MODULE 7  on the other hand, troubleshooting access or

Online Web-Based Applications performance problems can be more difficult due to

larger number of components & interconnections
Managing Web-Based Applications  a few possible causes that you’ll have to
Consider the Source investigate (some of causes apply to both client-
Web-Based Applications server & web-based applications):
- typically used through web browsers; each • Is the user entering the correct URL into the
browser is slightly different & displays web pages web browser?
in different ways • Is he or she using a supported browser?
- as a result, programming of web-based • Does the user have an account in the
applications needs to be specialized to application?
accommodate the ways that browsers interact with • Is the user correctly entering their ID and
different web languages (HTML, XML, Flash, Perl, password?
ASP, & PHP) • Is the user’s application account enabled?
- variability in browsers, along with likelihood of their • Is the user’s network account in Active
use by potential users, must be considered when Directory enabled?
designing web-based applications • Is the firewall port between the user and the
Opensource code web server open?
- can be used to develop a web-based application • Is the DNS name being resolved correctly?
to address this issue & maximize exposure for a • Is the web server having resource issues, i.e.,
consumer-based application, disk space, memory, database
• connections?
Design • Are the application’s services running on the
 Web-based application differs from a more web server?
traditional client-server application, primarily in • Is the load balancer on the web server running
presentation & application logic pieces: correctly?
 presentation component still runs on user • Is the firewall port open between the web
workstation, but a browser (Mozilla Firefox, server and the database server?
Microsoft Internet Explorer, or Google Chrome), • Is the database server up?
instead of a specialized program provided by • Has the application’s account on the database
vendor is used as presentation tool server expired?
 application logic executes on web server instead of • Is the database software running on the
on user’s workstation storage component typically database server?
doesn’t change much; continues to run on a server • Has the database server run out of resources,
dedicated to providing database functionality e.g., disk space or memory?
 supporting a web-based application can be much
more challenging than supporting a client-server Benefits of Web-Based Applications & Current Adoption
application; primary reasons for this is that the Rates
combined environment is more complicated that a  companies adopt web-based applications to
traditional environment: improve communication & workflow within their
o more pieces of software are involved (plug-ins, businesses, & improve their relationships with
HTML, Java script) run behind scenes to allow clients
application to function  June 2012: McKinsey global survey of over 3,500
 unless you’re extremely familiar with executives showed that 83%had adopted at least
application, you won’t be aware of all pieces 1 social technology, with 90% of those
involved respondents reporting “measurable benefits” from
o many of these pieces are outside your control. use of those technologies
 you have little control over what  established resources (E2 Conference) are
browser/version of browser each user has available to help companies leverage benefits of
on their desktop new technology in their businesses
o network throughput is vital  when Web 2.0 concept really began to take hold
 if network is disrupted or slowed down in 2006 & 2007, corporations tentatively dipped
their toes into social media sphere by instituting
significantly, then application will get very
company blogs to help them communicate with
sluggish, very quickly
customers & employees
o users employ a wide variety of computers,
Blogs
operating systems, & Internet browsers
- provided sense of a more direct line of
 all of these combinations, along with various communication with corporate executives, adding
options for configurations of settings of O/S to perceptions of customer service & employee
& browser, make it difficult to pin down care
exactly what cause of a problem is - gave companies a new method of collecting and
o firewall & port issues can be frustrating responding to valuable customer and employee
 something that worked yesterday might be feedback, as well as a way to share information
failing today from top down
 maintaining all of rules in a firewall isn’t easy Facebook & Twitter
& periodically that team will make a mistake - arrived the behemoths
& your application might be impacted - 2 social media platforms have revolutionized
social media, quickly surpassing use of blogs
Is it harder or easier to support a web-based application Wikis
than a client-server application? - 1 of 1st collaborative creation tools to emerge
 a lot of it depends on the applications themselves - Novell first used wikis for team collaboration in
 some are difficult to support, while others are
projects like requirements generation,
significantly easier to work with
documentation, & bug fixes
 some things are easier under a web-based
- allow employees to collaboratively edit documents
application & some things are more difficult
& processes in real time, without bother of
 bringing up a new user is easier because you
emailing, up-loading, or downloading previous
don’t have to load software onto his or her PC;
versions
typically, you just have to add their account to
Google apps
application & give them URL to go to within their
- Gmail, Calendar, Drive
web browser
 - allow business users to easily collaborate, texts, regulated by rigorous procedures & following
communicate, & stay organized a set of fixed linguistic constraints
Security Risks in Social Media Technologies Social Applications
 web applications within social media sites Problem
 a problem with web-based applications (social  in many community-based web applications, it's
media sites: Facebook) important that users feel comfort-able
 availability of other applications that users can interacting/transacting with others with whom they
install, which allow users to run third-party have no prior experience
applications (games)  given available options, users may need some
 functionality to personalize their page indicators to identify trustworthiness/expertise of
 this grants application access to all a user’s people who are offering suggestions, solutions, or
personal information, irrespective of any products
privacy setting made in social media site  some common scenarios:
 vast majority of applications only need basic o choosing a seller from whom to purchase an
personal details of a user item (e.g., eBay, Amazon Marketplace,
 anyone can write an application, so some NexTag)
applications have no security controls o choosing a book to buy (Amazon)
 an application could have been developed by o choosing a movie to rent (Netflix)
a cyber criminal o choosing a restaurant to visit (Yelp)
o trusting a suggestion or an answer offered by a
Web 2.0 person (Yahoo! Answers)
- introduction of web-based applications to business
world began nearly a decade ago with concept of Enterprise Web Application Testing
Web 2.0 Chapter summary
- doesn’t encompass a set of new technologies, but • Testing of enterprise web-based applications
is simply a revolution in way existing technologies keeps end user as its primary focus while devising
are used testing strategies.
- a philosophy of open online communication that is • Main challenges in enterprise web testing are
often interactive & user-driven related to performance, usability, security, &
Tim O’Reilly others.
- founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media Inc. • UCAPP testing model relies on key tenets:
- credited with coining term Web 2.0 in 2004 o user-centric testing complete validation
- Web 2.0 is a category of applications that meet the o automated testing
following 7 criteria: o proactive problem detection & prevention
1. use web as a platform o performance focus
2. harness collective intelligence (they include • User-centric testing tries to test all end-user
content from users & other sites through scenarios through:
tagging, permalinks, RSS, etc.) o usability testing
3. are backed by specialized databases o A/B testing
(Google’s web crawl & Amazon’s product o load testing
database)
o experience testing
4. delivered as services, not products
5. support lightweight programming models o user satisfaction analysis
6. not limited to use on a single device • Complete validation includes:
7. offer rich user experiences o functionality validation
Web 2.0 technologies o integration validation,
- according to this definition o security & data validation
 wikis • Automated testing philosophy identifies key
 blogs business & user components & leverages tools &
 mashups frameworks to automate testing
 online document creation & collaboration • Proactive defect detection & prevention aims to
identify defects early in game & proactively
 social media
prevent any potential defects
 video/photo sharing
• Performance focus aims to avoid potential
- features of Web 2.0 are exemplified in: performance issues by incorporating performance
Google best practices & checklists during early stages of a
Amazon project
YouTube • Main testing metrics include:
Wikipedia o test coverage
- now inseparable from all web-based applications
o response time
available today
o page size
o others
Legislative Drafting Systems
Web-based editors • Other dimensions of testing include:
- editors are Web-based applications, mostly using o security testing
technologies based in Asynchronous JavaScript & o services testing
XML (AJAX) — capable of managing word- o testing in cached environments
processing tasks within a browser window
- this type of editor is promising, especially Change Control Management
considering advances in cloud computing, but we  accessing environments from outside
must also consider problems such as privacy, organization’s network
security, autonomy, & traceability  is there really a legitimate business requirement to
Authoring Tool for Amendments (AT4AM) allow DEV, QA, Staging, or TEST environments to
- a popular application that uses this approach be accessed from outside the firewall?
