QR Codes review game

Using QR Codes (those little black and white symbols popping up everywhere) and Google Presentations I was able to create a quick, fun, outdoor review game for my class yesterday.  All you need is about 1/2 your students to have smart phone (in my class about 80% did), a little creativity, and some good weather. Sure, you can do this inside too, but it was great to be outside without a jacket in March!

Step 1: Create your questions.

To start you need to create your questions online somewhere. QR Codes can show plain text, so if your questions are simple you can just type them into the QR Code generator. I wanted to include graphs and pictures, so I decided to use a Google Presentation that I had made public and published to the web. I then grabbed the published URL to use for my QR codes.  With the Google Presentation I had the added benefit that I could include multiple, related questions from one QR code.  Example Question

Step 2: Generate your QR Codes. 

I use Kaywa QR Code generator, but there are lots of other free online generators that allow you to download and print the code. 

Step 3: Print out your QR Codes and post them around.

We've been enjoying some unseasonably warm weather so I took my students out into the courtyard and hung the codes up around randomly. Of course, you could do this in a classroom, but with a larger space and the fresh air it made it more fun!

Step 4: Get to answering questions.

I had the students download a free QR reader of their choice (they are available both for Android and iPhone), pair up with someone else, grab a notebook and start scanning.  They answered the questions in their notebook. 

Although the "game" really was nothing more than a lot of questions that they had to answer, the students were much more engaged then they would have been with just a sheet of review questions to answer because they were able to have a little fun with it.  I also threw in a couple of QR Codes with "silly" links to funny videos, etc. just to keep things interesting. 

There are lots of ways that this can be adapted quickly and easily in just about any classroom.