New blog series, coming soon..

   Wow! My first conference season is turning out to be quite an adventure. Very very busy, but it has been so exciting to finally meet some of my tweeps for the first time live and in person! I’ll be at several more conventions between now and May so be sure to stop by and say hi at the Quaver booth, and if I’m not there I give you full permission to cause some Quaver mischief in my name. 

Topic of the week? QR Codes in the music classroom.

A great way to start taking your use of mobile devices in your lessons to the next level beyond experimenting and simple substitution. You would need a QR code scanner on your device which is easy to find on any app store (there are many out there that all work great), and access to such QR code makers as www.qrstuff.com. The QR codes download as a picture and you can save and print as necessary.

  With these QR codes you can link videos to students performing concepts they are learning, link to MP3s of compositions, maybe even scans of worksheets or information on what they are learning. It is a direct link to that content, leaving out typing the address or searching on a search engine for the content.

Try this activity right away-

Interactive Wall:

• Using the camera app, have students video tape themselves performing various musical topics such as how to sing Piano or how to move Largo.
• Upload them to an unlisted YouTube playlist and create a QR code using the link to each video.
• Print out each QR code and pictures to accompany then decorate a nearby blank bulletin board.
• Every time someone uses the board they just have to scan the QR code to see each video!