- developed in 2010 by the European Parliament Virtual Private Network (VPN)
- allows Members of the European Parliament - if development or test teams need to work on them
(MEPs) to write & send amendments to any remotely, they should use VPN access to log onto
European Commission proposal through Web network
using any browser - if legitimate users connect to network using a
- Web editor proved to bean appropriate solution – VPN, then there is no need to have web site
since amendments are usually short & limited accessible outside network
 - any environment that contains live data (even if it’s LinkedIn
outdated) needs to be tightly secured; this is why - each provide similar functionality in terms of
data on a non-PROD environment shouldn’t be sharing content & connecting with other users but
live differ in their underlying objectives
Understanding Emotional Expressions in Social Media o Facebook is primarily used to share personal
Through Data Mining information & images, & to plan events with
Social Media & Social Networking Sites friends
 Google provides more than 3 times as many hits o LinkedIn is a service designed to facilitate
for term “social media” as for term “emotion” development of professional networks with
despite fact that “social media” has existed in goal of career advancement
English language for only a fraction of the time - often are either partially public (account
Social media name/handle is searchable but protected) or
- a popular topic that has received considerable shared fully with public (unrestricted access to
attention during its limited existence posted text, images, videos, location, or
- researchers have highlighted complexity of connections with others)
defining what exactly constitutes social media, - provide insight into online identity that individuals
particularly in relation to “Web 2.0” & user- present, including one’s social life, behaviors,
generated content opinions, & thoughts
 important to briefly distinguish & highlight overlap - consequently afford researchers a unique window
between these terms: into human functioning & interactions; particularly
Web 2.0 useful given scope of information that is publicly
- refers to a change in way that developers & shared & extensiveness of social networks
individuals use & interact with the World Wide
Web, with an emphasis on sharing & Facebook
collaboratively modifying or annotating content - most well-known and popular social network
- World Wide Web went from a platform where site with 1.28billion active monthly users as
individuals posted content that was largely static, of March. 31 2014
to a platform where content could be generated by - allows users to write blog entries in form of
creators working in collaboration & shared with status updates organized in a timeline & can
consumers, who themselves can comment on and include photos, videos, location markers, &
reshare the content life event tags
- emergence of Web 2.0 made interacting online Twitter
accessible to average person & consequently led - a microblogging site that shares similar
to te proliferation of user-generated content characteristics with Facebook, but restrict
User-generated content posts by limiting text to 140characters
- aggregate of ways that individuals utilize social - messages or “tweets” can be tagged with a
media location marker & categorized by including
- generally consists of content that is created hashtags (#) to denote a particular topic or
through open collaboration theme of message
Web 2.0 collaboration tools - users have option to share other users’
- hold distinct benefits for education, shifting web tweets with a “retweet”
from a medium for information delivery, to one - reports 255 million active monthly users with
where users actively interact, transform, & create approximately 500 million messages sent
information stored in multiple modalities per day
- can draw similarities between movement from
Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 & advancing upwards  given that social network sites provide users with a
Bloom’s taxonomy platform to share personal information, as well as
Bloom’s Taxonomy popularity of these sites among students, they are
- a popular method of classifying human cognition useful for researchers in general & educational
hierarchically that has informed teaching & researchers in particular
learning practices for decades  clearly, there is a wealth of potentially useful & rich
 progression from superficial & basic educational information shared on social network sites
objectives at base of Bloom’s taxonomy
(pertaining to simple recall of information) aligns
with Web 1.0 platform
 higher-level objectives that require creation,
integration, & application of knowledge (“deep Web-Based Technologies for
learning”) seem to better reflect nature of Web Online E-Learning Environments
2.0platform
e-Learning system
Social media - implementing is not just about bringing a new
- “a group of Internet-based applications that build technology in practice & improving teaching &
on the ideological and technological foundations of learning
Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange - about changing long-lasting conceptions that
of user generated content.” (Kaplan and Haenlein, classical methods are better than in computerized
2010’s definition) ones, without replacing them
- Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) divide social media - why software solutions for online learning & testing
into 6 categories ranging from blogs to virtual must be as user-friendly as possible, but also
game worlds to social networking sites provide high-quality solutions to suit teachers’ &
learners’ needs
Social network sites Education Management Tool
- web-based applications that enable individuals to: - developed e-Learning system with purpose of
 construct shared accounts enhancing classical teaching & examination
 browse & connect with other user accounts methods, without replacing them
 make these interactions or connections public - EDM is continuously being developed & perfected,
- popular examples of social network sites: with new modules & functionality added regularly
Facebook for efficient communication & collaborative project
Twitter work of students or document management of
Google + teachers
Tumblr
 - extend interactive teaching section with lessons keeping students informed about recent e-
focused on graph algorithms (breadth-first search, Learning/e-Testing activities & other related issues
depth-first search, Dijkstra, etc.) & binary tree Mobile Communication Technology
operations (insertion, deletion, traversal, search, - used whenever is expected a quick feedback from
etc.) students or colleagues
- such algorithms can be better explained through Web Technologies & Tools Designed For E-Learning
visually illustrated examples which might help Applications
students to understand them  a wide range of electronic materials &
teaching/learning/testing solutions have been
Introduction proposed over years to simplify learning process:
 merging traditional ways of teaching (based on  multimedia maps
blackboard, chalk & monologue exposure in front  dictionaries & encyclopaedias (wikis)
of students, with modern approaches as e-  educational movies
Learning, focused on online multimedia  electronic books
applications & technologies developed in a  tests
collaborative manner) – became a real necessity  tutorials
in order to enhance learning & educational  simulations tools
management
 virtual laboratories
 current tools for developing web applications have
greatly improved & developers of e-Learning
Education Management Tool
platforms must make proper use of them &
- e-Learning system used by professors from
develop Web 2.0 environments efficiently in order
"Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu
to meet teachers’ & learners’ needs
- has been developed using latest available web
 combining technical dimension of using e-Learning
tools with pedagogical dimension of putting them technologies in order to be attractive for users & to
into practice, teachers’ competences using current be compliant with latest available web browsers
technologies are emphasized - on server side: application runs on Microsoft
 accent is put on fact that "learning motivation is platform, hosted inside IIS (Internet Information
more important than technology" Services) 7.5 application.
