Image by scott_bl8ke

During the 2011-2012 school year I turned a lot of my technology focus toward mobile internet devices (MID) and their application to learning. I was teaching high schoolers, many of whom would bring their smartphones, tablets, and other internet ready devices. I’m a big proponent of technology interventions that can harness the serendipitous learning potential of online literacy. Mobile devices are great for this because they can be powered on and implemented at a moment’s notice because they live in our pockets.

One great way to allow learners to quickly access specific online resources of your (the teacher) choosing is to use QR codes. They allow any mobile device with a camera to scan a code that directs the user to an online based resource via an internet browser. I chose to create a MID scavenger hunt using QR codes, observe below!

Pedagogically, the logic here was to jigsaw a full narrative of the industrial revolution and essential questions relating to this narrative into several different web resources. QR codes were created that directed MID’s to each resource, the codes were then printed out and scattered all around my classroom. Students then worked in teams to randomly access these resources; subsequently organizing them to answer the essential questions.

It was active, it was noisy, and it was fun!