QR Codes to track student attendance

This is a topic that I have been working on for awhile now. I always run through ideas in my head, but some never make it out of design & concept. QR codes have been stuck in concept for awhile now, but I think they are ready to be tested this year.

I have seen tons of videos and tutorials about creating QR codes that link to Google Forms for attendance. I always had an issue with students just typing in their own name. Let's face it, how easy would it be for a student to type in another name?

So then I moved onto pre-filled Forms that had their names recorded already. But this is where Google let me down. I tried "hiding" the name in a different section, but since Forms doesn't see it, it never gets recorded.

But the problem of students changing names still exists. It took awhile, but I am going to try the following. I will turn on "Sticky Keys" on the device. That way students can't quickly change the name. Everything on the Form is clicking, so keyboard isn't necessary. I am also going to change the keyboard language. So no chance of the students being able to type in something. Now I have thought about the fact that students can quickly change those settings, but I will be able to see this and stop them.

Our school has a 45 minute period that allows students to go to any teacher they want. I would like an easy way of tracking who comes and for how long. I was worried a friend might pass his code to another student, so to solve that I will color code each period.

I feel like I have a lot of things in place to prevent abuse of the QR codes and expect it to work fine. I will be test running it for the end of the year in one of my classes. If successful, I will roll it out to all my classes at the beginning of next year.

How does it work? Each student will get a unique QR Code slip. When they leave class they need to scan it. It will take them to a Form that has their name pre-filled. They then follow the questions if they are checking in or out. And where they are going or coming from (restroom, library, office, etc.). On tutorial periods, I will scan in each student myself to make sure no one has their friends QR Code.

Thoughts on Acer Chromebook Tab

So Acer announced the long rumored Chromebook tablet today called the Acer Chromebook Tab. And I have to say I was a little worried because I JUST bought the Samsung Chromebook Pro over the weekend. My Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 is getting old and slowing down, so I figured the Chromebook Pro was a logical choice.

So why am I not worried? Well, the Acer Tab will start at around $329, the Pro was on sale and I got it for under $500. It might seem like a lot, but remember the Tab doesn't have any type of keyboard and bluetooth keyboards usually run $50+. The other thing that makes me feel better it the screen size, it is only 9.7 inches. When I first started using a tablet to teach, I used the Note 10.1. It was ok, but I quickly realized 10 inches isn't a lot of space to write on. So no keyboard and small screen size makes me feel good about my purchase.

But what about the Acer Tab? Well I think it is an interesting idea. I don't know if it will catch on or not. I can see these in the primary grade levels where touching things and writing is more important than a keyboard. I have a hard time imagining these in grades 6 and up. But hey, that's just me.

Specs wise, it looks great. Almost like a smaller Chromebook Plus with no keyboard. It has the same internals and it has a holder for the pen. Google needs to start implementing more pen input into their apps. A note taking app like Squid Notes. Google Keep isn't it for me. Although, that is the direction I have to move in until my district approves Squid Notes for me.

I like the fact the pen has a holder built into. The pens will still be lost, but that number should be smaller. I think I might pull all the pens from the tablets and hand them out when needed. Curious what the replacements will cost.

So all in all, I am at a wait and see. I do think Android tablets are done. Why would you buy a tablet for Android when you can by a Chromebook and have a solid OS & Android Apps?

Inbox by Gmail for Educators Part 1

Email is something that has always just worked. We never really stopped to think if it was efficient or not. We just accepted it. We get an email and if we need to look for it later we just search and scroll around til we found it.

Well someone at Google decided to change the way we think email should work. Enter Inbox by Email. Inbox came out a couple years ago and like everything else with technology I jumped in. I used it with my personal email accounts for a few days and decided it wasn't for me. I can't really point my finger at one thing, it was just different. Then a few months later it was available for GAFE accounts.

Our district uses Outlook for email. I have never been a fan, so I decided to try it out. I simply

forwarded the Outlook account to our GAFE account. And within a few days, I found out that email could be "re-imagined". There is something nice about opening up my email and seeing this screen. Whereas my old email box always seemed cluttered and busy, Inbox works for you and only puts the important emails front and center. Inbox makes email more useful and introduces new ways to think how email should work.

So the question you might be having right around now is, why should I switch? Well, I have put together a list as to why you might want to make the switch and look into using Inbox. This first part will look at some of the new features that Inbox brings to email.

Snooze

This is probably one of the strongest features introduced with Inbox. Ask yourself if this sounds familiar, you have a special bell schedule for an assembly. You are sent the schedule a week in advance. Then the day of the schedule comes up and you don't know where the schedule is. You then spend a few minutes trying find it. Snooze takes care of that problem. Now when you get that email, you can Snooze it to the day of the assembly. Inbox will basically "re-deliver" the email again. So it will pop up again like it is being delivered for the first time. 

That in itself is impressive, but Snooze can also be used with locations. If you have the app installed on your phone, you can Snooze an email to come back when you get to a certain location. Have a meeting at the district? Is there an agenda attached to an email? Snooze it to come back when you reach the district. As soon as you reach your destination, Inbox will use your phones location and re-deliver it.

Done

This is another new feature Inbox has. Done is what allows you to keep your Inbox clean. Right now if you want a clean inbox, you need to either delete the emails or move the emails into folders. Inbox focuses on the emails you want to see. If you don't want to see them, you can just mark them Done. The nice thing about Done is that the emails aren't deleted. They are just moved from the main Inbox. This keeps your Inbox clear of any junk or unimportant emails that are in there.

Bundled Emails

Bundled works to put all the emails into a separate folder. Now this feature has a similar function in Outlook, but Inbox takes it a little further. First off, it is easy to set up. If you put an email into an existing Bundle, Inbox will ask if you want to do this all the time.  The killer feature that Inbox introduces is the ability to have Bundles appear in your Inbox when you want them too. For example, I get a lot of newsletters from certain sites. I don't have time to look at them as they come in. So have Inbox set up to put the emails into a Bundle and only have that Bundle appear in my Inbox once a week. 

Reminders

Ever read something and write a post it note to remind yourself of something? Well Inbox has a Reminder feature built in. This has replaced post it notes for me. I get something and simply create a Reminder. Reminders are automatically pinned to the Inbox. And like everything else, you can set your Reminder for a date/time or location. 

Those are some of the new features that Inbox brings to email. It will seem different at first, but give it some time. Inbox will change the way you think of email. The next part will focus on some of the other features that make Inbox worth the switch.