 although still lack of confidence in effectiveness of - database for the application is tied to Microsoft Sql
online education, educational materials are being Server 2008 R2 (a solid & fast platform for hosting
developed, & often without taking into account of professional level database)
content representation & design, students are very - on client side: web application has been
open & enthusiastic about inclusion of authentic developed in manner that it can be accessed from
interactive activities any type of popular browsers
 they considered authentic learning environment to - main page uses popular Javascript libraries
be very relevant to their learning & became more (Mootools & Jquery) to present slideshow & menu
engaged & actively involved in their learning controls
process - third party lessons about Graphs Theory & Binary
 considering that future in education will be based Trees were developed using Macromedia Flash
mainly on freedom of choosing an accessible way trial version
to study according to necessities of each person
(which should eliminate physical & mental Technologies & tools that could inspire or be a solution
borders), development of e-Learning platforms for further stages of EDM Tool development:
certainly becomes a priority of modern education  SlideShare
 evolution of digital, multimedia & communication - defined way to share presentations on web
technologies has created possibility of using e- - 1st site to let users share PowerPoint & Keynote
Learning way in education on a large scale files on web
 revolutionized traditional education system leading - new meeting platform that lets user conducts
to its reorganization & transformation, so that it inexpensive, secure private meetings &
offers possibility to learn & instruct to all those limitless free public meetings through web
preoccupied by continuous professional evolution browser.
 new technologies allow accessible documentation - meetings are interactive & social; take place
of those interested in any studying field, without entirely within a browser window
being necessary to leave their houses, by - any user that has a SlideShare login gets a
watching digital television programs and/or by personalized meeting room, providing
consulting huge virtual libraries which have streaming video, audio & group chat facilities
elaborated courses & electronic didactic materials
accessible from distance (by visualizing/printing) in  Zipcast
any corner of the world - a proper & quite recent tool that changes way
 semantic-based organization of data has brought world conducts web meetings & webminars
a new dimension to very definition of multimedia, - a simple, fast & social web conferencing
where information becomes easily accessible & system
can be queried using our natural language - unlike older online meeting systems, user can
 integrating complex & useful multimedia keep other browser tabs open & can invite
applications in new mobile hardware devices has people by giving them meeting room URL via
revolutionized everyday lives of people, IM (instant messaging), email, or social
transforming their way to work, play or travel networks
 current interests of many teachers focused on use - every SlideShare user has free access to
of mobile (portable) devices indifferent e-Learning Zipcast for conducting public meetings
environments & settings, in embedding learning
- additional functionalities:
resources in objects & creating smart augmented
(a) ad removal
learning environments
(b) private, password-protected meetings
Mobile Learning
accessible only to people invited by host
- does not represent complete solution to e-
(c) audio conferencing
Learning but could be a quite effective tool to keep  Microsoft
students engaged & involved in e-Learning
- offers interesting opportunities for online
environments, providing support for collaborative
presentations
activities through communication
- in newest version (Microsoft Office 2010):
- through this method, teachers send reminders &
introduced online presentation concept – a
important news that needs to be sent quickly,
 PowerPoint presentation session can be oa module for managing attendance with
opened for other users, where only requirement various statistics
for client is a web browser. o one that has an overview of marks for
- have created online versions for Word, Excel, every student
PowerPoint & OneNote – user can create, edit o one on the communication part, that
OneNote share documents from web browser facilitates messaging within system
without having to buy expensive Office suite New Implemented Concepts in Education Management
Tool
 E-mail notifications
General Presentation of Education Management Tool  Advanced feature for exporting to pdf files
Education Management Tool  Collaborative assignments
- an e-Learning system that has been developed
with purpose of providing access to educational Conclusions & Further Development
content, university management items. & a testing  nowadays, combining traditional ways of teaching
system for evaluation of students with modern approaches as online e-Learning
- an application that is constantly being perfected, environments focused on multimedia applications &
with new features being added on a regular basis using web technologies & tools, developed in a
 e-Learning collaborative manner, is compulsory
 because it is an e-Learning system, biggest Education Management Tool (EDM Tool)
emphasis & attention has been directed to - represents proposed solution to enhance learning
learning aspects & educational management
 professors that have an account within system - became a system that has proven to be useful &
may create interactive learning materials in a has been tested in real-life situations with success.
collaborative manner - features key necessities of an e-Learning system,
 1 key feature is that same lesson can be presented in an easy-to-use manner, with Web 2.0
edited by multiple professors in a collaborative aspects & design (makes an attractive choice for
manner, with system allowing only 1 editor at professors & students)
the same time (sequential consistency) - third party applications presented show how graph
 students will be able to access materials from algorithms & binary tree operations can be visually
anywhere by using their own account to log performed within EDM Tool, helping students to
into system better understand these algorithms
 learning materials are grouped by professors - in future phases:
& subjects to be more easy to find o extend system with new modules for securing
 in future: implement text differencing SQL server in order to protect database from
algorithms for enabling multiple users to work attackers
on same materials at same time; enable o find solutions for optimizing energy
search functions for e-Learning objects so that consumption of web application at
students can find with least possible effort middleware/application level for a "green"
 e-Testing society
 after students have received information from o implement text differencing algorithms for
the professors, usually tested regarding how enabling multiple users to work on same
much knowledge they have accumulated materials at same time, thus removing delay
during lessons involved by sequential consistency
 system provides an infrastructure to create o enable search functions for e-Learning objects
quizzes using 4 types of questions, grouped so that students can find them with least
into chapters possible effort
 quizzes used for generating sets of questions
for examination
 2 ways of generating questions for each
student:
o Fixed type
- will use a previously defined set of
questions by professor which will be
presented to each student.
o Random type
- will randomly choose a number of
questions for each student, so that if
a large enough quiz is defined, a
relatively small chance exists that 2
students will get same question
- after examination, students receive
feedback so they can see their
strengths & weaknesses
- professor has an overview of results,
but can also see which answers each
student has given to questions
 e-Management
 learning & testing are successfully covered
within system
 another dimension that needs taken care of
so that a teachers’ job becomes easier to
handle
 teacher must:
 keep track of students’ attendance
 keep organized folders with exam papers
& grades
 make statistics for various reasons
 several modules in Education Management
Tool that help do this job more easily:
Canva or you simply want to supplement your classes
- a cloud-based graphic design tool with some inspiring creative work
- a free, powerful design tool made for non- - learning-based extension of Canva
designers - interactive, immersive teaching & learning can
- over 6.7 million people use Canva to create take place virtually
stunning graphics for social media & for print - can help facilitate a learning environment that
without having to learn a complicated suite of mimics educational continuity, access, & structure
software to do it that makes traditional schools so important (in
- why so many people are using it times when gathering students in a classroom isn’t
- what it can do for you: possible or remote learning has become
- adding an image to your Twitter post can boost preferable)
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over 150% more retweets than boring text-only without having slow, clunky technology getting in
tweets) the way
- tired of having to search for sizes of social media Why use Canva for Education?
graphics every time you want to create one;  perfect for a teacher/educator who is switching to
- Canva makes creating graphics & documents in remote working or online classes, as well as those
dozens of standard sizes a breeze; no more who want to strengthen classroom creativity.
