Universities are looking for some new ways to promote themselves as society becomes increasingly entangled with technology. More people are using smart phones than ever in the past, and leaders at the University of Wisconsin want to take advantage of that fact by using QR codes to enthrall potential students as well as pave the way for local businesses to engage the community.
The University will be hosting a preview day for prospective students in the coming weeks. The event will display the culture of the University as well as showcase its facilities, residences, and courses. Traditionally, such events were advertised through print media, requiring students to type out sometimes lengthy web addresses to look into the University. Using QR codes enables users to immediately find what they are looking for with a simple scan.
The codes will be used in all manner of promotional material, with several of the codes used to link to specific content on the University’s website. There will also be codes that link to the schools registration page.
“It’s a novel approach,” says a University spokeswoman, Melissa Lake, who will be teaching a course about QR codes at the school. “Kids these days are attached to their cells phones. They might as well use them to choose a college.”
Local businesses may follow suit of the University’s use of the codes. The school will be hosting a question and answer forum for stores and local companies to show how they can incorporate the codes into displays and on business cards.
