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This activity is designed to shift learners from QR code users to QR code creators. Building on what they’ve explored about how QR codes work and how to scan them safely, learners take on the other side of that trust to make a code that works reliably, leads somewhere worthwhile, and tells people what to expect before they scan. This is the fourth activity of the Understanding QR Codes series.
Learners will choose something meaningful from their own learning to share, find or create a link to it, and use Canva’s QR code generator to turn that link into a code. They’ll test it from different distances and angles, check the destination loads properly, and add a short title or description. Then the class comes together for an interactive gallery walk, scanning and exploring each other’s work before reflecting on what makes a QR code worth scanning.
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[Image] | QR Code Generator (Canva)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l63Zkn8lgNXfN8AmNI7FuSRqmCDeDgKI/preview
{External} https://www.canva.com/qr-code-generator/
[Video] | QR Code Generator Instruction Video (Canva)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxG3BOQRlFY
YouTube video “Create QR codes in the editor - instruction video” by Canva.
{Description}
Use this video to help understand and navigate Canva’s QR code generator tool.
[Video] | Video Essay (Recommended for Y7+)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5ebcowAJD8
YouTube video “I built a QR code with my bare hands to see how it works” by Veritasium.
{Description}
Consider using this video to help explain and demonstrate aspects of a QR code in more detail. These sections are most relevant to this activity:
00:38-09:38 The Pre-History of QR Codes [09:00]
09:38-12:32 The Story of QR Codes [02:54]
29:05-31:16 Applications of QR Codes [02:11]
32:24-35:00 The Future of QR Codes [02:36]
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dddo-po2
Creating a digital outcome for a genuine purpose and audience
Selecting and using appropriate tools to develop, store, and share digital content
Recognising how a system takes an input and produces an output
Testing that the code scans and the destination opens as expected
Understanding that publishing a QR code changes who can access content
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Following a defined process to design, develop, and evaluate a digital outcome
Managing file access and sharing settings responsibly, including recognising this as critical security and privacy work when publishing something online
Testing QR code effectiveness by testing it properly before sharing it, rather than assuming it works
Evaluating as a class what worked, what could improve, and what can go wrong when sharing information with others
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english
Applying structure-and-clarity thinking, taking the reader/end-user into account, to write clear content, then discussing and reflecting on how well each presentation communicated its purpose to its audience.
arts
Making deliberate visual design choices, like colour, placement, and presentation, then presenting work in a gallery-style exhibition and responding to what others have made.
social-sciences
Considering who can access what is being shared and why that matters, connecting to how communities make decisions about access and inclusion.
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Simplify content by offering a choice of pre-approved links like from a shared class folder, to help keep the focus on generating, testing, and presenting.
Take the time to critique the real-world usability of their presentation, testing it from awkward angles or in low light, to balance design and function.
Include a title card that answers all four Scan Smart questions (see Part 3 of the Understanding QR Codes series).
Pool devices into a shared set, rotating groups through the gallery walk so the activity can run smoothly with limited devices.
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Build a QR code trail around the school, linking several codes into one connected journey so each destination leads to the next.
Take it beyond the classroom by designing the exhibition for a real audience, such as a junior class, a whānau showcase, or the school library. Challenge learners to design their presentation for that specific audience and justify design choices against their needs, then gather feedback.
Investigate Canva’s dynamic QR codes, comparing them with the static code from this activity to explore what it means for trust when a code’s destination can be changed after it’s printed.
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Teachers should consider:
Content sources, including whether to allow learners to choose their own linked content sources, or to have a set of pre-selected and pre-approved links or a shared class Drive folder ready.
Gallery Walk project logistics, including decisions about content, location, printing, sizing, and more.
Content sources, including whether to allow learners to choose their own linked content sources, or to have a set of pre-selected and pre-approved links or a shared class Drive folder ready.
Canva account access, to make sure that the recommended QR code generator is accessible during the lesson, including whether and how to use a school-managed Canva for Education class team rather than individual student sign-ups. See Digital Safety & Wellbeing for why this matters.
Testing time, to make sure the gallery walk is audience-ready, and so learners experience troubleshooting as part of the design process.
Device preparation, including charging batteries, connecting to the internet, and accessing Cavna.
Group assignments, including supporting student collaboration and making sure each group has a device with a working camera and QR code scanning capability.
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In this activity learners take on a different kind of responsibility to become publishers, not just scanners. Here they will assume control over how safe their QR codes are through what they link to and who can access them. This is a chance to model thoughtful planning and sharing habits by building the parameters from the ground up.
>>> About Canva
Canva is a free, user-friendly online graphic design and visual communication platform that lets educators create engaging teaching materials and allows students to build creative digital projects.
Canva offers a specialised version called Canva for Education, which is free for verified teachers and their students. It removes paywalls for premium educational content and includes tools built specifically for classrooms.
Canva’s QR code tool is free to use and doesn’t require a paid plan, but it does require a Canva account.
Canva for Education is free, and student accounts stay under school-administered consent throughout.
Canva’s own terms restrict under-13s from creating accounts independently.
