Abstract
Within Japan almost all mobile camera phones are equipped with two-dimensional barcode scanning technology as a standard feature. Consequently, QR (Quick Response) codes are now widespread throughout Japan as a means of product identification and advertising. Despite this, their implementation into public and private educational settings has been relatively slow due to the traditional exclusion of the mobile phone from the language learning classroom. This paper describes an investigatory project which attempts to introduce three specific examples of basic QR code-driven activities into a Japanese university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. The paper proposes that the merger of the mobile phone and the QR code be considered a productive way forward in achieving a semi-ubiquitous computing environment. The attitudes of 132 students toward mobile phone and QR code usage are discussed along with the advantages and disadvantages surrounding the implementation of such projects.
Highlights
One of the most readily accessible technologies in the move away from a reliance on the personal computer is the mobile phone
In an earlier study Thornton and Houser (2001) emailed English vocabulary lessons to the mobile phones of 44 Japanese university students and found that 71% of these students preferred the lesson on the mobile phone as opposed to the personal computer
This illustrates that the QR code in the UK as well as within the wider European region holds a novelty factor due to the relative newness of such a sight combined with the inability of many mobile phones to scan such a barcode without fee-based additional software
Summary
One of the most readily accessible technologies in the move away from a reliance on the personal computer is the mobile phone. The Japanese company Denso-Wave originally invented the QR code in 1994 as a means of tracking vehicle parts during the process of manufacturing Under optimal conditions these two-dimensional barcodes can hold up to 7,089 characters of numeric data, 4,296 characters of alphanumeric data, 2,953 bytes of binary data, and 1,817 Kanji or Kana A notable feature of the London poster is that the URL promoting the product has been omitted from the QR code This illustrates that the QR code in the UK as well as within the wider European region holds a novelty factor due to the relative newness of such a sight combined with the inability of many mobile phones to scan such a barcode without fee-based additional software
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