This past week, I got to attend the CUE Conference in lovely Palm Springs, CA. If you’re wondering what it is, CUE is the largest and oldest education technology conference in CA. Over the past 30 years, CUE has helped educators, technology coordinators, administrators learn how technology can support student achievement growth in the classroom. It’s really been an awesome experience getting to see first hand what educators are using in the classroom and most importantly…what works.
Since we’re piloting the 1:1 Chromebooks in my classroom, most of the sessions I attended were Chrome or Google App related. But one of the sessions I attended was all about using QR codes in the classroom. Hmm…I thought to myself. I’ve seen ’em. I’ve even bought products that had these fuzzy square shaped things in them! I mean, I essentially knew you just pointed your cellphone or iPad camera at the image and BAM! You’d get a message, website, or image sent to your phone. Well my sweet education friends, there is SOO much more you can do with QR codes…especially in the classroom! So, today I’ll be showing you step-by-step on how to create your own QR codes.
- QR is an acronym for “quick response barcodes”
- QR codes started in Japan as part of car part identification
- Static QR code=always goes to just 1 place
- Dynamic QR code=code stays the same BUT it takes them somewhere else each time
- Use them to embed images, links, numbers, or videos
- Holds more info than a traditional code=unlimited possibilities!




I then saved my QR code to my super organized desktop so I could paste it into my planet flash card.




The next and LAST (thank goodness) step is to track the number of scans by analyzing your data…similar to what google analytics does for blogspot blogs. You can see how many times your QR code was scanned or looked at, where and if they are being scanned. ALL sorts of great data! If you link the QR code to you blog or site this would be a great tool to see what traffic is being brought to your site.
That’s it my sweet friends! You are now ready and able to create a QR code on your own! You don’t only have to use them for reading passages. QR code serve SO many purposes in the classroom! Here are a few ideas I’ve seen/heard from other teachers:
- Create QR codes that need to be looked at in a dictionary or book
- Put them around the school library with links to book reviews and blog posts
- Kids can scan and launch QR codes with mobile devices like iPads or tablets
- Make a QR code to link to a specific video or tutorial
- Have a scavenger hunt around the classroom
- Take a virtual field trip to anywhere the code takes you
Thanks for sharing this post!! I have often wonder how everyone was making QR codes, but wasn’t sure of the process. This will come in handy.
Jamie
I would like to attach a QR Code for an Adobe file that is editable. They are forms for parents to complete about student information. Is that possible to do? If so, how on Earth do I get this done? I am having a very difficult time figuring this out. Can you give me any advice? Thank you!
I would add it to your pdf file as an image! This is something you can do with Adobe Pro for sure but I don’t think with the regular version. What did you use to create your forms?