opening a pro tool like Photoshop just to add a  main benefit is that educators & all their
watermark to an image or to create a simple quote students can access this platform for free, with
graphic no limits on offerings or time
- vitals about Canva:  helpfully compatible with platforms you’re already
 free to use using (including Dropbox, Google Drive, & Google
 cloud-based so no software download Classroom)
required  signing up doesn’t mean giving up processes
 available on iPad & other devices if you’d you’ve created & streamlined elsewhere
rather design on-the-go  with easy-to use-design features & single sign-
 designs sync across devices & can be shared on for easy student access, Canva for
Education is built for everyone
Tutorial:  great at encouraging creativity, enhancing
 go to canva.com collaboration & streamlining work as a tool for
 create a free account using email teaching
address/Facebook/Google account or log in if  you’ll hardly believe where Canva’s wide range of
already have an account set up templates can take you & your students
 “Your Designs” tab – can create a new design or  from Powerpoint presentations to eye-catching
edit one of your saved designs infographics & worksheets, there’s little that
 Canva’s drag-and-drop interface & professional your students can’t achieve when they’re
layouts & pre-designed templates allow anyone to creating it with Canva
design consistently stunning graphics
 has a full set of features to help you along with Features
free icons & shapes to drag into your designs • Access thousands of premium images &
 variety of fonts – there are hundreds of fonts to graphics
choose from in “Text” tab  student presentations & projects instantly
 millions of professional quality photos & become more exciting when created through
illustrations that you can just drag into your layouts Canva
(ones that aren’t free are only $1 to use)  students have access to over 60,000
 put in any keyword & it’s gonna pull up images templates across posters, notepads, &
that are available infographics, as well as millions of images,
 can have fun with photos – borders & layouts for thousands of font types & over 800,000
making collages (grids); photo filters illustrations & icons
 you can even upload your own vector art & photos  it’s where imagination comes to life
in “Upload” tab  images available to Canva users are vast &
 when ready to save your design, you can export widespread, meaning any project that you
as JPG, PNG, or PDF create in Canva can be wholly original,
 Canva has a place for pro designers – make representative, & easy to create
design for clients & allow them to go in to make  everything from websites to posters can be
edits or swap photos, leaving you to do the higher- customized using templates
end design work – can be especially powerful with • Intuitive collaboration
Canva’s Pro/Premium  with simple drag & drop & easily customizable
elements, Canva’s platform is extremely
intuitive to use & easy to teach for any digital
How to set up a remote classroom with Canva for literacy level
Education  ease of platform really comes into its own
 although often associate learning with hallowed when it comes to classroom collaboration: also
halls of school buildings, transformative education compatible with Google Classroom, it gives
is more of a headspace than a place teachers & their students a central hub for
 education can happen anywhere; in classroom or their tasks & assignments
the cul de sac behind your home
 sharing of work between students also made
 with increase of remote learning services, become
easily possible
clearer than ever that where you learn matters
• Download a wide range of file types
less than how you’re learning
 it doesn’t matter what kind of project you have
 still, in order to maintain a high standard of
class working on, there’s a film format to go
education when teachers & students aren’t in
with it: downloadable in JPG, PDF, PPT, video
same room falls with effective technology to
& GIF, students can see their efforts come to
streamline & strengthen process
life in exactly the way they envisaged it
 that’s where Canva for Education comes in
Canva for Education
How to get started with Canva for Education
- your best bet for encouraging students to do their
1. Sign up to Canva with your school email account
best work & build creativity in the classroom,
to get started
whether you’ve recently moved to remote learning
 2. Head to Canva for Education, read up on all  1 of the best things about Canva: it allows us to
features & tools available, before scrolling to the take visual learning to a new level – students &
bottom & registering, using relevant details teachers can become “design thinkers,” can
about you & your teaching role become skilled at imagining & creating solutions to
3. You should hear back from a Canva team problems rather than identifying existing ones
member within 24 hours & once you’re  learning & teaching happen as we envision,
approved, you’re ready & raring to go. create, share, and revise – all we need are right
tools for the job
How to collaborate with your students
 You can think of Canva as your own virtual 10 ways to use Canva in your classroom
classroom, where you can have conversations 1. Practice Design Thinking
about work, helping to clarify tasks as you go, - let students experiment & innovate in order to
leave students to work amongst themselves & stumble upon something better
submit completed work, as well as provide - goal is to come up with more human-centered,
feedback for assignments, all in the same place. collaborative, & optimistic ways to create
social change
Here’s how to master a few of these tasks: - become a better educator by putting more
 How to create your virtual classroom effort into the “design aspect” of your lessons
 once you’ve been accepted to Canva for 2. Design Your Own Lesson Plan
Education, you can begin adding students to - 1 of the most powerful uses of Canva for
your virtual classroom Education: Lesson Plan creation
 How to post a piece of work to your class - Canva makes it easy to visualize & create
 after you’ve chosen your Canva template & effective lessons
customized it to your specifications, it’s time to - Canva has over a million images & 65,000
pass it to your students layouts to choose from
 click ‘publish’ button in top right-hand corner & - use an existing template or customize your
scroll down own according to background, shape, font
there are multiple possibilities, all displayed style, text content, & placement
under the publish button: - photos can be uploaded & edited without any
o select how you want to share it (could be pesky re-formatting issues
posted straight to Google Classroom) 3. Discover Other Educators’ Lesson Plans
o if work is relevant for some students but - Canva makes it easy to collaborate with other
not all, send a select few students a direct educators, & for educators to share their
link lesson plans with rest of community
o download it as a PDF to show as an - on Teaching Materials page, you can find
example of how you want them to lesson plans written by other educators
structure their work in person - each lesson plan includes recommended
 How to leave a comment on a piece of work learning objectives, instructions for
 feedback – an important tool as a teacher preparation, suggested learning flow, and
 still have the ability despite distance in this homework/extension activities
software - peruse teaching strategies of some of
 other great thing about feedback in Canva is education community’s leading experts
that it’s a 2-way dialogue – students can ask 4. Help Students Create Learning Portfolios
direct questions of you about their work in - students can use Canva to design & create
order to clarify whether they’re on right track their own learning portfolios to better visualize
 click somewhere relevant on piece of work, and record their learning
then an icon of a speech bubble with a plus - Learning portfolios can help students in a
sign will appear to right so click this, then tag number of ways:
person you want to direct comment to, write o to keep a personal record of one’s
your comment in text field, then click learning throughout a class or several
‘comment’ (recipient will receive a notification classes
& can reply directly to this field) o to assess & reflect on their own learning
 How to tag a student process
 a handy trick for students & teachers o to refer to while deciding on a college
 is easily done by following steps outlined for major, creating a CV, or applying for a job
commenting on a piece of work - teachers can use learning portfolios for:
 students can collaborate within project using o assessment purposes
comment tool in same way they would in a o to involve parents in student learning
classroom setting o to help students become more aware of
 How to submit an assignment their own learning process
 after a student’s work has been completed, o to teach design skills
sending it to their teacher is simply a matter of - students can adapt any of our personal page
clicking ‘send to teacher’ button in top right- or resume templates; alternatively, they can
hand corner, selecting correct teacher from create their own from scratch using their own
dropdown menu, adding a comment in text background, font style, color scheme, &
field (if necessary), & then clicking ‘send’ content layout
