QR Codes in Education: Reach and Engage Students in Learning

Engaging student in active learning is a continual quest for most educators. What follows are links to one under used tool which educators can leverage to increase student engagement and, we hope, student learning. In addition to a brief explanation of QR Codes and QR Generators, I’ve also included several sites where educators have successfully used QR coding in a variety of ways to engage their students in learning. Not every method discussed may be appropriate for your student, but with a little imagination, you can probably tweak enough of the offerings to justify the time you invest in reading this article. To increase that likelihood I’ve added a bonus method at the end.

QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed for the automotive industry in Japan. The information encoded by a QR code may be made up of four standardized types (“modes”) of data (numeric, alphanumeric, byte / binary, Kanji) or, through supported extensions, virtually any type of data. The QR code when scanned with the camera of a mobile device such as an iPad, Android tablet, or smartphone can transfer video, web links, text and email addresses amongst other digital content quickly and easily to users.

What is most impressive about the QR code is that it is free; all that is needed is a free QR Code generator. In addition to the many instructional videos available on YouTube.com that detail exactly how to create QR codes, below are two sites that list some of the top QR code generators. Those with “*” indicate QR generators that have appeared on multiple lists as most preferred or highly rated.

http://freenuts.com/top-10-free-online-qr-code-generators/

*Kaywa QR Code

*Maestro

*BeQRious

*GoQRme

*BeeTagg QR Generator

ZXing Project

Delivr

Azonmedia

Online Qr Lab

Mobile-Barcodes

http://www.freakzion.com/index.php/The-Blog-July-2013/qr-codes-the-best-10-qr-code-generators.html

*Kaywa QR Code

*Maestro

*BeQRious

*GoQRme

*BeeTagg QR Generator

QR Stuff

QRLicious

The QR Code Generator

Exploring The Educational Potential of QR Codes by Joe Dale (http://connectlearningtoday.com/exploring-the-educational-potential-of-qr-codes-3/)

Popular with advertisers and marketing companies, QR codes give readers an immediate opportunity to visit a website to find out more information about a range of facts, products and services.

For schools that have invested in iPads or tablets as learning tools or allow their students to bring in their own devices (BYOD), QR codes have proven to be a great timesaver for sharing links and distributing information en masse. Projecting large QR codes on a screen so they can be scanned from around the class makes it easy for students to access the same content on their own devices and interact with it individually instead of passively looking at the interactive whiteboard.

5 Real Ways To Use QR Codes In Education by Nick Grantham (http://www.fractuslearning.com/2012/02/20/qr-codes-in-education/#sthash.9bITZFOQ.dpuf)

Book Reviews: One of the best ideas I have heard for using QR codes is in the school library. QR codes are created for specific books, linking to reviews, trailers, or additional resources.

QR Code Orienteering: Create an orienteering course where each checkpoint is a QR code. As students check-in (scan the code) the virtual treasure map will unfold, with each code being a clue to find the next.

Multimedia Content: A popular use for QR codes in education is to add multimedia content to hard copy pages. It is kind of like a stepping-stone on our way to fully digitized textbooks and worksheets.

Solutions And Tutorials: A practical and fun application for QR codes is a modern version of answers being written in the back of the book. By placing answers to questions online and linking with QR codes, students can attempt their own solutions before using the code to review the correct answer. Not only is this a novel way for students to look up answers, it once again lets teachers use interactive media to present solutions in a more thorough and engaging manner.

QR Codes On School Equipment: QR codes let us link physical objects in the real world with digital assets online. This is very useful as we can now attach all sorts of additional information to equipment to assist in use.

Ways to Use QR Codes for Education by Christy Crawford

For the complete list visit (http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2012/09/ways-use-qr-codes-education). The following ideas are focused more toward HigherEd interactions.

1. Become a museum curator. Bring a President’s Day, Black History Month, or Women’s History Month bulletin board to life with QR codes. Place the code linking to compelling video or audio and/or a short quiz underneath images

3. Is there a special basket, bin, or shelf in your library devoted to an author? Use a QR code on that basket, bin, or shelf to instantly pull up videos of the author discussing their life, their favorite books, or tips on writing

6. Eliminate math phobia. Send home how-to videos for “scary” math problems by adding QR codes to homework sheets. Nervous parents will get at-home assistance and students will appreciate the review.

