MMVC Using QR codes in education

6th  August 2016
  
Day 2
Webinar by Sibel Taskin Simsek

       "  Using   QR codes in education "

An interesting presentation was made by  Sibel Taskin Simsek and I could see it online.
She presented the use of QR codes in education. I had the opportunity to see  QR codes in a seminar in Italy this spring but I did not think that they could be so helpful. This webinar made me realize that education has really changed and more and more new technologies and apps can help us reach any learner. 

Sibel is an expert in the use of modern technology and she explained to us  how she could use QR codes with her students, who are older than mine ,while learning online and sharing materials for studying. Tablets and smartphones are now a reality and  she teaches at university, so she has to face fewer problems than us in secondary schools.
Here you can find a short introduction to the biography of the presenter who is  a modern teacher of  English while she is also an expert in technology. 

The webinar focussed on the use of  QR codes  and how people   started to use them in the auto industry in Japan:

http://www.qrcode.com/en/history/


Today  QR codes can be used in different  fields, not only in education and industry.

She made a nice presentation of  what we need to have installed in our browsers or in our  devices, mainly  smartphones  and tablets today :
we do need some apps that can scan and read  QR codes and we do need to have  a tool online that helps us create the QR code:

Online we can find easily  a service that enables us to create  a   QR code:  it is a free service  and we can  easily  share documents and links:  http://goqr.me/


 Why  should we use   QR codes?  Because they are simple and they  enable us to provide  links to materials which we cannot  upload in emails and which can be  easily  read online thanks to the apps which we have in our devices.


They can also facilitate the task of the teacher who will share the bar code with all the links that might be useful for homework, tasks to be carried out from home and in groups.

  Here are some useful tips for  ESL/EFL teachers which we were given online:

This webinar was really challenging for me: I thought I had  learnt a lot before I did this online conference and that QR codes would not be necessary in my teaching situations. I was wrong : most of my students have smartphones and use the new apps so they will facilitate my teaching too.
I felt interested and I must say that I have no words  how to thank
Sibel as she was a really good speaker and made a lovely presentation with clear ideas about the best practices she wanted to share with us!! 
The challenges for me
I need to use bar codes, they are so easy and simple and they can meet my students' needs who are looking for new ways of learning and working.
I have already downloaded the apps for scanning and reading bar codes in my browser - Chrome- in my desktop and in the notebooks which I have. I will see what to do  with my smartphone as I have a simple one, a Windows phone - just need to check if I can find the apps.

The future? I will try to work with the new devices and create  new activities. I really loved what I saw online.

Further research about  QR codes and  education

I have already started searching online and it seems that abroad more  and more   teachers are working with them:

http://nikpeachey.blogspot.it/2015/09/20-things-you-can-do-with-qr-codes-in.html

https://educationqrcodes.wikispaces.com/QR+Code+Generator

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/QR-codes-teaching-andrew-miller


http://www.schrockguide.net/qr-codes-in-the-classroom.html


http://www.emergingedtech.com/2014/12/25-ways-to-use-qr-codes-for-teaching-learning/


http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/qrcodes2



Useful videos  to share with other teachers:

To conclude, I would suggest using them to teachers and learners as they are very useful and do not require any special training- just some tutorials and then a lot of practice  :