QR codes are the solution to the problem “how do we condense information into a form that can have a sense of mystery to the passerby?” but are they relevant in today’s society or, moreover, today’s classroom? From our session the consensus – generally – was yes they can elevate certain aspects of learning but no there are other applications that may be more relevant depending what kind of learning would be taking place. A study of a group of students in Bath show that qr codes can increase a students appeal in accessing material via QR codes (Ramsden, 2010).
Taking on this idea of accessing material via QR codes to elevate a lesson we were tasked with creating a lesson – in groups – that used QR codes as the core idea of learning. This lessons was particularly difficult for our group. We would discuss an idea then encounter a problem which would put us back to square one. This really highlights that in today’s classroom we must be ready to have not only a plan B, but – potentially – an unlimited pool of ideas that would work in the event of shortcomings (Education Scotland, 2017). Our collaboration – which was with the same people I have worked with for the last three projects – was the most tense this week as we kept hitting roadblocks with our ideas. Most of our ideas would have been implemented with other applications – for example – if we followed through with our idea of doing a quiz in a classroom we would have better success with Kahoot (a quiz application that shows real-time answers and if they are correct or not). Even though it was tense I would not have changed who I worked with because we have different points of view in terms of accessibility with technology and what our forté is in terms of subject (Parker, 2008).
Ultimately, we decided to use prior learning from this module – that being book creator – to create an interactive book that requires learners to scan the correct items mentioned at the start of the book and find out how much they have spent. And the final product would cover the follow experiences and outcomes with Curriculum for Excellence:
MNU 1-03a – I can use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division when solving problems, making best use of the mental strategies and written skills I have developed. (bold used to emphasise what operation our final product uses)
MNU 1-09b – I have investigated how different combinations of coins and notes can be used to pay for goods or be given in change.
We divided the tasks and created our interactive book which you can find here. [Quick edit – the last QR codes may not work as they were part of a free trial so we could link pictures this trial has now expired]
We exchanged our final product with another group so we can test that they work. Feedback from the other group – which our lecturer agreed with – was that our book doesn’t take that long to complete. This goes back to my reflections in session three and the same question was asked “shouldn’t we be working smarter, not harder?”. I would say that the main issue here was that although 4 hours had pass the idea we presented was something that was created in a quarter of that time – because as mentioned before we kept hitting creative blocks and could not decide. But – and this is where I do agree – we could have added more tasks that we did. If we were to redo this of even update it in the future I would add more pages that have other shopping lists or add layers to the challenge like “You have been given £5 what is the most amount of items that could be bought?” to allow the learners to use as much of the book as possible.
Ultimately, I can understand that QR codes can add to a learning experience but I did not connect with this particular session. I will endeavour to not let my own personal prejudices get in the way of learning – if I have a class that would gain deeper technology understanding from creating and using QR codes I would not be a blockade but use it as the opportunity to grow my own understanding of the use of QR codes.
References:
Parker, G. M. (2008) Team players and teamwork : working with personalities to develop effective teams. [Online] Available: Dawsonera. [Accessed: 12 March 2019].
Ramsden, A. (2010) The level of student engagement with QR Codes: findings from a cross institutional survey. University of Bath, Bath, U. K.
Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing Learning And Teaching Through The Use Of Digital Technology: A Digital Learning And Teaching Strategy For Scotland. Scottish Government [Online] Available at: https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00505855.pdf
