Appropriation of mobile cultural resources for learning

Copyright © 2010 IGI Global. This article proposes appropriation as the key for the recognition of mobile devices - as well as the artefacts accessed through, and produced with them - as cultural resources across different cultural practices of use, in everyday life and formal education. The article analyses the interrelationship of users of mobile devices with the structures, agency and practices of, and in relation to what the authors call the "mobile complex". Two examples are presented and some curricular options for the assimilation of mobile devices into settings of formal learning are discussed. Also, a typology of appropriation is presented that serves as an explanatory, analytical frame and starting point for a discussion about attendant issues

Implementing QR Code Technology in Medical Device Pacakage

The medical device industry strives to improve the delivery of key device information through the package to patients, doctors and end users. To achieve this goal Indications For Use (IFU) and user manuals have been major tools and are necessary components required in Medical Device Package according to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. Historically there have been challenges caused by packaging information materials aspects such as manufacturing, transportation and translation. The need for extensive packaging and labelling has ultimately contributed to increased cost of manufacturing for devices. It is also important to know what information a customer needs and recognize that the safety of the consumer is of the utmost importance. The development and implementation of new technologies and procedures in a medical device industry may be complicated and slow but it is a necessity to improve safety and provide maximum comfort to the end user. Barcodes and Two Dimensional code have been used in the medical device industry for tracking purposes; however, the focus of this thesis was using QR codes (two-Dimensional barcode) in medical device package without IFU, user guides and manuals to enhance patient safety, reduce cost and enhance the breadth of information available to the ultimate users. Access to the information was achieved by just taking a picture or scanning the QR code which was printed on a medical device package. This thesis also assesses the feasibility of implementing the QR code technology on medical device package and a case study is conducted that elaborates on the cost analysis

TechNews digests: Autumn 2004

TechNews is a technology, news and analysis service aimed at anyone in the education sector keen to stay informed about technology developments, trends and issues. TechNews focuses on emerging technologies and other technology news. TechNews service : digests september 2004 till May 2010 Analysis pieces and News combined publish every 2 to 3 month

QR Codes: What Are They and Why Should You Care?

QR (quick response) codes are two dimensional images that when scanned by a smart phone\u27s camera, prompt the smart phone to open a web-page or display an image, video, or text. QR codes are, therefore, essentially pictographic hyperlinks that can be embedded in the physical environment. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way libraries deliver instruction, connect patrons to information about library materials, and market their services. Although use of QR codes has not yet become prominent in Kansas communities, there are several reasons to believe that it soon will be. These reasons include burgeoning popularity of QR codes on the coasts, rapid increases in smart phone use in our communities, and expected enhancements in cellular data capacity in much of Kansas. By implementing QR codes now, academic libraries in Kansas can help expedite the adoption of this exciting technology and can concomitantly enhance their reputations as user-centered, innovative, sites for discovery and exploration. In this paper I describe how individuals with smart phones can download free QR code reading applications and use their phone’s camera to read the code; show several examples of creative ways libraries and other organizations are using QR codes to provide rich, point-of-need information to patrons, customers, and prospective user; describe in detail the process of creating QR codes and distributing them throughout physical and online environments; and highlight some of the recent literature discussing the relevance of QR codes for libraries and for education in general

QR Codes in Education

QR codes, developed by a Japanese company, have been around for over fifteen years. With the advent of smart and Web capable mobile devices, we witness a steady growth of interesting commercial applications using QR codes. As the movement of using QR codes in education is still in its infancy, this paper serves to be one of the first comprehensive papers in journal publication to fully delineate (a) the user characteristics of QR codes, (b) the processes of making and reading QR codes, (c) the survey of commercial applications using QR codes, (d) the literature review of educational applications using QR codes, and (e) offer suggestions and implementations of QR codes in school education

Smartphones

Many of the research approaches to smartphones actually regard them as more or less transparent points of access to other kinds of communication experiences. That is, rather than considering the smartphone as something in itself, the researchers look at how individuals use the smartphone for their communicative purposes, whether these be talking, surfing the web, using on-line data access for off-site data sources, downloading or uploading materials, or any kind of interaction with social media. They focus not so much on the smartphone itself but on the activities that people engage in with their smartphones