QR Codes in Online Classrooms

Laddie Odom: Multimedia Producer; Center for Support of Instruction; Published: November-December 2011; Category: » Online-pedagogy » Teaching-tools

Perhaps you have recently encountered an image that looks like the one shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. A QR code.

This image is known as a QR code. Although not exactly new, the term, the image, and its usage may be puzzling to many people. This article attempts to remove some of the mystery behind QR technology by providing a brief history and description of its use and an overview of how to create a QR code. It also discusses m-learning and presents a scenario in which QR codes can be utilized in an online classroom to help integrate mobile platforms with online learning management systems.

QR Codes History and Description

QR is short for Quick Response. According to Rouillard (2008), QR codes were initially developed for the automotive industry in 1994 by a Japanese company to help keep track of vehicle parts during their production. These two-dimensional barcodes can hold large amounts of data (4000+ alphanumeric characters or 7000+ numeric characters) and were designed to have the data decoded at very high speeds.

From their birth and first application in auto manufacturing, QR codes have evolved into many other uses, such as serving as a new conduit for marketers to deliver their messages and content to mobile users. The types of information that QR codes may carry today include—but are not limited to—the following:

Calendar event
Contact information
E-mail address
Geo Location
Phone number
Text message (SMS)
URL

For our purposes, a more concise description is that a QR code provides a fast and easy way to capture information and quickly access it on mobile devices equipped with a camera.

Most people usually spot their first QR code in the real world via a poster, magazine, or possibly even a t-shirt. However, they are also increasingly found on many Web pages, and there are plenty of good reasons to use them online—particularly when a mobile device’s browser does not navigate or work well on a certain Web site.

Mobile Platforms, M-learning, and QR Codes

The use of mobile devices has risen rapidly over the last few years. Consider the following statistics cited by mobiThinking (2011):

At the end of 2010, there were over 5.3 billion cellular subscribers (individual mobile lines) worldwide. This number is a substantial increase from the 4.6 billion mobile subscriptions at the end of 2009.
Cellular users are expected to send over 8 trillion text messages during 2011.
In 2010, over 1.38 billion handsets were sold—an 18.5 percent increase from 2009.

Clearly, the use of mobile platforms is a significant and growing wave that bears watching—and action—so as not to be left behind.

Mobile learning (m-learning)—the delivery of content and learning support via a mobile device—is riding on this same crest, and with good reason. Mobile devices, even those equipped with simple SMS (Short Message Service, i.e., text messaging) capabilities, can be used in a variety of creative ways for education, from simple class announcements to authentic situational learning opportunities in the field. While comprehensive theoretical research on the value of mobile platforms for education is still in its early stages, Muyinda (2007) notes that m-learning “provides access to learning during previously unproductive times, … allows more flexible and immediate collaborative options, … allows controlled learning in contextual situations, and provides greater options for teachers to observe and assist in independent learning” (p.103).

Using QR codes for educational purposes can help further address the needs of students who are seeking to use their mobile devices to learn anywhere at any time by providing the needed educational resources to them in a quick and easy-to-access manner.

Using QR Codes in the Online Classroom: A Scenario

The following scenario demonstrates how QR codes and mobile devices can be combined to create useful m-learning opportunities for students:

John, an online graduate student and mobile device owner, is traveling to Boston via train this weekend and wants to take his reading assignments along with him. Unfortunately, his Windows Mobile smartphone is not able to readily navigate to the discussion area where the instructor has posted the URL of a reading assignment.

When he logs in to the online classroom from his desk computer, he notices that the instructor has included both a link and a QR code for the assigned reading, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. QR code in a WebTycho conference.

This is good news for John because he already has a QR code reader app on his smartphone. This kind of app utilizes a mobile device’s camera to capture the QR code and display the information in it directly on the device’s screen. (See the Resources at the end of this article for a list of some useful QR code reader apps.)

To read the QR code provided by the instructor, John opens his QR code reader app, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. QR code reader app.

He then points his smartphone's camera at the QR code that is visible on the computer screen, as demonstrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4. The i-nigma app captures the QR code.

Once the camera has detected the QR code, the code is captured and the app quickly recognizes it as a URL. John then navigates to this URL. In this particular case, the URL is the download page for an e-book on the Project Gutenberg Web site, listing several formats in which he can download the e-book to his smartphone for later reading, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. E-book download options at gutenberg.org.

This scenario shows just one way that students can benefit from QR codes by easily downloading course materials to their mobile devices and then accessing that content at their convenience. Such usage of QR codes helps bridge the gap between mobile devices and Web sites that do not fully support mobile platforms—and in this specific case, paves a path towards a richer m-learning experience.

QR Code Generators

The above scenario is well and good but begs the question where did the QR code come from and how was it placed in the classroom? The answer is simple: a QR code generator. QR code generators are free online tools that allow users to create their own QR codes from the variety of information types supported, such as URLs and calendar events. One example of a simple and convenient QR code generator is Kaywa, shown in Figure 6. Kaywa has a somewhat limited number of information types available, but its streamlined interface and limited ads and branding make it a popular choice. The Resources at the end of this article list additional examples of code generators you may want to try.

Figure 6. The Kaywa Web site.

Once a QR code is generated by these tools, HTML embed code is also typically generated. This embed code can be copied and pasted into an online classroom or Web page. Alternately, the QR code image itself can also be copied and pasted.

To learn how to generate your own QR code and place it in your classroom, please view the accompanying tutorial.

Summary

QR codes offer a simple way to add m-learning opportunities to students with mobile devices. By creating a useful bridge to transfer content from the online classroom to mobile platforms, QR codes help provide students with even greater anywhere-anytime access to educational materials.

References

mobiThinking. (2011). Global mobile statistics 2011: All quality mobile marketing research, mobile Web stats, subscribers, ad revenue, usage, trends... Retrieved from http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats#subscribers

Muyinda, P.B. (2007). Mlearning: Pedagogical, technical and organisational hypes and realities. Campus-Wide Information Systems, 24(2), 97-104. Retrieved from http://cees.mak.ac.ug/sites/default/files/publications/Muyinda.pdf

Rouillard, J. (2008). Contextual QR codes. Proceedings of The Third International Multi-Conference on Computing in the Global Information Technology, ICCGI '08 (pp. 50-55). Retrieved from http://www2.lifl.fr/~rouillar/publi/2008_Rouillard_ICCGI.pdf

About the Author(s)

Laddie Odom began his professional career over two decades ago in Detroit as an animator and special effects artist for regional and national television commercial campaigns.

After moving to Chicago in the 1980s, he first found employment in multimedia, which at the time meant slide shows, produced with traditional analog photographic and graphic tools. Shortly afterwards, he was one of the first people in the multimedia industry to be trained to operate large, specialized graphics computers that created and presented slides digitally. Several years later, after helping pioneer the production of digital imagery and animation in multimedia presentations, he began to produce a new kind of multimedia, which was delivered via CD-ROM, was interactive, and was usually authored in Macromedia Director. In the mid-1990s, he was given the opportunity to apply his extensive experience as production manager for several companies and as an independent producer of interactive marketing and educational materials. For the last several years he has helped UMUC explore and implement new technologies in order to help staff, faculty, and students achieve their goals.

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