Active Learning with QR Coding

Active Learning with QR Coding

What is active learning?

According to the Center for Educational Innovation, “active learning is any approach to instruction in which all students are asked to engage in the learning process (2018). This can look different in many ways. There are several strategies that can be enforced to move students into active learning. Research shows that active learning is what gets information “stuck” in students’ minds to apply the objectives to future learning or situations. Below is a chart of the various strategies teachers can use to move students into active learning.

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Active Learning with QR Coding

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QR Coding is a strategy not listed in the chart above, but it is becoming more widely used in the active learning process for students. QR Codes are black and white bar codes that can be scanned to lead a person to information. They can easily be made using a QR code generator. This tool can be used in any subject as a way for students to use technology to enhance their learning. For example, during Daily5, one station could be where students have to scan QR codes with the tablets to discover the antonyms for new vocabulary. In Math, students can use a QR code to check their answers to problems they have already solved. This allows for student independence and less time for them waiting in line for the teacher to check their work. Furthermore, teachers can spend more time with the students who are struggling with the objective and provide extra support, while others move on with their work or extended activities.

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QR coding engages students in active learning by allowing them to independently use a tool to further their learning. Many educators are realizing that any form of technology is what gets students excited about learning these days. Outside of school, so much of how students spend their time is within the realm of technology. The key to active learning is independence. Research shows that students remember 90% of what THEY do. Not what a teacher tells them in a lecture or shows them in a video, but what the students actually do on their own. This provides each child with permission to be responsible for what they do with what is put in front of them. This is active learning!

So…what should we as educators do?

I believe that we, as educators, need to include active learning strategies in as many of our lessons as possible. If this is what is going to get our students to really learn information and apply it, the chances of improving student performance and test scores are going to be very high, as well. Now, who wouldn’t want that!  In my classroom, I have used many of the active learning strategies in the chart above. The students’ responses to the activity are priceless!  They voice how much fun the activity was, and I can see that some of my usuals are not secluding themselves out of boredom. Yeah, sometimes we still must do a little lecture here and there to activate prior knowledge or provide background information, but most of our efforts should be in getting students engaged in their own learning.

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Check out a snapshot of QR Coding here on Padlet. 

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Trends in Educational Technology

Online Courses      

There are so many companies and universities offering online courses to further one's education or improve their current skills for employment. I've created a presentation on the M.O.O.C. What is that, you may ask!!  Please watch my presentation here to learn more!

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Being Digital: What it Looks Like in My Life

What do you mean "being digital?"         

Being Digital: What it Looks Like in My Life

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That is a great question!! Being digital in today's world means using technology in various areas of our personal and professional life. Think about all of the times that you reach for your computer, tablet, smart phone, or other electronic device to communicate, research, or do both. You are being digital! Not many reach for that paper and pen, these days, to take care of business. Well, maybe there are a few sticky note kings/queens out there like me! Even so, I don't use the notes to communicate or find information. That's another topic for another day. 

Mapping It Out!

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When it comes to evaluating your time spent on the Internet, there is a tool you can use to make it easier to organize. It is called a "Visitors and Residents Mapping App." Within this app, you can create shapes/colors in any of the 4 quadrants to represent your digital use. What do I put in each quadrant, you may ask?  The top, left quadrant represents digital use as a Personal Visitor. A Personal Visitor uses the web as a tool only for personal use. The bottom, left quadrant is the digital use used as an Institutional Visitor for searching the web for work/business. The top, right quadrant represents a Personal Resident who uses the web to communicate with others on a personal level. Finally, the bottom, right quadrant is for Institutional Residents who use the web to communicate mainly for business/work purposes. For more details on Digital Mapping, visit David White here. So go ahead, give it a try!! Map out your digital world. 

What I Learned from My Map

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Looking at my digital map was eye opening! I realized that I use the web mostly as a Personal Visitor. Many of the digital sources I use in this quadrant are for traveling or for preparing to be a new mom. These sources are where I find the information I need to go about my current season of life. The Institutional Visitor space is really for those things that I "have to have" for working part-time and going to grad school. the Personal Resident box is where I do spend a lot of my time also on the few sources documented there. I don't need a lot of different sources to communicate with those closest to me. Furthermore, the Institutional Resident quadrant is currently used as a way of communicating with others for school or church. Concluding on my digital map, I may need to reconsider the amount of time I am on the web, as it seems to be a bit much for my taste and view of a healthy lifestyle.

My Favorite Technology Model

The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) 

Super Robot from FCIT
Florida Center for Instructional Technology

What is it?                 

The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) is a tool that provides educators a guided map in outlining and targeting the various ways technology can be used in the classroom to supplement student learning. This model was created by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology (FCIT). It looks like this:

Learning Environments:

active

                                                    collaborative

constructive

authentic

goal-directed

 

Levels of Technology Integration

1.entry        2.adoption  3. adaptation      4.infusion   5.transformation

*Each learning environment follows through each level of integration.

Why should I use it?     

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According to the Florida Center for Instructional Technology website, “the theoretical framework of the TIM is based in constructivist learning theory and research related to teacher practice” (https://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix/).  Constructivism is just like it sounds. Students construct or create their own ideas through observations and learning through experience. With the increase in a technological world, there is no better way to do this than through technology. In addition, this method is solely based on analyzing a lesson, which is key to student success. The focus is on student learning and not teacher performance. Another great reason to use the Technology Integration Matrix is that it is user friendly. The website guides a user through the matrix by a simple click in the box. Through the “matrix” dropdown button, selections can be made by subject and/or grade level. As educators, we know that saving time by having resources readily available is a valuable asset to our role in planning.

Where am I in the TIM?

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Looking over the matrix and the many ways to use technology, I would reflect on being in the entry level of each of the active, collaborative, constructive, and goal-directed learning environments as a primary teacher.  These levels are mainly used or guided by the teacher mainly during instruction to relay information, such as showing a video on using the communitive property and then allowing students to use technology, like an app, to practice the concept. I found it very difficult to get past this point with my second graders. I’ve discovered that not all students are tech savvy or understand how to navigate the internet or apps. Even while teaching them how, it became more of a time waster some days than beneficial to the students, because of the repetitiveness of teaching them how to use the resource. I did use what worked though and continued to use them, such as educational websites they used in computer class.

                                                                                   

Where will I go from here?

When I reenter the classroom (after taking a year-long maternity leave), I hope to move to an upper elementary grade level where I can move beyond the entry level learning environments. There is so much to use in the technology world that can enhance any lesson and the learning of each student. I’m eager to use them, even after discovering more just in the first 2 weeks of this class. Furthermore, students at this age are more aware of how to use technology and can better recall the steps in using new ones introduced. I believe this will also help my method of using TIM more successful.

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Florida Center for Instructional Technology newsletter

Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) and TIM Tools Introduction

Technology Integration Matrix website