 assignments of all types are easy with Canva 5. Create Lecture Slides and Presentations
templates: Infographics – a great way to - Canva is a fantastic resource for presentation
visually display the results of research & lecture slide creation
- when you’re designing your next lesson plan,
10 ways to take your lessons to the next level with choose from thousands of templates to
Canva present new material in a colorful, engaging
 we all have different learning styles, but we are all way
visual learners - take advantage of Presentation Mode feature
 a picture is worth a thousand words to us all – (allows you to expand your design to fill your
that’s why Canva is a fantastic tool for learning entire screen & navigate between slides with
 educators can use it to present material to your keyboard’s left & right arrows)
students in a visual manner - activate this mode by pressing Ctrl, Shift,
 students can use it to “articulate” new concepts in Enter; exit this mode by pressing Esc
a clear & intuitive way
 - if you want to share presentation with 9. Quantify Information With Charts and Graphs
students, do so in form of an interactive - can create text-or-image-based graphics
website – when students click on your unique - can use Canva to illustrate mathematical,
link URL, design will open in website mode & statistical, & scientific concepts
they can navigate by scrolling between slides - students who might otherwise hesitate to take
6. Build a Brand For Your Classroom on a “difficult” math project could find that they
- environment influences learning in countless enjoy creative aspect of a Canva assignment
ways, & you can use this to your advantage by - instead of modeling charts on graph paper,
consciously designing your classroom in a they can visualize quantities with colorful,
way that facilitates learning as much as meaningful designs
possible - in Canva’s supply of data modeling templates,
- example: can find everything (flow charts, Venn
o use cheerful color schemes to sustain diagrams, strategy maps, & decision trees to
attention comparison charts, bar graphs, & pie charts)
o design & print out motivational posters that - can always adapt them to suit your
reflect the course objectives assignment, or create your own template from
o create visual memory aids such as photo scratch
collages & banners that students will 10. Create Worksheets and Exercises
associate with specific concepts - can design & customize your own worksheets
- involve your students in process: “environment & exercise
should match your objectives, both in terms of - build your own or choose from a range of
human interaction & your instructional existing templates (from writing prompt,
approach” journal entry, & book review designs to
- “including students in creating physical multiplication table, word problem, & science
environment can enhance that environment, puzzle layouts)
increase feeling of classroom community, & - super easy to make copies of your worksheets
give students a sense of empowerment.” – & exercises: simply hit “Copy this page” icon
Mark Phillips (teacher & educational journalist) to right of your design & Canva will instantly
- Canva has got you covered with tutorials, create another copy of it for you
workshops, & guides on branding basics in - just a a few of the countless ways you can use
case you need further guidance Canva in your classroom; once you begin
7. Ask Students to Create Learning Plans experimenting, you’ll get a feel for what works
- educator’s job is to design student learning, & what doesn’t when it comes to fulfilling
but students are likely to be more motivated if course goals & meeting your instructional
given a chance to take learning into their own needs
hands - can then adapt your creative strategy as
- not enough to pass out a course syllabus at needed, & share your discoveries with fellow
beginning of term; need to encourage act of educators to fill rest of community in on many
creation so that students feel more involved in ways Canva can enhance teaching, facilitate
their own education learning, & transform any educational
- ask students to create a “Learning Plan” that environment for the better
includes course goals designed but also
allows them to reflect on their own personal
goals & connect them with yours (whether that
means planning to spend extra time studying
certain topics, test out different study methods
for different subjects, or discover their
passions & interests through self-assigned
projects)
- the more aware students are of their own
learning process, the better
- learning plans can be modeled after
presentations, reports, magazines,
newsletters, or any other layout style that suits
students’ needs
8. Make Group Projects More Appealing
- some students enjoy interactive nature of
group projects & even learn better in groups,
but more introverted/self-sufficient students
might be a bit hesitant to learn this way
- Canva addresses needs of both kinds of
student, since collaboration can happen in
person, virtually, or a combination of both
- students can create a group of up to 10
members for free (makes it easier to share
designs and folders)
- can share as many designs as they want in up
to 2 folders within their group (ideal for
drafting, revising, & collaborating on projects)
- can engage in peer review by liking,
commenting on, & editing one another’s work
- students can then share their projects &
designs via Facebook, Twitter, & other social
media channels with a single click
- if they want others to be able to edit them,
they can “share as an editable design”
- many of Canva’s templates are already perfect
for group projects; students can collaborate on
newsletters, reports, magazines, infographics,
presentations, & more
Making digital comics  printed cartoons represent their hard-earned
Make Beliefs Comix efforts & they can add the completed work to
- an online comic creator that allows you to add their school portfolios or share with friends and
clipart, background, thought/talk bubbles, families
characters 9. Introduction to Creative Writing
- able to create & print it out or email the comic that  use cartoon strips to introduce students to world
you make of creative writing & pleasure of using their
imaginations more fully
Tutorial: 10. Create Daily Comix Diaries
 once you go to homepage, click “Enter Here”  have students create daily comix diaries as they
 can see comic panels, buttons/controls, selection provide a way for students to digest & integrate
window, characters, & clipart what they are taught each day as well as to
 choose between 2, 3, 4, 6 panel reflect on their lives and experiences.
 2 things to be aware of: your comic should have a 11. Create Serialized Comic Strips
name so enter title in “Name Your Comic” & write  create comic books based on strips that
your name in “Author’s Name” students complete
 characters & tools go hand-in-hand  let students serialize their comics by creating a
 scroll through characters & add the ones you’d like new strip each day as part of a continuing story
to use (can flip image & also change the emotion 12. Life Skills Practice
of character)  create comic strips in which students can
 scroll through clipart & add (can also scale the practice real-life, practical scenarios (such as
size) looking for a job, learning how to deal with a
 add thought bubble or talk bubble school bully, or interacting with a difficult
 add panel prompts boss/worker/classmate)
 can also use the “Bring to Front” feature 13. Local Or National News Immersion
 if you want to see a preview, click “Next” & you  use characters to create comic strips that
can then choose to “Review”, “Print”, or “Email” comment on local or national politics
14. Just For Fun
26 Ways to Use makebeliefscomix.com in the  create comic strips in classroom just for sheer
Classroom fun of it, & as a way to help students deal with
1. Create Autobiographical Comix stress of school & everyday world
 at beginning of each new school year, have  provides a perfect activity for end of school day
students create an autobiographical comic strip or week
talking about themselves & their families or 15. Public Speaking Practice
summarizing most important things abouttheir
 after students completes creation of a comic
lives.
strip, ask them to read aloud or act out the
 after students complete their strips, encourage dialogue written for their characters
them to exchange their comics with classmates
 this gives students an opportunity to practice
to learn more about each other
public speaking & share thoughts with others
2. Practice New Vocabulary Words
16. Strengthen Conflict Resolution Skills
 have students create a comic strip story using
 create a comic in which characters reflect on a
new vocabulary words that are being taught
particular experience student has had (such as
 fill in talk or thought balloons for different dealing with a school bully or with a problem at
cartoon characters helps students practice home or with a friend)
conversation & language structure in a
 process of creating the strip provides a way for a
meaningful context & improve their writing,
student to think through & resolve these
reading & storytelling skills
problems
3. Promote Team Collaboration
17. Daily Classroom Theme Tie-In
 have students break up into pairs or group
 choose a theme for the day (such as My Top 3
teams to create their comic strips together.
