An Easier Way to Log In to All About Me Portfolio (QR Codes)

One of the (many) reasons that the All About Me portfolio has found a home in so many elementary schools across the country is because it provides a self directed, personalized learning environment that encourages inquiry-based reflection, career exploration, and an age appropriate platform for our youngest learners to communicate the great work taking place within the classroom, with those at home.

Even more powerful, this journey of self-discovery follows the students from year to year as they continue to add to their story and portfolio throughout middle and secondary school.

Think about just how amazing that would be for a grade 12 student as they look back and see their:
- journal entries from grade 3
- audio recordings from grade 4
- the occupations they found interesting in grade 5
- or goals they were working towards in grade 6
- and so much more.

I like to think of it as a digital time capsule!

To ensure that we can make this a reality from a technical standpoint, and that the elementary All About Me portfolio seamlessly connects to a students Education Planner in middle and secondary school, we securely attach a student’s provincial education number (or student number) to their account, as this moves with them throughout their educational career.

For All About Me, that education number typically acts as a student’s password for their account.

Those numbers however, can be 9 digits long, and not the most convenient password for a primary student to enter when logging in to their portfolio. We get that.

Luckily for you and your students, there is a much easier way for your students to access their portfolio, than by entering a username and password combination.

This post will explain how to create (and have your students use) QR codes as a way to log into All About Me.

QR codes are little squares that are unique to each student. When held up in front of the device’s camera, this square acts as a replacement to the traditional username/password combination needed to log in.

Before we can have our students logging in with these QR codes, we need to create them!

You don’t need a bachelor’s degree in software engineering to do this, you simply need to know how to use your mouse.

How to Create the QR Codes

Step 1: From your staff account, click the box of the Class you want to print the QR codes for.

(If you don’t already have a Class set up in your staff account, it’s super easy. This 2 minute video will explain how to do it).

Step 2: Once in your class, click the 3 little lines in the top right corner of your screen. This is essentially your Options Menu.

Step 3: Select the QR Codes option

Step 4: Select the students you want to print QR codes for.
You might need to reprint one just for Jimmy. He always loses his! Classic, Jimmy. If you want to do that, click Print QR Code next to his name.

More likely however, you will want to print them for the entire class. To do this, select the green Print All button at the top right (as shown in the screenshot below).

Step 5: Select the size of the QR code. I personally like the size of the square when you print 4 QR codes to a page.

Step 6: Click Print. This will download a file as a PDF on to your device. You’re going to want to make sure you’re using a device that accepts PDFs, and ideally is connected to a printer.

Step 7: Print the QR codes for your students!!

Here is a video of Steps 1 through 7, creating QR Codes for my class.

Once printed, you can cut the squares up to hand out to your students.

You may stick them in a lanyard, have students glue their QR code to the front of their agenda or desk, tape them to the wall of the self-reflection space in your classroom, or keep them some place you know they will be safe (i.e. a folder in your desk)!

Now comes the fun part, where you can witness the fruits of your labour. Students can now use these little squares to log in, rather than having them remember a username/password.

How to Log In with the QR Codes

Step 1: Visit: www.myBlueprint.ca and click Log In at the top right corner

OR

If your board has a specific landing page (i.e. myBlueprint.ca/schoolboard), you can still visit that same access point.

Step 2: Below the fields for Username and Password, you will see a button that says QR Code Login. You may need to scroll down a bit to access it.

Click/tap that button

Clicking this button will open up the camera on whatever device you are using (including a webcam on your laptop).

As a heads up, if you haven’t done this before, depending on the browser you are using, it may ask for permission to access your device’s camera.

Step 3: Hold the square right side up (with the students name at the bottom) in front of the camera. Try and hold it steady.

This will log the student right into their account. Easy peasy.

Here is a video of me using a QR Code to log into my account.

Maybe today you are having your students follow a directed pathway to:
- learn more about who they are
- explore what they are interested in
- discover who they want to become
- create a plan for achieving their goals

Or, maybe today’s session might involve students:
- journaling about their recent field trip
- recording a video explaining how they worked as a group to solve a problem
- taking a picture of their finger painting
- adding an audio recording of what empathy means to them

Remember — All About Me is a great way to showcase the great work you are already doing within the classroom.

That being said, when you’re looking for a new activity to explore with your students, our Support Centre has a lot of great teacher created Lesson Plans and Resources for you to take advantage of.

>>> Take me to the All About Me lesson plans!

Thanks for reading! Want more tips and tricks on how to get more out of myBlueprint with your students? Make sure to sign up for weekly updates that get sent straight to your inbox.

**Please note**

If you are using an iPad with iOS version 10 or earlier, you will need to save the image of the QR Code to your camera roll. Once saved as a picture, you can select it as an option to use when logging in with QR Code.