______________________

Bonus: Virtual Introductions. When staff or faculty are in class session and therefor unavailable to introduce themselves to perspective students, a QR code can reclaim a missed opportunity. Similar to a self-guided tour, the staff and faculty can generate a short introductory video with a brief bio and other information of interest linked to a QR code. Perspective students, parents, or campus guides can scan the QR code and use their mobile device to get a brief introduction from staff and faculty.

How Much Education Is Enough? 5 Shocking Facts About Your Post-Grad Job Prospects

How Much Education Is Enough? 5 Shocking Facts About Your Post-Grad Job Prospects

February 6, 2013 By Rachel S.

From my junior year of high school through the moment we all threw our tasseled mortar boards triumphantly in the air, the buzz was about what college we would attend. For the majority of my friends, college was a given. I was the first person in my family to graduate college, but that’s not to say my family isn’t successful. We’ve got auto mechanics that own their own shops, a taxidermist, a carpenter and a couple of postal workers among my parent’s generation that have done well for themselves. My dad and now my brother are elevator mechanics – this is a very high paying union protected job. My nephew is following in their footsteps and at 19 has bought his first home and is financially stable with no educational debt. My niece though is happily ensconced in a bachelor’s pre-med program, thrilled to be fulfilling her dream.

Image source: CollegeOnline.org

So my question is, how much education is enough? Do all high school graduates need to go to college? Are we over-educating ourselves and can we continue to afford to do so? With a trillion dollars in student debt outstanding and half of that deferred or delinquent, have we overextended ourselves to buy education we may not need? Here are 5 shocking facts that address these questions and will hopefully get you thinking about how our educational system works:
#1 There Are Not Enough Jobs for College Graduates
A recent study by non-profit Center for College Affordability and Productivity says there are far less jobs available that require college degrees than there are college graduates seeking employment. Labor Department data used by the study showed 28.6 million jobs available that required a college degree and 41.7 million degreed professionals available to fill them. That means that unless something changes, some 13 million workers are not getting their money’s worth out of their education.

Image source: HERI.UCLA.edu

#2 Many College Graduates Are Working in Jobs That Require a High School Diploma (or less)
Not only are 13 million degreed workers not going to land in a job that makes use of their bachelor’s or master’s degree, many will work in jobs where a high school diploma is likely optional. 15% of taxi drivers have college degrees, 25% of retail clerks have graduated college and 5% of janitors are college alumni. Study author Richard Vedder says, “There are going to be an awful lot of disappointed people because a lot of them are going to end up as janitors.” Wow!

Image source: EquityNews.info

#3 You May Be Able to Make As Much Or More As a Skilled Laborer
There are over 500,000 manufacturing jobs across the US sitting open and hundreds of thousands more skilled labor positions. These require on-the-job training rather than any formal education and experts predict this job segment will be booming over the next decade. The age of the average skilled manufacturing worker is 56, so within the next decade, this generation will phase into retirement, leaving a huge skills gap. Skilled jobs like these pay an average wage of around $25 per hour which equates to about $50,000 per year. Average wages for someone with a bachelor’s working in their field are just $59,000. And manufacturing jobs often come with union protection, great benefits and no student loan debt!
#4 You May Be Able to Make as Much or More With an Associate’s Degree
While the cost of four year colleges and universities has been on the rise, community college and trade school tuition have remained low cost alternatives. The highest earning careers you can launch with an associate’s degree are in healthcare, occupational trades and technology. A good indicator of the earning potential of a career path is how much science and math are involved in the program. Nurses, respiratory and radiation therapists, engineering and aviation jobs are among the high earning jobs you can get with just two years of school.

Image source: My.HSJ.org

#5 The More Debt You Graduate With, The Less Your Effective Earnings Are
Bachelor’s degree graduates average $20,000 in student loan debt. At 6.8% interest, paying back over 10 years, the monthly payments would be $230. That’s $2,760 per year less in your pocket. When you are job hunting fresh out of university, the impact of your student loan debt is important to bear in mind. To optimize your debt and ensure you are paying in the most effective manner, consider consulting a student loan expert. Trade school and community college graduates emerge with drastically less debt, often just a few thousand dollars. Your wages will be effectively higher if you owe less debt!

If you’re in college or are excited about launching into your bachelor’s program, consider looking at ways to minimize your post-college debt such as making payments while in school, consolidating loans and looking for jobs (such as public service and high-need jobs) that offer debt forgiveness. But if you’re uncertain about what you would do with a four year degree, don’t assume you have to bend to academic protocol. An associate’s degree or skilled trade training can be very rewarding and are growth industry.