Wishes or Ways to Improve the Environment) or
 encourages teamwork & cooperation, with focus on a theme for a unit that is being taught
students complementing skills of colleagues that day & have each class member do a comic
4. Practice Conversation Skills For Esol Students strip on that subject
 students in English for Speakers of Other  students gain a deeper understanding of
Languages (ESOL) classes fill in talk or thought concepts covered in class
balloons for different cartoon characters helps 18. Family Bonding And Communication
them practice conversation & offers a way to
 hold a Family Literacy Night/Day in which
experiment with language, sentence structure &
parents & students work side by side in the
vocabulary in a meaningful context
computer lab to create their own comic strips.
5. Social Skills Training
 this creates an intergenerational bonding
 create comic scenarios, scripts, or stories for
experience & provides a way to parents to share
children with autism as a way to teach them
an activity with their children, & for parents &
different kinds of social behavior & to read
children to communicate more effectively with
emotions by observing faces of different
each other to create something new &
characters selected for cartoons
imaginative.
6. Digital Citizenship Lessons & Social Media
19. Jumpstart Creativity With Story Boards
Etiquette
 use strips to create story boards for an original
 create comic strips teaching do’s & don’ts of
story or to illustrate a book/play being read in
using Internet & social media
class.
 teachers & students can create comic posters
 use comic strips to assess students’ knowledge
on responsible behavior related to technology
of facts they are learning in units you’re teaching
use
20. Understanding Literary Character Perspectives
7. Foreign Language Practice
 in reading a book/story, have students in their
 have students who are learning new foreign
comic strips assume roles of 2 of characters
languages write their text in languages they are
(with each one's personality & voice); have them
studying
interact with one another
8. Print, Download Or Email: Validate Student
 helps students better understand perspective of
Efforts
characters
 have students print, email or download to
21. Menu Of Writing Prompts / Tools
desktop their completed comics
  use “Menu of Writing Prompts/Tools” feature at
bottom navigation strip for writing prompts &
ideas for writing assignments in the classroom
22. Don't Forget - We Have Printables Too!
 if don't have regular access to a computer lab for
class, can use new feature “MakeBeliefsComix
Printables” where you can print out hundreds of
comix templates & pages from my Make Beliefs
books
 use at home, school & in the office to write on &
color – another way to have fun and express all
the creativity within you
23. Download Our Free E-Books To Encourage
Writing
 to encourage writing, use free e-books which
offer interactive comic strips with imaginative
writing prompts
 readers can respond to prompts by typing
directly onto pages shown on their computer
screens or by printing the pages
24. Try Our New Lesson Plans Section
 offers ideas of how other educators are using
MakeBeliefsComix.com in the classroom
25. Use Our Special Needs Section For Students
With Different Abilities
 offers suggestions from educators, educational
therapists & parents on how they use
MakeBeliefsComix with children who have a
variety of disabilities

NOTE:
 some schools have Internet technology rules that
block Flash or interactive web sites for safety of
students.
 in some cases, a school will allow you to request an
exception so that MakeBeliefsComix.com can be
used in class
 if your school has blocking rules in place you could
ask your administration or technology group to
allow our site to be used as an educational tool
 site does not share any user information from
creating comix, so it's a safe resource for students
& teachers
Word Clouds & the Value of Simple Visualizations allow you to see what customers most about
Data visualizations (charts, graphs, infographics) business & what they like least
- give businesses a valuable way to communicate  pain points (“wait time,” “price,” or
important information at a glance, but what if your “convenience”) are very easy to identify with
raw data is text-based? text clouds
 if you want a stunning visualization format to  Understanding how your employees feel about
highlight important textual data points, using a word your company
cloud can make dull data sizzle & immediately  text cloud visualization can turn employee
convey crucial information feedback from a pile of information you’ll read
 when you’re looking at an in-depth data analysis, through later to an immediately valuable
do you find it difficult to discern which points are the company feedback that positively drives
most important? company culture
 anyone who’s ever stared blankly at a lengthy  Identifying new SEO terms to target
database or long pages of text can relate; with so  in addition to normal keyword research
many insights to comprehend, how do you know techniques, using a word cloud may make you
where to begin? aware of potential keywords to target that your
Word cloud generators site content already uses
- can help simplify this process
- if you’ve ever looked at a jumble of disparate When Word Clouds Don’t Work
words that seem to have no correlation until you  word clouds aren’t perfect for every situation. You
investigate further, you’ve seen a word cloud wouldn’t use a pie chart to show company revenue
- have use in the field of data visualization growth over time, and you shouldn’t use word
Word Cloud clouds for every application, either.
- powerful Web 2.0 tools  When your data isn’t optimized for context
- also known as text clouds or tag clouds
 simply dumping text into a word cloud
- work in a simple way: the more a specific word
generator isn’t going to give you deep insights
appears in a source of textual data (such as a
you want
speech, blog post, or database), the bigger &
 instead, an optimized data set (1 handled by
bolder it appears in the word cloud
an experienced data analysis team) will give
- the bigger & bolder the word appears, the more
you accurate insights
often it’s mentioned within a given text & the more
important it is  When another visualization method would
- a collection/cluster of words depicted in different work better
sizes  easy to think “Word Clouds are neat!” &
- ideal ways to pull out most pertinent parts of overuse them, even when a different
textual data (from blog posts to databases) visualization should be used instead
- can help business users compare & contrast 2  make sure you understand right use case for a
different pieces of text to find wording similarities word cloud visualization
between the 2
 perhaps you’re already leveraging advanced data  there are many other instances when a different
visualization techniques to turn your important visualization should be used over word clouds
analytics into charts, graphs, & infographics – this  more complex data sets & projects require a team
is an excellent first step, as our brains prefer visual of developers & designers for a complete
information over any other format transformation (could an infographic or dashboard,
but word cloud applications are limited to words)
What do you do if your raw data is text-based in nature?
 much of research your organization conducts will Online Word Cloud Generator
include at least some form of an open-ended - a tool that scans a body of text, turning it into
inquiry that prompts respondents to give a textual component words
answer - from there, can create a word cloud that highlights
 example: you might ask current customers what most frequently mentioned words
they like or don’t like about your new product line, - if don’t prefer the cluster shape, most tools enable
or ask them to give suggestions on how your to format word cloud in various ways, including:
organization could improve; could also have  Horizontal lines
chance to elaborate on any pain points they’re  Columns
experiencing  Formed to fit a certain shape
 there are industry tools that allow you to code - most providers will allow users to choose different
such open-ended data so users can understand it layouts, fonts & color schemes depending on their
quantitatively yet, these don’t come cheap preference –can make 1 to match color scheme of
 Word clouds offer a cost-effective yet powerful your brand, partners, or client
alternative – with these, you can still quantify your - while color used on a word cloud holds a primarily
text-based insights into measurable analytics. aesthetic value, can contrast hues to help
 difference: you won’t create a chart or graph as categorize words or illustrate a separate data
you would with a set of numbers but instead variable
create a word cloud generator to transform most
critical information into a word cloud Why Use a Word Cloud Generator?
