University of Limerick Uses QR Codes and Mobile Apps to Guide Freshmen around Campus

With 40 buildings scattered around more than 330 acres, it is easy to get lost in the University of Limerick campus. Thankfully, a master’s degree student has come up with a mobile app that would help new students in finding their way around the campus.

The mobile app called The First 7 Weeks apps is part of the University’s First 7 Weeks program that is aimed at helping new students adapt to the new environment and college life.

The app gives students more information about the program, as well as maps of the whole campus. It also allows them to visit the program’s Facebook page.

All over the campus, the University also put up QR codes. When scanned, these QR codes instantly tell the user where he or she is. These QR codes also become the starting position for the students.

Each of the maps can inform students about the places that are nearby. What’s more, the students can just search for any place and that becomes the end point. So the QR codes basically tell students how to get from one point to another.

The app was created by Daryl Feehely, a master’s degree student at the University and is a part of the research collaboration between the Interaction Design Centre and the Centre for Teaching and Learning. People who download the app can help Feehely improve on the app by opting in to share the usage data with him and his fellow researchers.

QR codes have been used by different universities in the past for a variety of reasons. A similar initiative has been launched by the University of Virginia, where they also make use of mobile apps but sans the QR codes for students to be able to easily download maps that would help them navigate around the campus.

Meanwhile, students at the University of British Columbia have created paperless ticketing apps that also use QR codes.

While the University of Arkansas has used QR codes to make their magazine articles even more interesting.

Lastly, students at the University of Minnesota have used QR codes to educate fellow students and the public about various tree species found at their St. Paul campus.

It is nice to see QR codes gaining ground at universities. This will help make QR code a familiar sight to everyone, and for once, we have QR codes that are not just aimed for marketing.