Handy hint: QR Codes and eLearning

The thing on the left, is a QR code. Also known in some circles as 'Robot Barf'.

I first came across QR codes (QR stands for Quick Response), about four years ago. I thought they were neat idea, and I remember talking to students about them in one of my lectures. And then it all seemed to go quiet, plus I didn't see any QR codes 'in the wild', that is, I didn't seem them being used anywhere. But now they seem to be back.

A QR code is text encoded as a series of black and white squares. These codes can be scanned using software on mobile phones and the text in the QR code read. Quite often the text in the QR code will be a person's vcard (an electronic business card), a website address, or some other relevant information associated with the thing to which the QR code is attached. Why not scan the code on the left and see what you get*.

Admittedly QR codes aren't that attractive, hence their nickname 'Robot Barf', but they are useful. I have recently seen QR codes on everything from tomato ketchup to posters, and in train and bus stations, and also on screens in computer clusters. I've also included a QR code on my business card, and I am just about to put one on my office door so students can point their mobile phone at the door and find out where I am if I'm not in my office.

So, QR codes can be useful if used correctly (and it is most probably the boring and incorrect use of QR codes to data that has prevented their adoption). I have started to use them in my own teaching and interaction with students, and if you can think of any uses of QR codes in e-learning then why not share below?

For more on QR codes you might want to see: QR Code; QR Code 'Robot Barf'; QR Codes: Useful Tool, Neat Toy or Robot Barf?; Why the QR Code Is Failing; qr codes - unfulfilled potential: the next big thing or robot barf.

* The QR code on the left should give you the text 'This is a QR Code!'

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