displaying QR codes on web sites ... why?
After a constructive lunch I've tried to answer the question, why should we display QR codes on our web sites? What is it adding to the experience?
There are a couple of drivers for me to work this out. The first is after a recent presentation I did at mLearn08 there was some twitter discussions about why would people want to display QR Codes on their web sites. I felt this was never properly resolved. Secondly, I've just had a meeting with the Student Union at Uni of Bath about some of the potential uses for QR Codes. This idea was discussed.
An illustration of what I'm talking about is available on a colleague's wordpress blog - see: http://colligo.wordpress.com/
So why display the page URL as a QR Code?
I'd argue that this offers a significant efficiency gain for the mobile user. For instance, over a given week I tend to use lots of different interet connected computers to search the web. These maybe in public areas at work, or friends and family machines. To help facilitate this I use delicious social bookmarking software to store my bookmarks. I also tend to sync my mobile device (which includes my diary etc.,) to my work computer as it backs up etc., I can't imagine that I'm alone with this practice. So if everyone started displaying QR codes for the individual page I'm searching then why would this help me?
Well, lets assume I'm at a desktop / thin client computer somewhere in the world (OK ... in the west country). I discover a web site that I want to book mark. So normally I access delicious.com and bookmark it. This involves accessing yet another software package, thinking of tags etc. However, if the unique url of the page is displayed in the form of a QR Code. Then I could simply scan it on my mobile, using the QR code reader software add it to my web browser favourites. Then when I sync the mobile at work the favourites are sync'd across. I can then at leisure tag these up on delicious, or delete them (which is more likely)
This is illustrated through the following video (avi, about 35 seconds long): http://www.bath.ac.uk/lmf/download/26048
Users who want to record the url of a page thru a QR Code should use a
browser plugin http://2d-code.co.uk/qr-code-firefox-extension/
I wondered about printing out the page ...
Thanks Roger. Yes if you are on your computer and use firefox then this is
fine. However, I'm trying to unpick the idea of people (such as myself) who
use a large number of machines in any working week, and look at a lot of
different web sites on those machines. The approach of displaying the QR
code and using my handheld suites my working style.
Hi Geoff. Yes, I'd agree a benefit for the mobile learner is the link from
a qr code that displays on the hard copy to the web site. We've implemented
a similar solution at Uni of Bath in Moodle printous
(http://go.bath.ac.uk/ap8y). This was at minimum extra cost as it
piggybacks on another project. The next stage is enhancing the experience
of access these activities on your mobile device :-)
This mashup turns the current page you are viewing in to a QR Code. It uses
tinyurl to make the QR Codes smaller and easier to scan, and works on
popular browsers. http://www.ventipix.com/2d_barcodes/archives/75