While using QR codes is something I have become very familiar with by this point, I was not at all well-versed in how to generate them. For a previous assignment this semester I signed up for an online service that offered QR code generation (though I had my concerns about sharing my email with the service) and I have been receiving promotional emails almost daily since then (I only unsubscribed this morning). Through this tutorial I learned that my IPad has the capacity to generate QR codes, and I had my first introduction to the “shortcuts” application. There is a certain degree of irony in discovering the shortcuts app in such a round-about way, though I am glad to have been introduced.
QR codes are a great way to link to digital resources and materials without the need to type in a URL, and can link to material that be made otherwise inaccessible. In a classroom context, there is the concern for student cellphone use; from an equity lens, does every student have access to the technology and; with the new cell phone policy in schools, is this a appropriate technology for use in classrooms?
Ultimately this is a powerful tool, and it falls upon teachers and policymakers to decide to the appropriateness of its use in educational settings. This tutorial made me aware of a functionality of a device I use every day, and for that I am grateful.