Tip 96 - QR Codes - Part 2

In Part 1 of this tip, I introduced you to QR codes and showed you how to “read” them. In Part 2, you’ll learn how to easily generate your own and we’ll brainstorm ways to use QR codes in and out of the classroom! 

 How to Generate QR Codes:

There are many websites that allow you to easily create QR Codes of your own. Here are a few:

Delivr http://delivr.com/qr-code-generator  
KAYWA
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

GoQR http://goqr.me/ 

Just follow the on-screen prompts to generate a code! 

Generating QR Codes for Websites using goo.gl:

Goo.gl is a URL-shortener similar to TinyURL and SnipURL. With goo.gl, you can easily create QR codes for websites:

Copy the URL you want to turn into a QR code. 
Go to http://goo.gl 
Paste the URL and click the “Shorten” button.   
Copy the shortened URL. 
Paste the shortened URL into your browser’s location window. 
Add “.qr” to the end of the address.   
Press the “Enter” key on your keyboard. 
A QR code will be generated!  

What to do with the code:
Once the code is generated, you can download it or just copy it and paste it into a document or webpage. QR codes can be read equally well from a computer screen or from a printed page!

Ideas for using QR Codes:
 General ideas:

Put a QR code with your contact info on the back of your business card.   
Doing a presentation at a conference? Put a QR code with a link to your online handout or website on the opening slide of your PowerPoint presentation. 
Put a QR code on your holiday letter that takes the reader to your family photos on your Flickr page. 
Attending a conference or class reunion? Put a QR code on your name tag with info about you! 
Here’s a list of “101 Uses for QR Codes.” 

Educational uses:
(If your students have access to iPod touches (with cameras) or smart phones.) 
Here are a few ideas to get you started. Please post your own ideas in the comments area at the bottom of this message.

Create a QR treasure/scavenger hunt in or around the school. Codes can be printed and mounted in various locations. Students scan a code to get their next clue. 
Get your students quickly and easily to a website by projecting the related code or printing it on a handout. 
Have a Google form you want your students to fill out on their iPod touches or cell phones? Just show the related code on your projector screen!  
A QR code on the back of a book could “take” a student to a web page about the author or to page of book reviews. (You could print the codes on labels, or print them on paper and tape them to the book.) 
A QR code in a learning station could take students to a web page with instructions, information, or even a video! 
Displaying student artwork in the hallway? Add a QR code that provides additional information about the student-artist! 
Here’s a website with info about a clever teacher using QR codes in the PE classroom: http://www.thephysicaleducator.com/?p=77

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