Showing posts with label Web Address. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Web Address. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Symbaloo to the Rescue

My school has been using a Templates folder to access links on a server for years and for awhile now it hasn't been working.  Last year around Winter Break, I started putting together a small list of the main resources needed and put together a Symbaloo page to work around the "broken" Templates folder.  Since we are starting a new year, why not use this Symbaloo webmix to access the commonly used websites.

All of the resources are organized into content areas by location on the Symbaloo page and by color.  For instance, the links at the TOP of the page with a PINK background are Literacy resources.  The link on the RIGHT that are BLUE are Social Studies resources.  The links on the BOTTOM that are RED are Math resources.  The links on the LEFT that are GREEN are Science resources.  Last, the resources in the MIDDLE and are WHITE are commonly used resources for testing and other miscellaneous resources used at Tri-Creek.  So, a more simplified explanation is as written:

  • TOP & PINK = Literacy Resources
  • RIGHT & BLUE = Social Studies Resources
  • BOTTOM & RED = Math Resources
  • LEFT & GREEN = Science Resources
  • MIDDLE & WHITE = Miscellaneous Tri-Creek Resources

This webmix can be embedded in your classroom blog if needed.  Just ask for assistance on embedding the webmix to a static page.  If you would like to customize the links to fit your classroom needs, I would also encourage you to attempt to build your own Symbaloo webmix.

If there are any websites you would like added to the Symbaloo webmix, please let me know in the comments section below or email me directly.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

URL Shortener


Setting: Teacher in the Computer Lab


Student A: Mr. Gibson this website isn't working!
Mr. Gibson: Did you type it in correctly? 
Student A: Yes, I tried everything!
Mr. Gibson: You typed in .con not .com. Try it again.  
Student B: Mr. Gibson this website isn't working!
Mr. Gibson: Argh!


URL Shortener in the Classroom


Are you tired of watching students mistype long web addresses?  Shorten them with a URL shortener.  I feel like I'm writing the intro to an infomercial.  Here is an example of a URL Shortener's benefits.  Take a look at this long Google Docs URL: 
Even your most tech-savvy student would struggle with this Google Docs web address.  Now try the next two shortened web addresses (*an additional resource can be found by clicking either one of the following links):

Short List of Shorteners

Additional Benefit and One Warning


There are some URL shorteners that allow for tracking.  For instance, if you gave parents a shortened URL at parent teacher conferences and wanted to check how many parents actually accessed the link, it could be done with Owl.ly.  

I will warn that some shorteners may be blocked by your web-filter; however, I know TinyURL, goo.gl, and Owl.ly work.  Many other URL shorteners were blocked by my school districts web-filter, but don't let that discredit the idea behind using shorteners.  Try it the next time your students have to go to a long and overly complicated web address.

For another alternative similar to using a shortener, check out my post on QR codes.