QR Codes and You
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010What’s a QR Code?
Quick Reference or QR codes are a two dimensional matrix code that performs a function similar to a bar code. That is to say that it’s a form of encoded information not easily read by people, but easily decoded by computers. QR codes can often been seen on UPS or FedEx packages, and are often used in commercial capacities when a bar code is insufficient. Beyond industrial or commercial application, QR codes are interesting as they have reached into the consumer market in Japan. By using a camera built into a cell phone users can take a photo of the QR code and find themselves quickly redirected to a company’s website, to a restaurant’s menu, or to an encoded message or number. The practice of posting an image that links out to a web resource is referred to as “hard linking” and has numerous applications.
So What’s the Big Deal?
Like any technology, QR codes aren’t exciting unless you consider them in relation to a project or practice. Let me offer a few ideas about how you might use QR codes in your class room, or your work to provide a frame for how this (free) technology might be useful.
Business Cards
The information on a business card is tremendously helpful – it’s how to get a hold of someone, and what they do all rolled into one. A QR code can hold all of the same information. While it’s not practical to use a QR code by itself on a business card, it makes tremendous sense to use one on the back. Instead including a long link to your website/blog/social-network-profile, you can instead just include a simple code that can be read by a web cam or smart phone. If you’re not interested in including a link to a web resource, you could still use a QR code to hide a message.
Notes / Handouts
Connecting the physical world, to the digital world can feel like a daunting project. If your class is using a digital resource that involves a long link (like this one: http://www.google.com/books?id=H7xIAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q&f=false) that would be pointless to include on a handout – I say that it would be pointless to include on a handout because it is highly unlikely that a student would go to the trouble to type in an address both that long and complicated, it’s also highly likely that the link will be copied into the address bar incorrectly. Instead you could inclue a QR code in a corner of the handout, allowing your students to simply scan the code with their laptop or phone to access the resource.
Maybe more than just pointing students to a resource, you want to point them to some class created content – like a blog, youtube channel, twitter feed, facebook group, or really anything else that you might find on the web.
Anything Printed
Again, the real beauty of QR codes is their flexibility. They can serve as labels, as clues for a scavenger hunt, for hidden information, as links to digital resources. Consider how you might connecte a printed resource to a digital one.
How to Get Started
Experiment with creating codes by visiting Kaywa or by experimenting with iCandy. Both of this sites will help you create codes, and consider what you can do with them.
