Catherine explores a new app for mobile devices...
With mobile devices becoming more ubiquitous in contemporary life, different interfaces are changing the way we access information in both the physical and virtual worlds. Indeed, these new technologies are seen by some educators as ones that can be harnessed to engage learners in schools. One such interface, Augmented Reality, is becoming a “thing of the present” and one way that teacher librarians can integrate the virtual and the physical worlds is to use QR Codes. While Augmented Reality applications overlay digital information on top of the physical world seen through a camera, QR Codes simply link to that information. Educational Consultant, Jeff Utrecht, has named 2011: the Year of the QR Codes. He states: “Now that Smartphones are becoming more and more the norm and will continue to gain in popularity in 2011, we have a reason to use these perfect little squares of information.”So, what are QR Codes?
QR Codes are two-dimensional matrix barcodes which can be interpreted by any mobile device that has camera capabilities. (Think IPhone, IPod Touch, IPad, Smart Phone, Nintendo DS.) After installing a free app or simple piece of software to your smartphone, you scan the code by photographing it. Anyone can access the information behind the QR Code which might contain images, easily launched website links, and text. Even stores like Bunnings have QR Codes on their catalogues and our very own QUT uses them as well.
Connecting the physical world and the virtual world with QR Codes
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How do I create and read QR Codes?
First, you have to download a creator application on your Smart Phone or computer. There are several online programmes to create codes;
Even Google will make QR Codes for you.All you have to do is visit http://goo.gl - their URL shortener.
Next, look for free QR Code readers which could be quickly downloaded. Most readers scan the barcode as soon as you line up the square on the screen around the barcode.i-nigma and BeeTagg can be downloaded free and are easy to use.
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| http://www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk/qr-codes/qr-codes-the-nuts-and-bolts/ |
How can QR Codes be used in libraries and in the classroom?
While they may appear gimmicky and even “cool”, QR Codes can be used in a range of ways for educational purposes. Researchers at Educause suggest that “QR Codes support experiential learning, bringing scholarship out of the classroom and into physical experience. They offer expanded pedagogical value in exercises that draw students into creating and contributing content.”
There is a vast array of examples of how educators worldwide are using QR Codes from library scavenger hunts to accessing data in science workshops. I have provided some links in the QR Code that I created above but I want to highlight a few:
There is a vast array of examples of how educators worldwide are using QR Codes from library scavenger hunts to accessing data in science workshops. I have provided some links in the QR Code that I created above but I want to highlight a few:
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| This QR Comic infographic summarises QR Codes used by the Daring Librarian, Gwyneth Jones. |
This video showcases what one school is doing with QR Codes.
I think QR Codes are a fun way to use mobile technology to spread information or increase interactivity in my library. While they are not the full experience of augmented reality, QR Codes integrate the virtual with the physical and that’s a start! Library Orientation for Year Seven, links to Book Trailers and information for parents, quick web links for research, the list is only limited by my imagination (and time!).
QR Codes...
- Gimmicks or legitimate ways to use mobile technology in the classroom?
- Will you be "q-ing" up to use them?
- Can you see your library QR-encoded?
- How would you use them in your classroom?
Why not experiment with the QR Code I created above to access more websites on QR Codes?
References
http://www.thethinkingstick.com/11-the-year-of-the-qr-code
Thanks for the insight, I didn't really know what QR codes were except that I had seen the little scan-able images. Very interesting, I wonder how well they will be taken up in schools given the use of phones being frowned upon in schools, well at least the ones that I have been involved in.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debbie.
ReplyDeleteYes, schools are notorious for seeing mobile phones as disruptive devices. Mine especially! However, I am delighted that I can use ipods to access QR Codes and will do so when I introduce year 7s to the library next year. I have 16 ipods and am intending to use them a lot more.
Catherine
Since writing about QR Codes, i keep coming across new ideas how to incorporate them into the classroom. here's a link to a QR Code Scavenger Hunt Generator:
ReplyDeletehttp://classtools.net/QR/
Catherine
Hi Catherine,
ReplyDeleteI think QR codes are amazing. The instant delivery of the coded information is very impressive. I had never “seen” a QR code until I read your blog. Now they seem to be popping up in all sorts of places. I love the idea of a secret message and this is much better than writing in lemon juice. The Bunnings catalogue that I was using as a resource for a maths assignment was full of them. I felt very techno savvy being able to show them to my students. I think that the Calvin Klein billboard featuring a huge red QR code was very cool. The video showing the uses that the American school is making of the QR codes was fascinating, so much potential for their use across the whole curriculum. As a science teacher I thought the idea of putting QR codes on worksheets to show recorded experiments and as labels on trees to give information about each species would be very useful in my teaching. The use of QR codes to enable the students’ school library book reviews to be accessed by their peers was a really great way to share information and showcase students’ work. The versatility of QR codes being able to link to videos, podcasts and other images and texts is a characteristic that will ensure the incorporation of into many more aspects of daily life.
Karen