We started our invovlement with the Bath University QR code JISC project on Monday 26 January 2009 with a visit from Andy Ramsden. We had a great variety of people at the session, from careers and student learning centre, to practitioners and the student union.

Andy presented some background on what QR codes are, what they can do and what level of awareness there is about them amongst the student population (Sarah made some good notes on this) and then we split into smaller groups and came up with some suggested uses. Andy has these recorded on a mind map, but being a bulleted list kind of girl, here is my summary:

SDSS Careers:

• events advertising, on plasma screens, using SMS to reply and book events
• QR stickers on ‘how to’ guides to get to web versions for future reference, cut down on printed leaflets
• Booking system./online calendar/diary
• timetable of events to subscribe to fed by RSS

ITS/Jon Scott

• display QR on own phone screen for remote capture by colleague – replace business card with electronic version (I already tried this – it works well)
• QR code on staff doors to show live availability
• keen to see way led by marketing from Students union for wider spread of awareness and adoption.
• treasure hunt at the botanical gardens?
• codes for buildings linking to maps and ‘where am I?’ postitioning
• codes for next nearest wifi hotspot

Librarians had some great ideas:

• Special collections: to a podcast/vodcast, further information, interactive task or questionnaire.
• Library Induction: a treasure trail of where to find resources. An audio tour.
• Departmental slide collections: instructions or support materials.
• Ejournals: from the physical location of a journal a link to the electronic version.
• QR code linking to availability of wireless networks around the campus.
• Training sessions: could link to feedback or interactive elements (not unlike voting software).
• Peer support: relating to information literacy training or general teaching across the University. Students can create a QR code on the fly that links them to their support /discussion group.

iScience and Alan’s thoughts:

• outreach to schools – make posters more interesting, interactive, informative
• links to videos to demonstrate use of equipment (ruled out in biology but possible in physics or geology?)
• QR codes to denote ‘home’ of a piece of equipment so it can be returned to the right place after use
• error logging for equipment
• use during presentations to data tables (mobile format?)

Student union

• will help SU green agenda to cut down on poster print runs,
• students are poster blind, QR may help attract attention
• QR code on name badges/ business cards (?phone) for elections with links to manifestos
• QR to promote friending on facebook to SU groups (complex URLs, difficult to find easily on fb)

Andy’s full write up

Another area that has come up since the meeting is the use in museums, via twitter.

So time to get working..

vCard QR code on iTouch and iMac

Following our QR workshop today, I wanted to create some QR codes to use during the project. Encoding difficult to remember URLs or Vcard information to display as a QR on my iTouch screen for others to capture seemed like a perfect use for this technology.

So I used snappr to create two social links: ‘follow jobadge on twitter’, and a link to this WP blog and I also made my vCard to add to my iTouch.

follow twitter/jobadge

follow DrBadgr blog

vCard for Jo Badge

The vCard I made using QRstuff which only offered a print to paper option, but created a PDF in the process, so this image is a screen capture, but it still works on screen via the iPhone. I was amazed at that! So no need for paper business cards, or giving people my twitter or blog details now. It can all come with me on the iTouch. Reminds me of the old infra red system palm used to beam information from one device to another. I wonder if this will catch on better than that?

QR code for Jo's homepage

Alan recently started thinking about QR codes and we have consequently joined a QR JISC LTIG project which is just starting at Bath University. Led by Andy Ramsden, the project will encourage a wide range of uses of QR codes, produce case studies and evaluate their uses. These uses can be with students in lectures, practicals, tutorials or other learning situations, or administrative, functional or for other activities such as marketing.

We will have our first meeting on 26 January 2009 11am – 1pm and so far have staff involved from the Library, ITS, Student Learning Centre, School of Biological Sciences and Beyond Distance Research Alliance. We are already starting to think of some uses and hope to develop even more ideas at the meeting in January.

All suggestions welcome!

Update 15 December - thanks to Roger at 2d code who pointed out that I had made a data matrix code, not a QR code. I’ve now replaced the image above with a QR code and learnt the difference between the two!