WOW! I’ve just been listening to Future Tense and two great ideas have popped up.
Firstly I’m really interested in the Tales Of Things concept. The status of material objects has long been an issue. Carl Ratner and many others have written on how meaning is layered on to material objects. The argument always seems to come down to a question of the agentive status objects (social or material). This technology seems to put an end to that debate.
Imagine a prep tour of our school. The family walks around the physical spaces of the building (at any time they like) and scan one of the printed ‘tags’ or bar codes that have been stuck to a door or wall or post or wind mill. The software on the phone then points the viewer to the website where the audio / video / text message is stored and then share in that story. Of course, you can then leave a ‘comment’ or your own response – building on the history of that site.
Given the recent litany of ongoing natural disasters and loss of live and loved ones, the above example is a powerful way of taking our past into the future.
Once I figure out how to print onto little stickers and tag stuff I shall update this post!
Okay – so I now have it figured out. How easy is this! I’ve trialled this with my grade six students recently – and the results have been really pleasing. The students have engaged with the ideas that this technology affords and have creatively pursued ways of using QR codes to show their learning in certain areas. Although, we have started really simply so as to gain the best chance of success. Click here to have a look at their task.