They’ve had a chequered past, but looking back at 2021, we’d agree with Grace Mulvey’s tweet that QR codes really came into their own. Maybe partly because of the pandemic, maybe partly as a result of the fact that you can use the camera on your phone instead of a specific QR reader app to scan the codes. But certainly they’ve had a great year in the school!

We originally used QR codes for one or two things back in 2015-16. Nik Peachey was writing about 20 + Things you can do with QR codes in your school. We picked up on a few of those suggestions from time to time. But up to March 2020, they perhaps seemed a bit gimmicky. Feedback from some teachers was that they were an over-engineered solution to a problem that didn’t exist, and we really didn’t consider using them as routinely as we do now when creating materials and posters.

Through lockdown and teaching online, we rediscovered them. We used QR codes to allow online students to scan a lesson presentation deck or other input materials on their phone. They could then follow the lesson on Zoom in the main or breakout rooms while at the same time accessing the shared materials on their phone. That also seemed to keep their phone occupied! Now back in the school, QR codes are a really quick way to share all sorts of resources, from classroom materials such as images and discussion questions to induction and staff profile videos, and social programme booking forms. The QR Code Had A GREAT Pandemic, and we’re finding our own best 20 ways to use QR codes.