Tech trends don’t trickle down to students, it’s the other way around!

I was just reading an interesting article about QR codes, which fail to engage young consumers. The findings below (from 500 students across 24 colleges across the US) interestingly show that only 21% of students could cope with the technology, they thought the process just took too long, they lost interest

• 81% of students owned a smartphone
• 80% of students had previously seen a QR code
• 21% of students successfully scanned our QR code example.
• 75% of students said they are “Not Likely” to scan a QR code in the future.

It’s surprising to me that so many people struggled with the technology, its as simple as taking a photo with a smartphone, easier than tying a web address into the phones browser.  Isn’t it?

I agree though with this point;

“Remember, when it comes to trends, especially those in the tech fields, adoption doesn’t trickle down to college students but rather the other way around. The college campus is what drives our popular culture – always has, always will. Without adoption or buy-in from this segment, a product will continually struggle for relevancy.”

I also have to admit that when I first saw the QR code, I jumped in, head-first, finding reasons for educators to use this technology to deliver content in new, engaging ways. But I don’t scan them myself, the novelty has well worn off, there’s no ‘what’s in it for me?’, so why would I expect anyone else to? Is anyone doing anything really innovative with QR codes? Is it working?

I’d be interested to know. Bring on Augmented Reality!