 example: USA Today using U.S. President Barack  word clouds are an unexpected yet powerful way
Obama’s State of the Union Speech 2012 VS. to display important data visualizations
2014 State of the Union address 1. Understanding Client Issues
 can easily see similarities & differences  from polls & surveys to social media posts &
between 2 speeches at a glance: “America” & more, your audience is talking about your brand
“Americans” still major words; “help,” “work,” &  as they do so, they’re delivering valuable
“new” more prominent than in 2012 insights into psyche of your target customer.
 difficult to find the answers to these questions if
Where Word Clouds Excel for Businesses you’re simply reading each comment on an
 in right setting, word cloud visualizations are a individual basis; yet, when you create a word
powerful tool cloud with this feedback, you can quickly
 Finding customer pain points & opportunities visualize what everyone is talking about
to connect  might notice that phrases “wait time” or “attitude”
 you should collect feedback from your appear to dominate cloud – reveal customers’
customers; analyzing customer feedback can pain points.
  might see positive terms “affordable” and  there are many online resources & apps to
“customer service” towering over others, perform this step:
revealing what you’re doing right  Wordle
 either way, you’ll know which topics to focus on  Tagxedo
at your next meeting, & you’re already one step  Tag Crowd
in direction of change  WordItOut
2. Quickening Business Actions  Word Cloud Generator for Chrome
 when you copy text into generator & let it do its  Word Cloud Python tools
job, you can see in seconds which talking points  Google Word Cloud tools
appear most frequently Step 3: Export the Word Cloud
 you’ll know where to start your search to hit  once you create word cloud, need to move it
most important parts from program to your files
3. Analyzing Employee Sentiment  some platforms will enable to download image
 when ask employees to share their feedback & as a PDF, although many won’t make that easy;
opinions about workplace, can be difficult to turn in some cases, take a screenshot of image &
this kind of unstructured data into meaningful save it that way
action if you don’t know where to start  before you close out of program & start
 when able to see which points your employees reviewing data, there’s 1 security precaution to
are discussing at highest rate, you’ll know how keep in mind: while most of programs above are
to make valuable & meaningful changes that can either free or low-priced, keep in mind that there
boost morale, strengthen company culture, & can be some drawbacks to convenience they
improve performance. offer – any time you create a word cloud in
4. Simplifying Technical Data Wordle, it saves it to its virtual portfolio
 present highly technical researching findings to  might not be a deal-breaker if data you’re
a non-technical audience (community board of compiling & analyzing isn’t confidential or highly
directors); yet, when you do so, it’s common to sensitive yet, if you work in an industry
look into an audience of blank stares (healthcare or banking) that emphasizes
 when present a word cloud instead, able to confidentiality & customer data protection, this
share same findings in a more accessible & can render service unusable
engaging way  also a drawback if you’re using a word cloud for
 expands reach & enables you to share important marketing purposes – if anyone can search
information in a way that doesn’t require Wordle’s portfolio, there’s nothing stopping them
advanced technical understanding from tapping into your most compelling data
5. Searching for Patterns in Data
 with quantitative data, charts, graphs, & other Creating Your Own Word Cloud
data visualizations can help you identify key  simple to plug text into a virtual generator & receive
patterns; however, pulling these same insights custom word cloud in seconds, yet this can put your
from qualitative data can prove cumbersome at most critical data sets in a vulnerable position
best and impossible at worst  let our team take reins & create a one-of-a-kind
 words overpowering others are your salient word cloud that’s all yours – eliminates risk of your
points & overlapping themes; would be difficult information falling into the wrong hands
to find in a tabular format, but they pop out in a  a data visualization expert can help pinpoint most
word cloud cloud-worthy parts of your unstructured data set
6. Search Engine Optimization
 use word cloud generator to see how your Best Word Cloud Generators Are Custom
content appears to Google bots & similar  around the world, creating & sharing more data
machines; while it won’t reveal more technical than ever before & trend shows no sign of stopping
elements of SEO (headers, backlinks, alt tags), down
helps see general message that page conveys  plenty of quantitative data to analyze & discuss
 important because when Google “looks” at page, (from sales numbers to online traffic rates)
it does so by scanning its content & code; word  qualitative inputs are often some of most insightful
cloud can reveal if you’re giving enough data points your organization can leverage – full of
attention to keywords that matter opinion, long-form feedback, & personal reflection
 Word cloud generators can help make most of
How to Make a Word Cloud content, one visual at a time
 making a word cloud for your website or business
isn’t difficult (as shown by their increasing 200 Ways to Use Word Clouds in the Classroom
popularity), but there are important considerations All Subjects
that need to be made so your visualization is more 1. Put your lesson plan into a word cloud to create a
than just eye-candy word cloud of what you will be learning about.
 while word clouds can be incredible tools for data 2. Paste a reading from your text into a word cloud.
visualization, it’s important to understand how to 3. Copy and paste a reading from the web into a word
use them the right way cloud.
Step 1: Optimize Your Data Set 4. Put vocabulary words into a word cloud.
 get a valuable, text-based data set; make sure 5. Use a word cloud to create a discussion either in
data set using is both text-based & optimized for class or posted on the web for a discussion forum.
context (copying & pasting just any textual data 6. Create a group word cloud of the entire class or sub
into a word cloud generator might not give you groups in the class.
exact insights you need) 7. Each student creates a word cloud in reflection
Step 2: Use a Word Cloud Generator Tool from a discussion, an idea, a reading, or video.
 once data set is in place, next step is to run it 8. Entire class creates a word cloud in reaction to a
through a word cloud generator tool topic. In order to capture student words, have them
 many businesses like & use Wordle, but there digitally input them using the Web 2.0 tools Write
are many others you can try (Tagxedo, with Me or Google Forms.
WordItOut) 9. Have students create word clouds that generate
understanding of a concept, standards or
 downside to these free tools is many sites,
vocabulary word.
automatically add all text clouds to their portfolio
10. Illustrate classroom thoughts or views using a word
– meaning any site visitor can see it, potentially
cloud to survey students.
undermining your marketing efforts. (
 11. Create a class word cloud that highlights class
expectation.
12. Have students come up with a set of student norms
for class or project. Put this in a word cloud.
13. Post students first names to create a class or group
word cloud.
14. Have students discover ways they could use a word
cloud to convey a concept or idea they learned in
class.
15. Post a word cloud from an online class discussion
response and discuss what it reveals in class.
16. Encourage students to create a word cloud to
brainstorm and ideas by putting articles of interest
in to word cloud and capturing ideas and words
from it.
17. Have students look at a picture in a group and have
them list words they can see that relate with a topic
studied. Have them rank importance of word and
put them in a word cloud to show the importance.
18. Show a video and ask students working in teams of
four or five to come up with words they think are
important in relationship to their studies. Have them
enter as a team their words showing frequency in
the word cloud.
19. Have students write a reflection paper on their
learning, and have them attach a word cloud to it.
20. Provide students a chance to come up with their
own idea to use a word cloud.

Science
Language Arts
Social Studies
Math
Health & PE
Family & Consumer Sciences
Art and Music
Foreign Language
Applied Arts
Careers

Ways to Encourage Inquiry for any Subject

1. Use a textbook chapter to put in a word cloud in
order to showcase keywords for research.