>>> General Guidance
Consider working from learner-created content or at least from approved sources.
Make sure all linked content is reviewed and approved by a teacher before it’s shared.
Guide learners to consider who will be able to see their content once it’s linked to a QR code, what this means, and why it matters.
Make sure that the content learners plan to share doesn’t include any personal details like names, addresses, or photos of people who haven’t agreed to be shared.
To access the Canva QR code tool, students should use a school-managed Canva for Education class team account wherever possible, set up and supervised by a teacher, rather than an individual sign-up.
>>> Before the activity
Set up or confirm access to a Canva for Education class team before the lesson, rather than having learners create individual accounts on the day.
Prepare or approve the content learners can link to, like via a class shared drive folder with adjusted, teacher-reviewed access.
Think about where codes will be displayed. For example, a code in the classroom reaches a different audience from one in a school hallway or at a whānau evening.
>>> During the activity
Support learners to make sure device use is safe, supervised, and purposeful throughout.
Check each learner or group’s chosen content and sharing settings before they generate and test their QR code.
Encourage kind, specific feedback. Learners are sharing work that’s meaningful to them, so model responses that are constructively framed around what worked and what they discovered, as well as what didn’t work and what can be improved.
>>> After the activity
Once the gallery walk is over, review the sharing settings on linked content and tighten or remove access where it’s no longer needed. Reinforce that a printed code keeps working for as long as its link does, demonstrating that publishing something online is an ongoing responsibility, not a one-off decision.
Reflect on what their QR codes helped achieve as well as what can go wrong when sharing information, including what learners would do differently next time or when publishing for a different or wider audience.
Sign out of Canva and Google or other accounts, and consider clearing browser history or other data created during the activity from shared devices.
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>>> y4-6 | Y4-6 | 1+ Lessons (Guided & Scaffolded)
Introduction & Discussion — Show learners a QR code that links to something fun or familiar.
Recap Scan Smart safety understanding by asking them to recall the steps they’d take before scanning a code.
Then ask what they think it would take to make a QR code themselves.
Choosing Content — Break into pairs or groups, and provide each with a pre-approved link to something they made or a class resource.
Guide learners to access and recognise their linked content.
Talk through what someone unfamiliar with the content will find when they scan a QR code that leads to it.
Generating Together — Guide learners through generating a QR code in Canva together.
Model the Canva steps on the big screen, from opening a new project to selecting Generate Code.
Then have each group follow along, one step at a time.
Testing & Presenting — Walk through the test step as a class first, then have learners test their own code.
Guide learners to check that their own code scans, that the link opens, and that the content loads.
Once the code is working, have learners get creative to design and build a display for their QR code, including at least a simple title card and call-to-action.
Gallery Walk & Reflection — Run a short gallery walk, where groups move around the displays and interact with the QR codes.
Manage the gallery walk to suit your space and numbers, such as free-wandering, ordered-route, or turn-taking in style.
Once the groups have had time to experience the gallery walk, ask each group to share one QR code (not their own) that they found interesting and why.
>>> y7-8 | Y7-8 | 1 Lesson (Guided Inquiry)
Introduction & Discussion — Ask learners what makes a QR code appealing and trustworthy enough to scan, then flip the question: what would they do to make their own QR code appealing and trustworthy?
Choosing Content — Have groups choose content from an approved source list, find its link or add it to a school Drive folder, set its access, and check that it works and appears as expected.
Generating QR Codes — Have groups generate their code in Canva, making deliberate choices about colour and margin while making sure it will still scan.
Testing & Refining — Have groups test their code from different distances and angles, and potentially even on different devices, noting any issues and fixing anything that fails.
Gallery Walk & Reflection — Run the gallery walk with title and description cards in place, then come together in groups or as a class to discuss which codes felt easiest or most inviting to scan and why.
>>> y9+ | Y9+ | 1 Lesson (Critical Design, Audit & Discussion)
Introduction & Discussion — Frame the shift from scanning other people’s codes to publishing your own, and ask learners what responsibilities a code’s creator has to the people who scan it.
Planning for an Audience — Have learners name their intended audience, and consider where the code will be placed and what their title card must say to be appealing and trustworthy enough for users to scan.
Choosing Content — Have groups choose content from an approved source list, find its link or add it to a school Drive folder, set its access, and check that it works and appears as expected.
Generating QR Codes — Have groups generate their code in Canva, making deliberate choices about colour and margin while making sure it will still scan, and justify why it suits their audience.
Testing & Auditing — Have groups test their code from different distances and angles, and potentially even on different devices, considering what someone unfamiliar with it might assume before scanning.
Note any issues and fix anything that fails or is problematic for safe scanning.
Then peer-audit another group’s code to experience their approach and give them constructive feedback.
Gallery Walk & Reflection — Run the gallery walk, then facilitate a discussion in groups or as a class:
Which codes felt easiest or most inviting to scan? Why?
What did it feel like to be on the publishing side of the QR code?
What can go wrong once information is shared, including what happens to a printed code if its link is later changed or passed on?