • Paste the image into the Talking Museum QR Tracking Sheet

**If you have several students working on creating  QR codes:  You can have students download and Save their QR image into a folder you’ve created on a shared student drive, HOWEVER… you’ll want to have them name the file in a way that will make it easy for you to know who’s code is whose (tip…have them include their initials in the file name!).  You don’t want to have to sift through 35 QR codes trying to figure out which one belongs to each student!

Printing

Once your students have made their recordings and you’ve placed their QR codes into the Talking Museum QR Tracking Sheet, just print out the sheet (in color, if preferred) cut out each QR code, attach it to the front of the corresponding student’s project, and post them around campus.

Listening In

Once QR’s are attached to student work, apps such as Scan can be used on generation 4 iPod Touches (the ones with cameras) iPad2/3’s or most smartphones to play back student recordings.  Super fun!!

 

Scan

  • FREE
  • Designed for iPad, iPhone, or iTouch
  • Use a site like QR Stuff to create a digital scavenger hunt for your students.  Link your QR’s to book reviews, Discovery Education videos, and other online learning tools…then have students use the Scan app to follow your digital trail!
  • Click Here to find out more about the Scan app

Hungry for More?

The CITS team hase started a Google Doc listing ways to use QR codes in school.  Click here to visit the doc.  If you have other great ideas, please add them to the list!  Don’t forget to save this link to your favorites.  Happy scanning!

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