Free App Monday: QR Readers

Use a QR reader to see what I say!

As I mentioned in Friday's post, my principal gave a presentation last week on the use of QR codes.  For those that are not familiar with them, QR codes work sort of in the same way that barcodes do: each one is unique and is linked to a specific website, piece of text, video, phone number, etc.

You may have seen codes like this on businesses and flyers.  They can be used for pretty much anything, and are a great way to get more information out there without taking up a lot of text space.  Just put a QR code somewhere and the technologically savvy among us can scan it for more info.

I've even heard that some people are using them on business cards to link to personal social networking (LinkedIn for individuals, Facebook for companies), and even on resumes!

The question, of course, becomes, "what do I do to get one of those funky things read?"  Lucky for us, the answer is easy, and free!

  The app I use for my iPad is the QR Reader.   It's pretty user-friendly and intuitive.  It also works for barcodes, which means if you have an app like LibraryThing to catalog your classroom books, you can avoid entering each book manually, and scan it instead.  One thing I have found is that you need a) decent light and b) to make sure you are far enough back that the code doesn't quite fit in the box. If you line it up exactly, or are too close, it has a hard time reading it.

I have an android phone, and the app that I use for that is called Barcode Scanner.  It's another 2-for-1 deal in that it obviously does barcodes, but also does QR codes.  I have found that the light is even more important for this one.

If you want to try giving the QR codes a shot in the classroom, try my Joke of the Day freebie on TpT.

I premiered it today, and my students LOVED being able to guess the answer and then check it with the scanner.  I think this might be something that can be quite the reward!