2. Use an online article or a site such as Wikipedia to
create a word cloud that will help identify key
words for search engine use.
3. Have students place short “need to knows” to an
inquiry based question. Use tildes (~) in between
words. Put into a word cloud and display for a
class.
4. Have students brainstorm all the ways they could
find answers to a question. Have them prioritize
and create a word cloud illustrating that priority.
5. Have students brainstorm and prioritize keywords
for research in a group of four or five. Have them
put in a word cloud showing priority. Have groups
discuss and explain their word clouds and priority
of word
QR Codes 1. Library Book Add-On: Put QR codes on
- Quick Response (QR) Codes classroom library books, linking out to
- a simple way to access a URL (i.e. a web address) information about the author and or book. “You
- an image file (can be a png, jpg, etc.) that when can also have students create ‘book trailers’
scanned by a QR Code reader will access URL it and turn them into QR codes using iMovie!”
links to, which typically means it will open a web 2. Scavenger Hunts: “Create scavenger hunts
page and/or webquests for your students that get
- each QR code is made up of a unique them moving around the room. Scanning a QR
arrangement of black modules on a square white code makes is easier for the younger students
background (there are ways to make colored & so they don’t have to type the long urls.”
add logos in center but not necessary) 3. Inform Parents: “Place QR codes around the
- like bar codes; scan them with a QR code reader school informing parents … about different
& that will bring up some form of media (website, places around the school.”
text, image, video, audio recording) 4. Access Help: Add QR codes to homework
- kind of out of date in terms of innovative sheets that link out to sources of help. “For
technology at this point; however, there are example, if the student forgets how to solve a
countless ways you can use them in your math problem or gets stuck, they can scan the
classroom QR code for help. The QR codes can be linked
- can create QR codes for recordings for any to a ‘how to video’ such as a Khan
subject – great way for students to show what Academy  video or a ShowMe video you
they’ve learned created yourself. “
QR Code Reader/Scanner 5. QR Stations for self-directed learning: “…
- dozens of free apps you can choose form have the students become self-directed
(essentially all same so doesn’t matter which on learners by creating QR stations. The students
you pick but pick one that has a lot of reviews or is scan the QR code to reveal the task and the
rated high) students must work together to get the task
- “QR Reader” application complete. This builds on the 21st century skills
 open app of communication, collaboration and critical
 allow it access to your camera thinking.”
 align QR code in center of camera 6. Cite Sources: Have students use QR to link
out to sources they use for research for paper
Creating QR Codes writing, etc.
 search for a QR Code Generator (most
websites are free but may be limited in what  QR Codes – What are they and how can I use them
they allow you to make your QR codes of) in my classroom? by Greg O'Connor
 www.QR-Code-Generator.com or 7. Assistive Technology: “Provide an alternative
www.QRStuff.com (allows for more access format for students who need additional
customization) support in reading and writing.” Students can
 once on website, you will see all different quickly access information while using their
options you have for media: URLS for websites; own literacy support apps or software.
VCard used to save contacts to smartphone; 8. Classroom Hot Spots! “Provide information
PlainText allow you to type whatever you’d like; ‘hot spots’ throughout the classroom to access
Email & SMS messages online videos, websites, text that is related to
 other media files such as PDF, images, audio curriculum and instructional material.”
recordings do require you to sign up for free trial 9. Interactive Classroom Calendar: “Attach QR
& subscribe after that (but there are other ways Codes to the classroom calendar / timetable to
to make QR codes for these types of files point to information about upcoming class
without having to pay for subscription) events, assessment reminders, etc.”
 QR code for a particular website: just copy & 10. Website access from IWB: “Take students to
paste the website’s URL & click “Create QR a website you are browsing on an interactive
code”; download QR code as JPG & you can whiteboard. Using the Mobile Barcoder add-on
insert it wherever you want (like into a blank for the Firefox web browser, quickly generate a
document at a large size for students to use or QR Code and have students scan with their
resize it smaller for use of task cards, letters to own hand held device.”
parents, etc.)
 QR code for plain text: type text you want to  QR Codes: Augmenting Augmented Reality by
appear when QR code is scanned & click Diana Rees
“Create QR Code” then download 11. Link handouts to resources: Turn a handout
 QR code for audio files, images, & videos: into a “dynamic, interactive resources by linking
upload files into Google Drive, get shareable them to interactive update-able websites”.
link, then paste URL & download the QR code 12. Link to the Campus Map
 TIP: rename the QR code JPG once you have it 13. Add information to artwork:  “To link artwork
downloaded to avoid confusion! … to information about the artwork, the artist,
the historical period, etc.”
How to use them in the classroom 14. Nutritional Information: “To link nutritional
1. record audio/video recordings of students objects to calorie counters (and other health
reading poems or writing pieces they’ve written applications)”
& send the QR code to parents 15. Online Manuals: “link equipment to online
2. QR codes with problems so students can how-to-manuals”
practice being more independent
3. QR codes with answers to problems so students  Pinterest page from Elizabeth Mills – geared
can check their answers as they’re doing the towards younger elementary grade students
activity or task cards 16. Easy Audiobook Access: This web
4. give QR codes for websites & other forms of page discusses 75 Story Time Read Aloud
media to complete research Picture Books with QR Codes Cards, an app
that could be purchased and placed on a
25 Fun Ways to use QR Codes for Teaching and shared iPad, enabling students to scan a QR
Learning code and then listen as popular children's
 Ways to use QR Codes in the Elementary books are read aloud!
Classroom & Using Google Docs to Create Them, 17. Check Work: Create QR codes that students
by Jill Thompson can use to check their work
 18. Award Prizes! Use a QR code to award a prize
for good work or good behavior! The code can
simply link to web page or image that informs
them what their reward is (a new pencil o
marker, a cool eraser, etc.).

 set of ideas from Edutopia, via Andrew Miller

19. Provide a Service: “If students helped create
awareness around spreading germs, for
example, they might put the [QR] codes around
the school or in a parent newsletter.”
20. Go Green! Rather than giving students the
time-worn paper handout, provide a QR code
that accesses instructions, announcements, or
assignments. Use one page of QR codes to
displace multiple handouts, or use codes on-
screen to eliminate paper entirely!
21. Provide Optional Activities for those “Go-
Getters”: “A great way to provide optional
activities for students who want to excel is to
simply put the code on the class assignment
and let them follow it to the extension activity or
question.”
22. Vote: “QR codes can be a great voting tool
allowing students to vote by simply scanning
the code as they enter or exit the classroom.”
23. Skills Posts for PE: Create Skills Posters
24. Create QR Code Dice! Roll The Dice on QR
Codes
25. Rhyming Words: Rhyming Words QR Code
Fun

Creating and Reading QR Codes

 creating QR codes is super easy when you have a
web tool that works well for it
 hardest part: having appropriate content to access
- once you have found content you want to share, or
created content & made it available online, you
just use a site (QRstuff) to create a QR code that
works for URL you created
- as for QR Code Readers, they are typically free

Tutorial:
 open QRstuff
 paste in a URL (under “2 Content”)
 site provides a QR code image (on right side of
screen, under “QR Code Preview”) that you
download, save, & use however you want