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Don’t Ban Phones - Make Them Part Of Teaching And Learning

While many schools have a blanket ban on mobile phones, Burnt Mill Academy in Essex has found intriguing ways to make them part of the teaching and learning process…

Teachwire
by Teachwire
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Mobile phones must be ‘invisible’ at Burnt Mill Academy, a comprehensive in Harlow, Essex. Get caught texting your mates or listening to music around school and the device is confiscated without question. But, the school believes there is a place for the mini computers in the classroom; after all, the students’ futures will heavily rely on making best use of the modern technology in their pocket. Science teacher and tech fan Paul Andrew sees the mobile phone – and, in particular, QR codes – as a smart tool in his teaching toolbox.

A QR code – or quick response code – is a type of two-dimensional barcode which can be scanned with a mobile phone to link the user to a specific piece of information, a web page or video. “The idea behind utilising QR codes is to find different ways of engaging students,” says Mr Andrew, who has been a teacher for 20 years. “We are trying to get them interested in fact-finding, data gathering and information processing. It’s about making use of the most powerful thing in their pocket which is their phone.”

The school first incorporated QR codes into sharing videos created in lessons. Using free code generator www.qrstuff. com, students were able to easily share links to their creations on the school’s YouTube channel. Now, the technology is used in a much wider variety of ways.

“We’ve adapted and grown our usage of the codes,” explains Mr Andrew. “We can use the same website to create codes linking to text, writing short pieces of text as you would in a Tweet. The longer the piece of text, the more complicated the code becomes. We made it very easy to start with.”

Mapped out

“One way we have used the codes is to have a list of key words in science, with QR codes posted up around the room linked to definitions,” he continues. “Students had to use their mobile phones to scan the codes and link the key words to the correct definition. It’s a bit more interactive that way. Developing it a bit further, we did a QR trail where we started with one question – for example, what is this part of an atom – and the answer would take them to the next step, giving them a letter at each point. If they followed the trail of QR codes correctly, the letters spelt out a key word.”

Learning maps are a new trend at Burnt Mill, spelling out to students how to tackle a piece of work, giving pointers of what might be a ‘deep’, ‘deeper’ or ‘deepest’ possible answer. They have been developed with QR codes in mind, with helpful web pages, explanations or videos linked via codes – something that would take up pages of paper without the code and make the instructions seem daunting. The maps, used once every half-term, are seen as a support mechanism, with the QR codes linking to helpful additional information students can choose to rely on or not.

Students themselves are even starting to incorporate the coding into their lessons, with a recent Year 7 class creating a QR code in answer to a piece of homework challenging them to come up with a visual way of revising.

As well as utilising the codes as a teaching method, Mr Andrew also gives whole class feedback on work using the technology, scanning individual pieces of work and showing on a screen the positives and where they could be improved. “I use the codes as a good visualising tool. If you show someone how to do something, it’s much more powerful than when you just tell them.”

Part of the package

While the benefits to using this technology are clear, there are a few pitfalls to watch out for. “Most students these days have half decent phones,” explains Mr Andrews, “but not all have adequate data packages for viewing video while at school. For those who don’t, we are able to lend them our iPads or our own phones for the tasks in hand.

There is also the issue of gaps in mobile phone reception across the school site which we have to consider when planning these lessons. Handling videos during lesson time can slow things down, so it makes sense to keep video links for homework. Like with anything, if you use QR codes too often, the students will get to the point where they are bored of it and switch off. Now, I leave it for a while and then come back to it, which gives it a far greater impact.”

While QR codes don’t necessary make for a better teacher, Mr Andrew says it’s another tactic to get students on board with what you want them to learn. “QR codes are just another tool,” he concludes. “They are just a really good way of showing information which students can choose to look at or not. It will always be around and it will continue to be a part of my way to make lessons a little bit different. It’s an additional tool children do find interesting and engaging. It gives you a way to improve teaching and learning. That’s what I’m here for, to inspire young people to have an interest in science. Making use of technology makes sense as it’s the future.”

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