Inspiring Curiosity with QR Codes

QR codes inspire curiosity and student engagement

After seeing a QR code promotion at some store, I knew I wanted to use them in my classroom. And after using them for a few years, I can easily say they have made my classroom much more fun and active. 

I always look forward to the first time I use this activity with a new group of students. They walk in the classroom and stare intriguingly at these strange, squiggly-lined boxes posted throughout the room. Because many students know what these are and have scanned them at various places, some start scanning before the class begins, and I have to shoo them away and urge them to wait to see what it is all about. 

Obviously, this is a good sign. It means the students are engaged and curious. 

Logistics and Set Up

First, what you do is find your favorite QR code generator. I usually use this one since it makes quality codes (like any software, some are better than others, so you need to find one that works best for you). Enter your “Free” text, URL, etc into the field (I will explain these in detail below), and then click “save,” and then locate the image anywhere on your computer. 

Then you can insert these images into a Word file and print them out or simply print them out. As you can see in the linked file, I like to insert into Word and make it a poster, of sorts, and then print them on color paper to make it really stand out.

You will want to have your students download a QR scanner before using these for an activity. Maybe assign it as an easy homework or do a practice run in class. You want to make sure they work, obviously, before you create an activity that depends on them. Also, not EVERY student will need a smartphone with a QR scanner. I usually form groups of two or three and then only one scans and they work on the activity embedded in the text. Finally, and like I said above, some QR code readers are better than others, so be ready for some students to have some problems. 

Free Text

This means you type or paste text into this field, and when students scan it, the text will appear. One great use for an English/ESL class is embedding text with grammatical errors and then having students correct the mistake. I usually have 5-7 codes (depending on class size) and have students walk around with post-it notes and write their corrected version on the note and stick it to the paper with the code. This is the easiest QR code activity I have used, and so I mention it here as a starter.

Embedding text into a QR code, as you can imagine, offers many opportunities for many different language skills. I have also had students preview a text for reading class by embedding the title, first sentence of each paragraph and a picture when provided. Students ask “Purpose Questions,” make predictions and other preview techniques, and write it on the post-it note. This emphasizes the process of an effective preview.

You can also use this approach for composition. I have used it to make students form refutation of claims embedded in a QR code, and I have had students simply react to something (i.e. Is too much homework a bad thing?) embedded in the code.

But one of my favorite activities is a “QR Scramble” where you take a whole text, like a paragraph, and cut up the sentences and have students rearrange/reconnect it. This is great for emphasizing important coherence features of a paragraph, like transitions, topic sentence/controlling idea, etc. 

And if this "scramble" sounds familiar, that is because it is. English teachers have been doing these sorts of activities forever, and that’s the point: Technology is merely a good vehicle for using all the great teaching you have been doing your entire career.

Furthermore, and as the “QR Scramble” activity indicates, anything that you could put on a traditional in-class worksheet could be embedded as “free text” in a QR code. 

I do want to note, however, that you want your free text to be no more than a few sentences. The more text, the more “squeezed” the code becomes, and the harder it is for scanners to read them and the more possible glitches/tech problems you will have when doing this activity.  

URL

This works the same as free text, but URL allows you to enter multimedia text. For example, you can enter the link to a Youtube video and have students watch listen to the video and form a reaction or, simply, just to work with the content.

For example, I have had students scan codes for tutorials that I or someone else has made, and they work great when using the “flipped classroom” approach because students can scan for the video, watch it at home and complete the exercise and/or assessment in class. 

Once I had students scan this video and watch it at home to study the rhythm patterns I used, and then we talked about it in class.

The URL option is also what you would do for pictures. If you wanted to have students scan and then view a picture, you want to go online, find the picture, right click it and “Copy image URL” (which is what my preferred browser, Google Chrome, says). Then you would paste this into the “URL” on the QR generator. Then students will see a picture when they scan it. 

If you wanted to do this with one of your personal pictures, you would need to host it online using Flickr, Google, Photobucket or some other site before doing what I describe in the previous paragraph. 

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QR codes have really been an amazing addition to my teacher tool box, and students absolutely love using them. It stirs their curiosity and gets them out of their chair and walking around.

Now, as with any activity, the trick is to keep them fresh and new. If you overuse them, they become common or boring. I suggest using them no more than once every other month or so, and make the activity and what you embed different each time.